There is a supernatural element to all fifteen of the short stories in this collection that explores the idea of what’s monstrous — various beasts and ghosts and other-worldly powers abound — but at their most fascinating the works traverse the space between the physical manifestations of monstrousness and what’s monstrous in terms of thinking and behaving and believing — elements of our being human. Even the weight of grieving can be monstrous. From the reinvention of traditional monsters to fresh, creative world-building, the collection showcases finely crafted storytelling in a range of moods and styles, including M. T. Anderson’s “Quick Hill,” somber, tense, and tender; and Alice Sola Kim’s sharply funny and poignant “Mothers Lock Up Your Daughters Because They Are Terrifying.” The contributors come from literary worlds of both young adult literature and fantasy and science fiction. (Age 13 and older)

Fifteen top voices in speculative fiction explore the intersection of fear and love in a haunting, at times hilarious, darkly imaginative volume.

Predatory kraken that sing with — and for — their kin; band members and betrayed friends who happen to be demonic; harpies as likely to attract as repel. Welcome to a world where humans live side by side with monsters, from vampires both nostalgic and bumbling to an eight-legged alien who makes tea. Here you’ll find mercurial forms that burrow into warm fat, spectral boy toys, a Maori force of nature, a landform that claims lives, and an architect of hell on earth. Through these and a few monsters that defy categorization, some of today’s top young-adult authors explore ambition and sacrifice, loneliness and rage, love requited and avenged, and the boundless potential for connection, even across extreme borders.

With monstrous stories by
M. T. Anderson
Paolo Bacigalupi
Nathan Ballingrud
Holly Black
Sarah Rees Brennan
Cassandra Clare
Nalo Hopkinson
Dylan Horrocks
Nik Houser
Alice Sola Kim
Kathleen Jennings
Joshua Lewis
Kelly Link
Patrick Ness
G. Carl Purcell