Best Asian fictional giant monsters

Big Man Japan

The Host (Gwoemul)

Godzilla

Mothra

Hedorah

Wangmagwi

Gigan

Yongary

Guilala

Pulgarsari

Varan

Gappa

Rodan

Angilas

King Ghidorah

Dogora

Gamera

Ebirah

Barugon

Gyaos

Son of Godzilla, Minilla

Viras

Guiron

Zigra

Daigoro

Megalon

Mechagodzilla

Biollante

Destoroyah

Megaguirus

Ultraman

Garuda

Reigo

Negadon

Mongolian Death Worm

Orangutan King: The Mighty Peking Man

Orochi

Rosy's scrawled book recommendation: The Nightside series by Simon R Green

The Nightside series
Simon R Green

Books 

Something from the Nightside
Agents of Light and Darkness
Nightingale's Lament
Hex and the City
Paths not Taken
Sharper than a Serpent's Tooth
Hell to Pay
The Unnatural Inquirer
Just Another Judgement Day
The Good, the Bad, and the Uncanny
A Hard Day's Knight
The Bride Wore Black Leather

(Plus some short stories)

Blurb for Something from the Nightside

John Taylor is not a private detective per se, but he has a knack for finding lost things. That's why he's been hired to descend into the Nightside, an otherworldly realm in the center of London where fantasy and reality share renting space and the sun never shines.


Publishers
ACE (US)
Solaris Books (UK)

Rosy's scrawlings on The Nightside series
This is one of my favourite kick back on a Friday night series. Plus any other night, of course, but you get what I mean instantly when I say Friday night. This is B-rated monster heaven for many a reader or even avid movie watcher written with style and kept short and snappy. My saying B-rated might make you think the writing isn't up to par or the subject matter lacks a certain something in morals or life lessons but you'd be wrong, although you could ignore all that if you like and just focus on the monster mayhem. The B-rating is entirely due to the monster movie parallel that pairs it with greats like Evil Dead: one of the ultimate Friday night movies.
In this series you'll find all the best and some new creatures, beings, monsters and gods and their relationships within the under-London/alternate-London/alternate-world or dimension called The Nightside are anything but friendly. Schemes are spun for power on a day-to-day basis, deals are done for survival and everyone is on the run from some other monster, which includes the most powerful of The Nightside. The one who inspires such fear in most, as well as a hefty dose of hatred and disdain amongst other things, is John Taylor. He's an odd pick for a monster of monsters considering he's mostly human, mostly reasonable and on the run himself. Still, he manages to play the role of the monster's monster rather well. His ability is truly fearsome, when he chooses to use it.
Within The Nightside series almost everyone has an ability that sets the apart and few are human anymore, if they ever were. But the general inhabitants of The Nightside aren't those that John Taylor tends to play with. Instead he deals with the god of the razor blade, post-apocalyptic monsters from the far future, the adventuring hero of heroes, the god of skin and other such worrying creatures. Not to mention a rather warped version of Merlin, a son of the devil. John Taylor is mostly unwanted and unwelcome so in order to deal with any at all threats are slung and some followed through on. Blood and gore flows, darkness is held back (just), and the worst mother of all time is sent packing (John hopes).
The Nightside series, as you can probably now tell, is a Friday night B-rated horror comedy movie writ large. And, like Terry Pratchett's light fantasy comedy works, there's much wisdom and insight to be found if you choose to pay attention. Best of all though, this series is fun, quick to read, engaging and well-rounded. The Nightside may be a contained domain but its presence and impact bleed out not just into the world beyond but into your mind as you're reading. It is a dark fairyland for the morbid and playful to enjoy.

I'd recommend this series to: those interested in quick paced dark fantasy, dark comedy and monster stories. Also, anyone who typically watches movies and TV shows rather than reading books will find this a great way to crack into the world of books.

Rosy's scrawled book recommendation: Monster Hunter International by Larry Correia

Monster Hunter International
Larry Correia

Blurb
Five days after Owen Zastava Pitt pushed his insufferable boss out of a fourteenth story window, he woke up in the hospital with a scarred face, an unbelievable memory, and a job offer. 
It turns out that monsters are real.  All the things from myth, legend, and B-movies are out there, waiting in the shadows.  Officially secret, some of them are evil, and some are just hungry.  On the other side are the people who kill monsters for a living.  Monster Hunter International is the premier eradication company in the business.     
And now Owen is their newest recruit.  It’s actually a pretty sweet gig, except for one little problem.  An ancient entity known as the Cursed One has returned to settle a centuries old vendetta.  Should the Cursed One succeed, it means the end of the world, and MHI is the only thing standing in his way.  With the clock ticking towards Armageddon, Owen finds himself trapped between legions of undead minions, belligerent federal agents, a cryptic ghost who has taken up residence inside his head, and the cursed family of the woman he loves.
Business is good.
Welcome to Monster Hunter International. 

Publisher
Baen

ISBN
9781439132852

Rosy's scrawlings on Monster Hunter International
Just a quick note before I dive into the book raving: I love the cover art by Alan Pollack. I kept going back to look at it while reading.
This book is longer than most printed nowadays, most publishers tending to limit pages as publication is then cheaper, and for a dark fantasy focused on the mass murder of various monsters it is a long story. But by no means is the story tedious because of the length, although you may get a little frustrated at having to wait for some of the answers. Alternatively, you may get a little annoyed and want to slap Owen for being so clueless. That's all just part of the charm of this ultra-violent story though. From one minute to the next you're engaged and hooked on either finding out what's going on or being smug over at least knowing you know more than Owen does. In the meantime, you also get to enjoy the big man Owen getting his arse kicked left, right and centre despite his being more armed than your average soldier.
At one point a particularly powerful and nasty vampire asks "Just how many guns do you have?" (not verbatim, I believe) and there's no more relevant question that can be asked. To be perfectly honest, I lost track myself but then I'm not really into guns, vaguely knowledgeable about guns or even interested in getting much of a clue at this point in life. You point, you stroke the trigger, you watch the kickback, protect your ears if you can and try to hit the side of the barn. That's about it for me. And in Monster Hunter International I found myself bombarded with gun tech talk and geekdom beyond my comprehension. It was impressive to say the least. I have run across one other series that has become increasingly focused on weapons details but even then it wasn't to this degree. From my standpoint of mostly ignorant though, I have to say that reading the details in this book compared to the other series was far more enjoyable as in this book there's a sort of game feel. Funnily enough, or not, there is now a game to match and I wasn't surprised at all to find this out as throughout the book I kept thinking "this would make a really good blast-em-up game like Doom or some such".
At the risk of suddenly sounding like a granny I'll say this: Owen is a lovely man, aside from his gun fetish and touch of ultra-violence. He is, as mentioned above, a little dense at times and a little prone to rushing in like a fool but he's constantly wanting only the best for those he cares for, putting his foot in his mouth or at least mumbling and stuttering shyly, blushing and being uncommonly awkward for a hero when it comes to all things romantic. It is actually quite nice to read about such a character, particularly when he's an otherwise capable action hero who routinely finds himself in particularly nasty situations. Julie, his love, is far more cutting, ruthless and adept when it comes to matters of the heart, let alone shooting, monster eradication and practically everything else. To see the pair balanced this way is quite nice, as it reveals Owen's golden heart which would otherwise be hidden under the brutal violence he deals out and it highlights Julie's bravery and skills in a manner that isn't belittled by circumstances or alternate views. There is no compromise in the writing of either character or in their rounding out and the play between them is both interesting to follow and heartening. All while blood is flying endless.
If that's not enough, there's a mystery to be unravelled, forces of evil to be battled against, an item that can stop or control time that mustn't be used and a ghost rattling about in Owen's head. And that's all after Owen fights a slavering, killer werewolf who happens to be his boss, snaps its neck and throws it out a 14th storey window. Monster Hunter International is addictive and enjoyable throughout and will likely keep you up at night as you try to find some gap in the bloodshed where you could possible shut the book and go to sleep. Yes, you may end up dreaming of killing monsters...

I'd recommend this book to: gun nuts or general gun enthusiasts, dark fantasy lovers and those interested in reading books containing a wide range of new and classic monsters. I'd say it would appeal to men more than women if I didn't know that women also enjoy a hefty dose of violence. They just need to know where to find it. Women will also enjoy Owen's awkwardness when approaching Julie. So I'd say there's something in this book for everyone.

Why are clowns so scary they become fictional monsters?

The following is from one looking at this problem from the outside in so there's bound to be a lot of hypothesizing. Personally, clowns aren't all that scary but they can be a little intimidating at times but mainly for the big unknown man aspect rather than anything else. That does not stop me from being stubborn though. If this childhood story of mine is the truth. I only remember flashes of this so most of this story is second hand. Apparently there was a birthday party (don't remember who for) where all the kids were assembled on the grass and there was a clown up front. You know, the typical scene. But we were all around four or five rather than sniping older kids prone to bullying the clown. So, the clown says "sit down everyone" and all the kids sat down and quietly stared up at him (this is a flash of memory). Except me. Apparently I stood there in the midst of the pack of kids and refused to obey orders. Even from a stranger wearing in what is effectively a mask. Stubborn, no?

So clowns aren't too scary for me. Thus the question. Why are clowns scary? Why are they scary enough to become fictional monsters? Why are they cast as fictional serial killers or maniacs? Why are they shot before questioned in police dramas? Why are they depicted as drug crazed? In fact, are we scared of clowns or do we just hate them? There's probably a little of both feelings involved, as is usually the case when people are afraid. Hate what you're afraid of because it dared to make you afraid. Kill it so you never have to be afraid again. That sort of thing.

Still, fear seems integral to all the emotional responses we have to a clown. So, why do we fear clowns? Here's some I can understand, some that could also be sneakily drawn on to create a really scary clown.

The masked man
His or her real features are almost unrecognisable under the wig and makeup and strange puffy clothing. You're unlikely to be able to identify him or her on the street afterwards unless they were a relative. I believe the fear of the masked one response is a fear mainly induced by male clowns rather than female ones. Possibly for the lower voice, height, build and large hands. Females tend to be less threatening even if they are of heavier build or quite tall as they tend to be softer, rounder, have smaller hands, a higher and more normal voice to a child (children's voices are all high) and it is possible they colour coordinate a little better merely from intense and long lasting practice.

The stranger
The clown is likely to be someone you don't know at all. Add to that, you can't see what he or she really looks like so there's no real way of identifying the person or anything about them. Stranger danger isn't always taught. Sometimes - I'd actually say quite often if I could get away with it - it is instinctual for a child to fear someone unknown.


Our early facial recognition abilities see them as mutants or other
The lines on their faces are in the wrong places, are the wrong shape and over emphasis or enlarge features beyond easy recognition. We have to consciously look past the paint in order to see the person beneath but that is something learnt. It isn't an instinctual skill at all and so the younger the child the more likely they are to see the painted face as the clown's real face. Now, I don't care how nicely you curve those lines and how big and shiny your eyes are made out to be, if you don't look near human you're going to come across as quite scary to some young children. Purely because they can't see past the paint. Clowns can become aliens and monsters because of their paint.


The inability to predict their actions
As the facial features of a clown are covered it is very hard to tell whether they're frowning, laughing, crying, glaring etc. So you don't know if they're annoyed or upset. And if you don't know then all those quick movements can be read anyway you instinctively do. They could be signs of aggression which would induce fear. That's pretty natural. Also, because you can't properly see any of those emotional indicators you find it hard to tell just what that clown is about to do. Will they grab you? Or will they try to play a trick on you? Do you need to run away from them yet? Why not run now to get out of harms way so as to save worrying about it?

They invade your space
A clown is desperate to entertain at times and will bound up to a small child in hope of a good response or just call out to them and demand a response of an unprepared child. Meanwhile the small child feels suddenly dwarfed and threatened, resulting in tears and cries for a parent. And as you know, some childhood traumas stick. Alternatively, something like stage fright can hit as the child struggles to comprehend just what's being asked of him or her. Especially if the eyes of other children and parents are on them, waiting.

They're loud and boisterous when you aren't and often demand you be too
This means they're likely to call upon you if you're not responding properly, on their part purely to pull you into the game and entertain. Also, because they're loud and boisterous they seem to be even more incomprehensible than when just standing about in heavy makeup, bright puffy clothes, strange shoes and a bright wig. Why are they jumping about all of a sudden? Why are they yelling? What's so exciting? What's going on? In all, it is an unpleasant overload of the senses that confuses the mind.

They perform tricks you can't understand
If being incomprehensibly loud and boisterous wasn't enough clowns also perform tricks you just can't understand and rarely do they explain them to you. This leaves you confused and befuddled (or confuddled) and struggling to catch up with just what's happening before your eyes. On top of that, it seems they are disobeying all the rules of the world you'd learnt up until then. Things don't appear out of thin air just because you wished for them. You'd already learnt that when wishing for cake and ice cream and even your mother had said "No, it'll rot your teeth". Not to mention what happens when you forget to tell someone you lost a tooth and your tooth is still there in the morning even though you were wishing for money, money, money so you could buy a lolly from the school canteen. It just isn't right that the clown's pulling coins from nowhere without losing his or her teeth! They must be fearfully strong magic wielders who want to keep all their secrets to themselves. Enter a little hate along with that fear.

They're laughter is spooky
This is because a clown often has to laugh even after a kid has kicked him or her, or a kid has destroyed the show and reduced their pay, or a parent has become loud and aggressive during the show. The laugh is false. They aren't happy. Yet the makeup says they're still smiling and wide-eyed happy. The problem here is that children can tell when laughter is faked even if they can't say just what the problem is or why they feel suddenly creeped out or scared. This is where the creepy clown laughter that's become so famous comes from. Forced, false and possibly evil laughter from a strange unreadable man (generally) wearing a mask who's intent on getting your attention no matter what and in doing so grabs you and draws you into his game.

I think I'm beginning to see why people are scared of clowns and why clown trauma seems to be a lasting one. And that's just with normal clowns, the average kiddy garden party variety.

Think Pennywise is scary?

He's just fictional. Nothing to worry about.

You can just change the channel or hit stop on your remote.

This guy is scary. Be very, very scared.

He's John Wayne Gacy and he's a real serial killer.

Also, strangely noted as one fact about his clown costume, he's of the rarer 'friendly' clown sort where the lines on his face are pointed, a feature usually only created for evil or scary clowns. I think it is a tad telling...

Then comes things like real serial killers dressing as clowns to pick victims, clowns as the chosen shapes of fictional monsters, clowns as chainsaw wielding maniacs on television and in the movies, clowns returning from the dead and killing people, dead clowns paired with spooky ice cream trucks playing the ice cream song off key... The clown has a lot to contend with just to make someone laugh. And it seems that we laugh the most when the clown is safely fenced in with the other actors and performers in a circus ring - far from where they can reach us and pick us out from all the rest sitting there watching. We feel much safety in numbers while sitting around a circus ring, more than we ever do while at a garden party.

So, to end this as my clown analysis has become long, I'd like to point out that if you're creating a scary clown character it is easy to make them truly terrifying. Imbue them with real power. Give them strange clown makeup with dulled, worn or unusual colouring. Make the lines on their faces harsh and inhuman. Make their facial expressions barely readable beneath the makeup yet hinting at the opposite of what the makeup suggests (if happy makeup then frowning features, if frowning makeup then an evil grin). Make them laugh in all the wrong way, grab at people, be unpredictable and invasive. Everything that terrifies the child. Because that terror is likely still festering away in your audience, there for playing with.

Fashionable monsters and fashions in writing

Like anything else popular the world of writing has its fashions and fads, largely provoked by reader enthusiasms and the overlay of movie characters and stories with those solely found in books. One of the strangest fashions about though has got to be one that's all too obvious at the moment, now that we're all sick and tired of romantic vampires. And that is that monsters can be, have been and will be fashionable.


The strange thing about monsters being fashionable is not that we choose to find all monsters fashionable at once but rather that we choose one monster to be fashionable at a time and generally caste the others by the wayside as uncool in the process. Pity the frankenstein's monsters. I've only read one series of late where they've had a mention. Luckily this series is a fantastic read and breathes new life into these creatures that are barely living in the first place (Simon R Green's Nightside series if you're interested).


So not long before vampires hit the big time, and I don't mean good old scary vampires but rather those horrible overly-romantic incarnations that don't have one ring of truth about them, were the werewolves. Now werewolves are often paired with vampires in a bid to keep both popular when both are fairly worn out re characterisation. Still, I do appreciate the return of the vicious werewolf to most of our current stories although I argue that they're heads and tails more capable of dominating the vampires if only someone would dare to write such a story (feel free to disagree but they do move about in the day, keep their reason and strength most of the time and aren't controlled by bloodlust all the time).

(Sorry, had to include this picture even though just looking at his expression makes me cringe...)

Even in children's stories, toys and movies there are fads and fashions. Fairies have had a fairly constant popularity amongst the young but the unicorns go in and out of favour with children. Gnomes, pixies and dwarves have fairly dropped off the radar except in the Grimm's fairytale remakes and the occasional Disney movie but there is a place for the scary but golden-hearted monster now. From Gruffalo to Monster's Inc the scary monster has been made over much like vampires have been (minus the romance), making them cute and cuddly if not on the outside then the inside.


Before the latest loves of vampires and werewolves (don't forget they had a few bouts of popularity and then stigmatism before) and scary golden-hearted monsters were giant beasts made so by radiation, furry but highly destructive gremlins and alien monsters (could be intelligent if they were lucky) who visited us or we encountered in our space adventures. While they all retain a certain place in our hearts because they were so loved they are in fact largely unfashionable now unless a master story-teller is at work. Newbies eat your heart out. Nerds and geeks both would complain that none of these were now uncool and they'd be right as far as I'm concerned but then I am one of the nerds and geeks. My vote is biased.

If you wrote on these unfashionable but still cool monsters now either of two things would happen. You'd either usher them back into massive popularity or you'd never see you work properly recognised, whether it goes to print or not. The trick to writing a popular piece is something most writers are unsure of and in fact are surprised by when it happens to their work some ten years after the initial publication. Why that is, is because fashion is a completely illogical thing.


Fashion is based on any combination of mass peer pressure, a sudden and unpredictable liking of the masses for something possibly considered horrendous at any other time that needs to be justified (enter peer pressure again), a sudden and unpredictable return of the masses to classic loves usually brought on by overdoing the previous fashion or by the reaching of middle age by the largest group of consumers (that old mid-life crisis thing comes into play), individuality being mass produced by a or many companies which are followed en masse by those desiring something 'new' or 'fresh', the popular opinion of a large group of people voting individually (the fashion most hope for as it is the most pure re fan appreciation), the announcement of something as fashionable by the elite of the industry which is then backed up by subordinates or anyone who wants to be in the know. It is quite hard to predict what is going to change when in any particular industry unless you happen to be in a position to change fashion. As a writer, there isn't much of a chance unless you're already doing rather well and get recognised by those in a parallel story-based industry.

That leaves writers with a simple choice. Follow fashion and risk being labelled a follower or a user of stereotypes. Or break fashion and strike out on your own, whether through subverting stereotypes and current fashion or by ignoring it altogether, to risk being unrecognised or quickly forgotten.


Personally, I'd say just write what you're comfortable with so that the world in your mind is portrayed in brilliant colour to someone else even though it is transferred through black scribbles. That way, fashionable or no, popular monster included or no, the story will be appreciated. You might find yourself stuck in the middle road of success for longer (or not if you're lucky) but you will have your work appreciated for its intensity.

Monsters: monstrous, sexy, appealing and cuddly

A question that has been rattling around in the back of my head is this: Why do we keep altering our traditional monsters to make them cuddly or sexy?

Weren't they good enough as monsters to terrify us? By changing them are we removing our fear? Or are we expanding upon the mythologies, warning on a greater scale not to trust the beautiful and the appealing just because they are beautiful and appealing?

It's a bit of each as far as I can tell Plus a dash of intentional altering of the product, thereby expanding the market, in order to make the monsters appeal to children and the squeamish. Well, maybe just the squeamish, the over-coddling mothers of children and the mothers of babies.

For centuries monsters were appealing as they discouraged and frightened and they could be physically classed as monsters as well as being monstrous by nature. Until the recent years. There was the occasional appealing monster though but not many. Appealing monsters generally included gods and devils who would act against humanity, either impulsively or with consideration. Dragons were in a way beautiful but that beauty was hidden by flame and fangs. Pixies and fairies came in both forms, beauty as a disguise for monstrous actions. Adoration and worship of an immoral entity or one anti-humanity was an accepted concept but one condemned in practice.

So where did the cuddly versions of monsters come from? Disney and the like. The feeding of the cute and cuddly to the parents and children. Fed to the parents so they can feed it to the children. Fed to the children so they can demand products of the parents and create peer pressure. Let's just say marketing and advertising is highly manipulative, and I'm thankful not to be working in the field anymore. 

Why monsters weren't good enough in their monstrous forms is because they wouldn't appeal to these two highly varied groups as such. Monsters would in soft, cuddly and gentle forms though, especially if they're presented as misunderstood, gaining sympathy.

Children themselves can be quite vicious and cruel and can appreciate a good frightening story full of monsters because they don't view the world through moral lenses. Morality is learnt, sometimes even through stories that include our traditional monsters, and isn't present in children until they've felt regret, remorse and that desire to turn back time. Usually after making a friend or family member cry.

Children have empathy at a much earlier stage than morality and it is through the use of this emotional connection that morality is learnt. Pre-empathy is around the "mine, mine, mine" stage of a toddler. It is then that they learn to give and take and that another person might respond well or not. Yes, they remain self serving for a while longer and sometimes never break out of such behavioural patterns.

But my point is that even from this early age an acceptance of monsters being monstrous is possible. It is the parents who choose not to reveal nasty monsters to them, instead choosing the cuddly versions, rather than the children having an aversion to monsters. Fear is a natural response. So is curiosity. Keeping the child's life monster-free because of these reactions is a mistake and, I think, a shame (re the degradation of cultural). I approve of children learning morals through a fear of potential repercussions rather than by finding out hurting someone hurts themselves after the damage is done.

The adult version of this type of learning is found in religion with its reward and punishment system, the teaching of religion acting as a warning system, and it is approved by the vast majority of people on the planet so why not use monsters to teach morals? We have before and many still do.

As for the appealing versions, the sexy monsters, there is much to be said about having an appealing monster acting monstrous. Not so much for one acting like a wilted flower, without might or strength or fear on its side, only soppy romance. Yes, I like my monsters to remain monsters. The glimpse into the dark side of humanity, into our fears, hatreds and desires reveals much more about us than the altruistic and moralistic sides. It is only through curbing the darker aspects of humanity that we become truly civilised. Whether we learn such control at an early stage or a later is the only question. Again, some never learn enough.

To keep monsters monstrous, whether only in nature and not appearance, helps us deal with occasions when humans act monstrous, especially beautiful, appealing, pitiful humans or ones who can be sympathised with. By being exposed to monsters acting monstrous the revelation that it is in the nature of the being not the appearance comes about. But only after the initial realisation that the being is a monster at all, such a realisation being difficult for a person to figure out without early exposure to traditional monsters.

The only potential side-effect to look out for is that this discovery is not made and that people come to be judge on appearance alone.