Monstrous Affections

Fifteen top voices in speculative fiction explore the intersection of fear and love in a haunting, at times hilarious, darkly imaginative volume. Predatory kraken that sing with -- and for -- their kin; band members and betrayed friends who happen to be demonic; harpies as likely to attract as repel. Welcome to a world where humans live side by side with monsters, from vampires both nostalgic and bumbling to an eight-legged alien who makes tea. Here you'll find mercurial forms that burrow into warm fat, spectral boy toys, a Maori force of nature, a landform that claims lives, and an architect of hell on earth. Through these and a few monsters that defy categorization, some of today's top young-adult authors explore ambition and sacrifice, loneliness and rage, love requited and avenged, and the boundless potential for connection, even across extreme borders. With monstrous stories by

M. T. Anderson

Paolo Bacigalupi

Nathan Ballingrud

Holly Black

Sarah Rees Brennan

Cassandra Clare

Nalo Hopkinson

Dylan Horrocks

Nik Houser

Alice Sola Kim

Kathleen Jennings

Joshua Lewis

Kelly Link

Patrick Ness

G. Carl Purcell