We know them from ancient legends and tales whispered by the campfire. They don’t sparkle or have any interest in us except to tear us apart. Forgotten, unknown, misunderstood, overused, watered down. We want to give them a renaissance, to reestablish their dark reputation, to give them a comeback, let the world know of their real terror.
The Fox Spirit Books of Monsters is a coffee table book series from Fox Spirit Books with dark fiction and art about monsters from around the world, seven volumes between 2014 and 2020, starting with Europe in 2014, continuing with Africa in 2015, Asia in 2016 and Pacific area (Australia, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands (including Hawaii) in 2017. Volume five and six will cover South, Mid and North America (including the Caribbean islands) before the series end with Eurasia in the end of 2020.
African Monsters is a fantastic anthology featuring many African writers at the forefront of the new wave of Speculative Fiction tapping directly into the deep and rich mythology of African cultures.
Ivor W. Hartmann, editor for African Roar and AfroSF volume 1 & 2.
African monsters is filled with speculative fiction about monsters based on African folklore, legends and history, written by African authors. The book was published December 15th 2015 and can be bought as paperback at Amazon here (UK) and here (US).
The book’s pages at Fox Spirit Books and Goodreads. Book trailer on You Tube.
There was a launch party at Forbidden Planet in London March 3rd 2016, see here and a few pictures here.
Table of Contents
- Nnedi Okorafor: “On the Road”
- Joan de la Haye: “Impundulu”
- Tade Thompson: “One Hundred and Twenty Days of Sunlight”
- Jayne Bauling: “Severed”
- Su Opperman: “The Death of One” (graphic story)
- T.L. Huchu: “Chikwambo”
- Dilman Dila: “Monwor”
- S. Lotz: “That Woman”
- Toby Bennett: “Sacrament of Tears”
- Chikodili Emelumadu: “Bush Baby”
- Joe Vaz: “After The Rain”
- Dave-Brendon de Burgh: “Taraab and Terror in Zanzibar”
- Nerine Dorman: “A Whisper in the Reeds”
- Vianne Venter: “Acid Test”
- Nick Wood: “Thandiwe’s Tokoloshe”
- James Bennett and Dave Johnson (artist): “A Divided Sun” (graphic story)
Plus awesome illustrations from Su Opperman, Kieran Walsh, Vincent Holland-Keen, Eugene Smith and Benali Amine. Cover art is by Daniele Serra.
Awards
The book was shortlisted to British Fantasy Award 2016 in the category “Best Anthology”.
And, lovely Sheffield Fantasy & Science Fiction Social Club picked out the book as one of three best anthologies for their SFSF Awards 2016.
And, one of the short stories from African Monsters – “Bush Baby” by Chikodili Emelumadu – was shortlisted to 2017 Caine Prize for African Writing.
Reviews
- 03.09.2022 : Imyril. There’s Always Room For One More (Part 3)
- 18.08.2022 : Imyril. There’s Always Room For One More (Part 2)
- 12.08.2022 : Imyril. There’s Always Room For One More (Part 1)
- 16.01.2021 : Runalong The Shelves
- 14.03.2017 : A Fantastical Librarian (Mieneke van der Salm)
- 15.08.2016 : Based On A True Story
- 02.08.2016 : The Future Fire (Cait Coker)
- 07.07.2016 : South African Speculative Fiction Review
- 16.05.2016 : Storyological (podcast – review of Nick Wood’s short story in African Monsters)
- 08.04.2016 : Starburst Magazine (Ed Fortune)
- 15.03.2016 : bookshy – Five reasons why I loved ‘African Monsters’
- 09.03.2016 : R.R.A.P. Magazine – review part three
- 08.03.2016 : R.R.A.P. Magazine – review part two
- 07.03.2016 : R.R.A.P. Magazine – review part one
- 04.03.2016 : Nerds-feather
- 01.02.2016 : Joanne Hall
- 29.12.2015 : James Nicoll Reviews
Mentions, interviews and articles
- 26.08.2019: Vector – The Speculative Turn in African Literature – Guest editorial by Michelle Louise Clarke that appeared in Vector 289
- 31.10.2018: Citizen Historian – Podcast Episode 4 – African Monsters (Halloween Special) – Interview with Nerine Dorman and Toby Bennett
- 31.03.2018 : Locus – African SFF 2017 by Geoff Ryman
- 17.06.2017 : Caine Prize – Listen to Estella Daniels read Chikodili Emelumadu’s story “Bush Baby”
- 13.06.2017 : Wasafiri Magazine – Interview with Chikodili Emelumadu
- 16.05.2017 : Caine Prize – Shortlist Caine Prize 2017, press release
- 22.04.2017 : Unsong Stories – Listen to Nick Wood read his story “Thandiwe’s Tokoloshe”
- 30.12.2016 : Sheffield Fantasy & Science Fiction Social Club – SFSF Awards 2016
- 19.12.2016 : Boing Boing – Ten of 2016’s most notable African science fiction and fantasy stories
- 10.12.2016 : Wole Talabi – My Favorite African Science Fiction and Fantasy (AfroSFF) Short Fiction of 2016
- 05.11.2016 : Blogarama – On African Horror Fiction, Halloween, Lights Out: Resurrection, Writing and Reading – A Conversation, with Wole Talabi and Nerine Dorman (interview)
- 19.09.2016 : Bookshy – Four and a Half Years Later: Science Fiction and Fantasy in African Literature
- 15.08.2016 : The Herald – Africa writes back: 10 books to look out for
- 27.07.2016 : Imyril – Reblog: Monster Book Giveaway
- 30.06.2016 : New African Magazine – Africa writes back: 10 books to look out for
- 19.06.2016 : bookshy – Read It! Loved It! African Literature on the Interweb
- 31.05.2016 : Imyril – Top Ten Tuesday: books for the summer
- 15.04.2016 : SFFWorld.com – Fight Like a Girl Interview – Part One
- 14.04.2016 : Salvage – Some Theses on Monsters. Article by Mark Bould
- 01.04.2016 : Mithila Review – AfroSF Now: A Snapshot, Seven Novels and a Film. Article by Mark Bould
- 15.03.2016 : Dark Wolf’s Fantasy Reviews – African Monsters, Table of Contents
- 29.02.2016 : Strange Horizons – Emerging Trends in African Speculative Fiction. Article by Chinelo Onwualu
- 05.01.2016 : This is Horror – Look Out For… Can & Can’tankerous by Harlan Ellision and African Monsters
- 25.12.2015 : Fantástica – Ficción – Contenidos y portada de African Monsters
- 23.12.2015 : A Fantastical Librarian – Editor Query – Margrét Helgadóttir and Jo Thomas (Interview)
- 21.12.2015 : bookshy – My Top Moments in African Literature in 2015
- 17.12.2015 : Cheryl’s Mewsings – Get Your African Monsters Here
- 17.12.2015 : Mark Bould – AfroSF volume 2 (2015), edited by Ivor W. Hartmann
- 12.12.2015 : Mark Bould – African Science Fiction 101: update 2
- 09.12.2015 : BooksLIVE – The New Wave of Speculative Fiction: African Monsters
- 29.11.2015 : Boing Boing – Here are 10 of 2015’s best African science fiction and fantasy stories
- 28.11.2915 : Wole Talabi – My Favorite African Science Fiction and Fantasy (AfroSFF) Short Fiction of 2015
- 28.11.2015 : SF Signals – Table of Contents: AFRICAN MONSTERS
Blog posts by the contributors & editors
- 09.02.2016 : Su Opperman – A Mirror to a Tenebruos Sun
- 20.12.2015 : Fox Spirit Books : Nick Wood – The Tokoloshe
- 20.12.2015 : Fox Spirit Books : Su Opperman – A Mirror to a Tenebrous Sun
- 19.12.2015 : The Book Smugglers : Smugglivus 2015 Guest Author: Margrét Helgadóttir
- 19.12.2015 : Fox Spirit Books : Chikodili Emelumadu – Not Just a Vag ina
- 18.12.2015 : Fox Spirit Books : Jayne Bauling – Sunlight, shadow and Ichitapa
- 17.12.2015 : Fox Spirit Books : Nerine Dorman – At the River’s Edge
- 16.12.2015 : Joan de la Haye – African Monsters
- 16.12.2015 : Fox Spirit Books : Dilman Dila – Monsters
- 15.12.2015 : Fox Spirit Books : Toby Bennett – Behind ‘Sacrament of Tears’
- 14.12.2015 : Fox Spirit Books : Dave de Burgh – Behind the Scenes
- 13.12.2015 : Fox Spirit Books : The Editors
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