I really loved Wyrd and Wonder and wanted to participate in its creepy little sister event. But, only one problem, I don’t read a lot of horror. I think the only horror book I’ve read this year was Snow, Glass Apples by Neil Gaiman, illustrated by Colleen Doran, a Snow White retelling. I also want to read Ring Shout by P. Djèlí Clark because everyone says it’s amazing, but, well, two books don’t make a list. So, here is a list of fantasy monster books that are not that scary.
Spooktastic Reads is a Wyrd and Wonder mini-event, in which Imyril of There’s Always Room for One More, Lisa of Dear Geek Place and Jorie of Jorie Loves A Story spend the 13 days up to Hallowe’en thrilling at eldritch nightmares and haunted houses.
Vampires:
Heart of Stone by Johannes T. Evans – a super lovely slow slow slow burn historical fantasy romance between a cheerful vampire and his serious secretary. This is our October HEA bookclub pick on r/fantasy and it’s such a quick fun read, there’s still time to join in (most people confessed to having binged this one).
The Utterly Uninteresting and Unadventurous Tales of Fred, the Vampire Accountant by Drew Hayes – packaged as a novel but really a collection of short stories where Fred tries to stay boring and solve supernatural problems with accounting solutions.
Werewolves:
Mooncakes by Suzanne Walker, illustrated Wendy Xu – A super sweet, wholesome, and queer graphic novel about accepting who you are. Also has lots of yummy looking food.
Away with the Wolves by Sarah Gailey – A novelette, also sweet and accepting, with the protagonist dealing with chronic pain. It’s free to read online here at Uncanny Magazine
Vampires and Werecreatures together:
The Parasol Protectorate by Gail Carriger – A steampunk series with vampires, werewolves, and some steamy romance.
Strange Practice by Vivian Shaw – An urban fantasy series about a doctor for the paranormal, really great focus on treating specific supernatural conditions, loved the caring twist on monster books. I reviewed it here
Witches:
Witchmark by C.L. Polk – An alternate-world historical fantasy which features a bicycle chase, a sweet romance, and a doctor trying to solve a mystery and getting in way over his head. I reviewed it here
Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones – A comforting read about the power of stories. I reviewed it here
Zombies:
Dread Nation by Justina Ireland – The zombies are proper mindless zombies here, but the fact that the apocalypse has been going on for about 15 years now and people have established a sort of normal makes it not-horror-movie scary, and the protagonist is so much fun.
Mid-Lich Crisis by Steve Thomas – Yes, the protagonist is undead, but can you really call him evil? This is a comedy about an undead necromancer trying new activities and career paths, to find himself. I reviewed it here
Brown Girl in the Ring by Nalo Hopkinson – ok this one was proper scary at times so does not entirely fit with my theme here, but it’s not shelved as horror. I loved the Caribbean magic and gods, it was really interesting, but also very gory at times.
Ghosts:
A Magical Inheritance by Krista D. Ball – a regency slice of life fantasy where the only horror is not having enough shelf space, and dealing with a few awful people. Books may come with ghosts included. I reviewed it here
The Haunting of Tram Car 015 by P. Djèlí Clark – In an alternate history Cairo filled with Djinn, steampunk technology and free from the British, an investigator tries to solve the mystery of a haunted tram car. I reviewed it here
Nightmare monsters:
A Blade so Black by L.L. McKinney – an Alice in Wonderland/Buffy crossover retelling when nightmare creatures seep into the real world from Wonderland and Alice fights to put them down. I reviewed it here
Monstress by Marjorie M. Liu, Sana Takeda – A graphic novel series with lots of monsters, but my favorites are the mysterious shapeless dead gods. This series is pretty damn dark, but it also has cute, evil, talking cats, so it balances out I reviewed it here
The Devil:
For He Can Creep by Siobhan Carroll – A novelette about a cat and a deal with the devil, set in a mental asylum. Can be read for free at Tor.com
Death:
Reaper Man by Terry Pratchett – The Discworld’s anthropomorphic personification of death is in my top 3 favorite characters of the series and I fully recommend his book. For a walking talking skeleton, he’s a sweetheart really
Please enjoy this picture of the cat I accidentally summoned when I took the cover photo:
Cat is my own, Spooktastic Reads artwork by Sergey Nivens from 123RF.com
I love this list! Sometimes a gentler scary story is just what I need😁
Thanks! I’ve been living vicariously through your scary reviews of books I’ll likely never read lol
Great list! A few already on my tbr and a whole load more to add! 😃
Thanks! I hope you find some to love!
ohmigosh this is a brilliant list AND you’ve just reminded me this is the time of year you can casually use the word eldritch – thank you 😉
I haven’t been using eldritch near enough, thank you for organizing, it’s lots of fun reading everyone’s posts
Great idea for a list! Now I’m wondering if I know any books that fit this theme…maybe the YA novel Pet? (There’s a creature that appears to be a monster – it’s not a horror story, exactly, but I wouldn’t call it a light read.)
I’ve seen good stuff about Pet, sounds like it would fit!