European Monsters

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.

Here be European Monsters: a phantasmagoric delight of image and word direct from the uncharted realms of the imagination. Remember to keep those lanterns lit in the small hours, because darkness is an invitation to these horrors…
Simon Marshall-Jones of Spectral Press

A richly imagined and dangerous journey through the grimdark haunts of European monsters, some prey in their natural mythical habitats while others take their hunts into more modern and urban settings. Illustrated with beautiful evocative art, this is a wonderful and terrible book to treasure.
Suzanne McLeod, author of the Spellcrackers urban fantasy series.

The book was published in December 2014 and can be ordered as paperback here.

Table of contents

Wonderful short stories from
Jonathan Grimwood
Anne Michaud
James Bennett
Byron Black
Hannah Kate
Joan De La Haye
Aliya Whiteley
Nerine Dorman
Aliette le Bodard
Krista Walsh
Chris Galvin
Peter Damien
Icy Sedgwick.

Also graphic stories by Adrian Tchaikovsky/ Eugene Smith (artist) and Jasper Bark/ Fabian Tuñon Benzo (artist).

Plus an awesome group of artists/ illustrators: Daniele Serra (who also did the wonderful cover art), Eugene Smith, Gavin Pollock and Kieran Walsh.

Reviews and mentions

• 29.01.2018 : Runalong The Shelves
• 15.04.2016 : SFFWorld.com – Fight Like a Girl Interview – Part One
• 28.07.2015: Nerds of a feather, flock together – review
• 30.04.2015: The Future Fire – review
• 26.02.2015: Starbust Magazine – review
• 27.11.2014: Dark Wolf’s Fantasy Reviews: Table of contents – “European Monsters” edited by Jo Thomas & Margrét Helgadóttir
• 25.11.2014: This Is Horror: Look Out For… The Nickronomicon by Nick Mamatas and European Monsters

Blog posts from the authors

24.11.2014: The Editors – Monster Chat
25.11.2014: Aliya Whiteley: The Exmoor Beast
26.11.2014: Icy Sedgwick: Bringing The Cursed One to Life
27.11.2014: Krista Walsh: Making Moments
28.11.2014: Nerine Dorman: For The Love of Blackbirds
29.11.2014: Anne Michaud: We Can Still Be Wolves
30.11.2014: James Bennett: Shadows Under Bridges
19.12.2014: Hannah Kate: Unsympathetic Werewolves
20.12.2014: Peter Damien: Mermaids and the Deep
20.12.2014: Chris Galvin: New Monster Story in a New Anthology of Monsters

Other stuff

26.12.2014: European Monsters Writing Prompt competition, on The Future Fire’s Blog