Mythical Monsters of the World

List of the Month
October 2022 (see all)
Description
From the Loch Ness Monster to the Jersey Devil, the Japanese demon Oni to the Inuit ogress Amautalik—the world is full of mythical monsters. Our List of the Month this October is devoted to their stories. Each participant may vote on ten titles. Please only downvote titles if they do not fit the theme.
1
50,897 members
813 reviews
3.8
2
29,142 members
362 reviews
3.8
3
41,182 members
682 reviews
4
16 Members
hipdeep, conceptDawg, anglemark, deckla, kleo, malloyd, Cecrow, Heather39, gypsysmom, al.vick, ahef1963, Boand, Charon07, DoomLuz, Thelamon1, awerling
Explanations
Boand: The original classic tale of a vampire which is the source material for many subsequent modern stories.
4
107,123 members
1,296 reviews
½ 4.3
11 Members
hipdeep, deckla, malloyd, FAMeulstee, al.vick, ahef1963, juki2222, Book-Man-CMA, Thelamon1, awerling, AmbientSpiritLamb,conceptDawg , ,elahrairah
Explanations
malloyd: More than anything else, I think this book resurrected the dragon as a legitimate monster, not just an allegory for Satan.
elahrairah : great book but not our world!
5
6,685 members
118 reviews
3.8
7
8,800 members
218 reviews
4.2
8
1,692 members
10 reviews
4.2
9
9,206 members
107 reviews
3.8
7 Members
deckla, abbottthomas, sinki, tnilsson, ahef1963, ManWithAnAgenda, AmbientSpiritLamb
Explanations
abbottthomas: The Green Knight is usually portrayed as very human-looking but he is green and can carry his lopped off head around so I guess he qualifies as monstrous.
10
17,486 members
763 reviews
4
7 Members
conceptDawg, Morphidae, vwinsloe, elahrairah, DoomLuz, Thelamon1, kimsmugaotto,ahef1963
Explanations
elahrairah: i really enjoyed the zombie-apocalypse-as-sunday-supplement style of this. it turned an otherwise run-of-the-mill story into something special.
11
5,989 members
252 reviews
4
12
5,566 members
214 reviews
4
13
34,949 members
959 reviews
4.1
7 Members
deckla, ahef1963, juki2222, elahrairah, Yuki-Onna, Thelamon1, AmbientSpiritLamb, ,ManWithAnAgenda
Explanations
elahrairah: All of the myths, all at once.
14
6,402 members
115 reviews
½ 4.5
7 Members
terran, Cecrow, EMS_24, ahef1963, jsebrasky, ManWithAnAgenda, awerling, ,yoyogod
Explanations
: I'd vote for this in a heartbeat for metafiction, but while Grover is undoubtedly a monster he is not mythical.
15
556 members
4
5 Members
hipdeep, stealth.librarian, EMS_24, Elyssa523, Book-Man-CMA,ahef1963
Explanations
hipdeep: Banshees and fairies and selkies, oh my!
16
62,207 members
521 reviews
4
17
4,520 members
23 reviews
½ 4.6
19
2,825 members
163 reviews
4
20
523 members
1 review
½ 3.6
21
5,537 members
83 reviews
3.8
4 Members
paradoxosalpha, EMS_24, juki2222, maschi
Explanations
paradoxosalpha: The centerpiece of this late-antique romp is the fable of Cupid and Psyche, which is the germ of later monsters like Bluebeard and the Beast of Beauty and the Beast. (Yes, Eros is a monster of myth!)
22
30 members
3 reviews
½ 4.5
3 Members
Aquila, EMS_24, Kesterbird
Explanations
Aquila: Kurangaituku is the bird woman in the tale of Hatupatu and the Birdwoman from Aotearoa
23
204 members
4 reviews
½ 4.3
4 Members
paradoxosalpha, elenchus, rrjchristopher, Elyssa523,ahef1963
Explanations
paradoxosalpha: "the old race throwing angry primordials": a heady brew that makes you wonder what monsters are and whether you know any
elenchus: A monster from prehistoric times is found to be much closer than you might ... think.
24
3,485 members
62 reviews
3.9
4 Members
dougb56586, rrjchristopher, ForAttentionPress, kimsmugaotto
Explanations
ForAttentionPress: The Wheelers and Princess Langwidere
25
1,048 members
35 reviews
½ 3.7
4 Members
anglemark, lquilter, ahef1963, juki2222
Explanations
lquilter: Lovely story about trolls.
26
38,939 members
872 reviews
4.2
5 Members
lquilter, jsebrasky, Boand, sarahkhl, AmbientSpiritLamb,yoyogod
Explanations
Boand: The devil and an archangel toy with humans in this fun loving romp
29
17,813 members
341 reviews
3.9
30
5 members
31
10,428 members
132 reviews
3.8
32
4,515 members
36 reviews
½ 4.6
33
8,808 members
170 reviews
4
3 Members
EerierIdyllMeme, stealth.librarian, kimsmugaotto
Explanations
EerierIdyllMeme: A fun take on the vampire myth.
34
9,108 members
236 reviews
3.8
35
63 members
1 review
3.9
3 Members
paradoxosalpha, deckla, stealth.librarian
Explanations
paradoxosalpha: Current scholarship on Medieval demonology
36
6,926 members
510 reviews
½ 4.4
37
1,139 members
3 reviews
4.1
3 Members
hipdeep, Morphidae, malloyd
Explanations
malloyd: The deep influence of D&D on the video game industry, and hence modern media in general, gives even the inauthentic monsters here a shot at immortality...
38
2,030 members
22 reviews
½ 3.7
3 Members
paradoxosalpha, EMS_24, Patricia.Ralston
Explanations
paradoxosalpha: An adult fantasy that draws on biblical and other ancient Hebrew myths
39
1,379 members
22 reviews
3.8
40
439 members
2 reviews
½ 3.6
41
6,360 members
385 reviews
4.1
42
4,696 members
165 reviews
½ 3.6
2 Members
terran, tnilsson
43
2,831 members
101 reviews
4.1
44
1,724 members
118 reviews
3.9
2 Members
lquilter, gypsysmom
Explanations
lquilter: Into the Drowning Deep features a discovery of mermaids - who are not the creatures of yore.
45
18,323 members
579 reviews
½ 4.3
46
1,459 members
88 reviews
½ 4.3
2 Members
conceptDawg, EerierIdyllMeme
Explanations
EerierIdyllMeme: The narrator imagines herself and the people around her as various mythical monsters.
47
1,152 members
73 reviews
½ 3.4
3 Members
kleo, Boand, Patricia.Ralston,pstgeorge2
Explanations
Boand: A modern take on an ancient mythic monster
48
4,557 members
249 reviews
3.8
50
5 members
2 Members
Aquila, Kesterbird
Explanations
Aquila: Taniwha from Aotearoa
51
2,159 members
56 reviews
3.8
2 Members
ManWithAnAgenda, Boand
Explanations
Boand: A modern fairy tale based on characters from the ancient Welsh book The Mabinogion
52
758 members
5 reviews
½ 3.7
54
1,734 members
70 reviews
3.8
2 Members
merrystar, al.vick
55
1,199 members
10 reviews
3.9
56
2,601 members
48 reviews
½ 3.6
57
597 members
24 reviews
½ 3.4
58
3,693 members
89 reviews
½ 3.4
2 Members
hipdeep, DoomLuz
59
23,070 members
791 reviews
½ 3.7
60
17,251 members
97 reviews
3.9
2 Members
Morphidae, malloyd
Explanations
malloyd: My first (long ago elementary school) exposure to the monsters of Greek myth.
61
412 members
19 reviews
½ 3.7
2 Members
lquilter, vwinsloe
Explanations
lquilter: A wonderful story of a 19th century woman and her cryptozoological adventure ....
vwinsloe: Featuring Bigfoot, or Bigfeet, or Sasquatches?
62
1,739 members
89 reviews
3.8
2 Members
sturlington, Charon07
Explanations
sturlington: A troll living in a cave in the heart of Queens.
63
116 members
5 reviews
½ 3.4
2 Members
yoyogod, sturlington
Explanations
yoyogod: A "classic" 70s horror novel about a killer bigfoot.
64
20 members
1 review
3.8
65
2,615 members
21 reviews
4.1
2 Members
EMS_24, Book-Man-CMA
Explanations
EMS_24: Will they find the owner of these big paw marks?
66
1,253 members
49 reviews
3.8
67
2,639 members
59 reviews
4.1
3 Members
lquilter, ManWithAnAgenda, kimsmugaotto,Aquila ,merrystar
Explanations
Aquila : Not set in this world, thought there are visitors from here
68
9,181 members
405 reviews
4.1
70
49 members
1 review
½ 4.3
2 Members
hipdeep, Ciarda
71
17,404 members
134 reviews
4.2
Member
malloyd
72
3,005 members
30 reviews
4
Member
Ciarda
73
2,157 members
28 reviews
½ 3.6
Member
RaeCreated
Explanations
RaeCreated: Death and terror in the woods and Bigfoot may be the cause.
74
2,112 members
58 reviews
½ 3.7
Member
dewasus1
75
1,548 members
37 reviews
3.9
76
1,043 members
40 reviews
½ 3.5
Member
noveltea
77
933 members
43 reviews
3.8
78
862 members
33 reviews
½ 4.3
Member
nrmay
79
140 members
9 reviews
½ 4.3
Member
slimikin
80
128 members
4 reviews
½ 3.7
81
111 members
2 reviews
3.8
82
83 members
2 reviews
4.2
Member
elahrairah
Explanations
elahrairah: sometimes the monsters are us.
83
44 members
2 reviews
4.1
Member
yoyogod
Explanations
yoyogod: The albatwitch is a cryptid said to be native to my area of Pennsylvania. It is essentially a small bigfoot that throws apples at people.
84
23 members
4 reviews
3.8
85
Member
SLVMuseum
86
Member
timspalding
Explanations
timspalding: Ctesias was the first author to describe the "Manticore," among other criters.
88
12 members
1 review
4
Member
JalenV
Explanations
JalenV: This is an illustrated (cartoon style) guide to mythical monsters of many countries, most of which I had not heard of before.
89
12 members
1 review
Member
paradoxosalpha
Explanations
paradoxosalpha: Insightful scholarship concerning Rabelaisian giants and their conceptual forebears
90
25,497 members
360 reviews
3.8
Member
gypsysmom
91
18,959 members
337 reviews
3.9
Member
tina1969
92
1,708 members
117 reviews
3.8
Member
Morphidae
Explanations
Morphidae: (Ignore the cover. It's atrocious.) Whenever I hear "monsters", I think of Verity Price, who has been raised to be a cryptologist (monster hunter) since she was old enough to hold a knife in her tiny fist. What she wants to do, however, is to be a professional ball room dancer. Now if those pesky monsters would simply stay out of her way...
93
1,183 members
13 reviews
½ 4.4
Member
Heather39
94
1,028 members
23 reviews
½ 3.3
Member
yoyogod
95
944 members
37 reviews
½ 3.5
Member
sturlington
Explanations
sturlington: An abandoned amusement park that is a labyrinth, a monster at the middle of it, and a sacrifice.
96
581 members
19 reviews
4
Member
nrmay
97
451 members
3 reviews
½ 3.7
Member
JalenV
Explanations
JalenV: It's very scholarly, even if the author made a habit of quoting in original languages without always translating them.
98
284 members
16 reviews
4.2
Member
EerierIdyllMeme
Explanations
EerierIdyllMeme: One of my favourite surprise appearances of this mythical creature.
99
137 members
12 reviews
4.1
Member
slimikin
100
29 members
5
Member
KikiTuna