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Written by MC Smitherman

Have your dreams been nice and peaceful lately? Is your blood pressure low? Is your heart rate at a steady 60 bpm? Are you looking to ruin all of that?

Excellent.

Here at CamCat, we’ve got some of the best books to spike that heart rate and fill those dreams with nightmares beyond comprehension (in a good way, of course). Today we’re delving into three of our top monster books that are sure to keep you turning the pages in desperation to find out what horrors await you beyond the fold. Whether you’re on the hunt for lurking wraiths and avaricious serial killers, the ghosts and vampires that still linger in a climate-ravaged future, or a dark twist on fairy tales and Norse mythology, we’ve got you covered.

Claw Heart Mountain

David Oppegaard

Imagine you are on the way to a remote mountain cabin with your friends. Upon arrival, you discover an abandoned armored van with fifteen million dollars on board. Would you take the money?

Nova and her friends answer with a resounding yes. Perhaps their answer would have been different had they known that a professional killer was already tracking down the money. Or that a legendary creature known as the Wraith roams the mountain, ravenous with hunger.

Thinking they’re safe and anonymous, Nova and her friends divvy up the stolen cash, unaware who or what is after them, unaware that soon they will be fighting for their lives.

When the Night Bell Rings

Jo Kaplan

In a future ravaged by fire and drought, two climate refugees ride their motorcycles across the wasteland of the western US, and stumble upon an old silver mine. Descending into the cool darkness of the caved-in tunnels in desperate search of water, the two women find Lavinia Cain’s diary, a settler in search of prosperity who brought her family to Nevada in the late 1860s. 

But Lavinia and the settlers of the Western town discovered something monstrous that dwells in the depths of the mine, something that does not want greedy prospectors disturbing the earth. Whispers of curses and phantom figures haunt the diary, and now, over 150 years later, trapped and injured in the abandoned mine, the women discover they’re not alone . . . with no easy way out. 

The monsters are still here—and they’re thirsty. 

The Girl in the Corn

Jason Offutt

Fairies don’t exist. At least that’s what Thomas Cavanaugh’s parents say. But the events of that one night, when he follows a fairy into the cornfield on his parents’ farm, prove them wrong. What seems like a destructive explosion was, Thomas knows, an encounter with Dauðr, a force that threatens to destroy the fairy’s world and his sanity.

Years later, after a troubled childhood and a series of dead-end jobs, he is still haunted by what he saw that night. One day he crosses paths with a beautiful young woman and a troubled young man, soon realizing that he first met them as a kid while under psychiatric care after his encounters in the cornfield. Has fate brought them together? Are they meant to join forces to save the fairy’s world and their own? Or is one of them not who they claim to be?

Thank you so much for checking out our recommendations. Here’s hoping at least one of these fantastic novels catches you in its clutches.

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