7 Books in Which Giant Monsters Reign Supreme

Shambling Towards Hiroshima, by James Morrow
A lot of giant monster books look to the sea for their titanic terrors, but Jame’s Morrow’s novel keeps things on dry land. Honestly, since that’s where we keep our houses and cars and donut shops, that’s the more frightening location. Shambling Towards Hiroshima is a work of satire that sticks close to the Godzilla mythos and the romp and stomp atmosphere of classic monster movies. It’s the summer of 1945 and Syms Thorley is living a quiet life as a B-movie actor. Meanwhile, the U.S. Navy is working on a new breed of biological weapons in the form of gigantic, fire-breathing iguanas. Can’t give NASA a few extra pennies, but the Navy gets mutant lizards. Sheesh. Thorley is recruited by the Navy to don a rubber suit and film a simulated attack on a miniature Japanese city in order to scare the nation into surrendering. Propaganda at its finest. If the movie works, the end of World War II won’t be quite so atomic in nature.

Earthworm Gods, by Brian Keene
A flood of gargantuan proportions rains down on the Earth, leaving humanity scrambling for survival. Teddy and his buddy Carl were clever, though, and holed themselves up in a safe little mountain home. Safe, that is, until Teddy notices giant, slime-coated holes appearing in his yard. It’s easy to make a joke about giant earthworms, but in this case, that’s the truth! The earthworms are intent on taking over the world, especially the monstrous earthworm Teddy eventually battles. Wait, spoiler alert? Nah, you knew there’d be an actual giant earthworm. I mean, the book bills them as the new gods of mankind. You don’t get that kind of street cred wriggling on the end of a hook.

Meg: A Novel of Deep Terror, by Steve Allen
What’s scarier than prehistoric sharks big enough to eat whales? A whole population of prehistoric sharks big enough to eat whales surviving to the modern day. Allen’s series of Meg novels pulls us into the murky world of a group of carcharodon megalodons and the marine paleontologist they fascinate. Scientists love to poke and prod to uncover nature’s mysteries, but when Dr. Taylor heads down to investigate these ancient sharks, he quickly realizes they’re not friendly types. I could have told him that, but live and learn, eh? Plenty of big creatures to give you your giant monster fix. Not so many cities destroyed, but it’s not the sharks’ fault we turned out to be land organisms.

Kraken, by China Mieville
A monster tale can’t go wrong including a kraken—just ask any seafaring Norse storyteller from the 13th century. Mieville’s novel is less about crunching cities and more about age-old secrets and hidden evils. The thinking reader’s monster book, if you will. In London’s Darwin Centre, a cephalopod scientist is leading a tour when the museum’s prized giant squid carcass suddenly disappears. As it turns out, there’s an ancient sect of squid worshippers called the Congregation of God Kraken who really want to harness the kraken’s powers to destroy mankind. The scientist unwittingly holds the key, and he naturally becomes the target of every whacked-out cultist, magician, and weirdo in the city. But the real kraken is the darker side of human nature, amirite?

Leviathan, by Jared Sandman
The ocean really is the perfect breeding for titanic monsters. There’s plenty of room, lots of sushi to eat, and most importantly, humans can’t just stroll over and prove there aren’t monsters sitting on the ocean floor. Sandman’s Leviathan dives under the sea with a gigantic beast who has remained hidden for millennia. A marine biologist notices some strange predatory activity in ye olde ocean, leading to the discovery of a giant sea creature in the middle of the Atlantic. Could this be the biblical leviathan? Or maybe it’s just swamp gas? Practically every rich dude and government agency is in a race to find out. Also, spoiler: it’s not swamp gas.

Tim: Defender of the Earth, by Sam Enthoven
Monsters aren’t always bad, as Godzilla himself has proven on a number of occasions. Sure, the destruction of cities and naval bases isn’t necessarily something we want to happen, but giant lizards will be giant lizards, and they can’t help a little collateral damage from an innocent tail swipe. Sam Enthoven’s book tells the story of TIM (Tyrannosaurus: Improved Model), the product of a top-secret military project (aren’t they all?). In a nice change of pace, Tim isn’t really interested in destroying everything. He’s basically a big clumsy teenager who likes rainbows and games of chess at the park. When a world-destroying nanobot threat rears its microscopic head, Tim drops everything and come to Earth’s rescue. Much appreciated, dino-bro!

Godzilla Returns, by Marc Cerasini
Godzilla Returns is the first in a series of novels starring the inimitable Godzilla. Think of them as Godzilla movies in book form: surprisingly readable, with that delicious monster-stomping aftertaste we all love. Godzilla Returns brings the beast back to destroy Tokyo once again. Saying they can’t catch a break is pretty much moot at this point. A young reporter is assigned to cover the “OMG Godzilla is here run” story. He soon becomes obsessed with the legend of the monster and spends his time uncovering its origins. He’s going to destroy the city anyway, so we might as well learn something along the way.
Cast your vote: CGI eye candy or Man in Suit?