The Big Bad Book of Kaiju is a themed anthology edited by Jonathan Maberry and Henry Herz. A thrilling and cataclysmic collection of city-smashing titans and the desperate coalitions of humanity clinging to survival in the wreckage, from the New York Times-bestselling and multiple award-winning editors.
Dark bleatings, my lovelies, I hope you’re all having a fantastic winter season (yes, I know we’re not quite there yet but I dream of it getting darker on a daily basis!). What IS already here is a whole load of kaiju in the pages of this book. We’re going to discuss each story a little but before we get into those, I want to make mention of the several poems that are included; Anne Walsh’s DOZER (GIANT WOMBAT KAIJU), WINGS OF THE BLACK SERPENT by Cynthia Pelayo, WHO’S ON FIRST? by Linda D. Addison, and GAR’THAIGOTH: THE TITAN OF ENDS – A PROSE POEM by Maxwell I. Gold.
My poetry expertise are non-existent so I don’t critique poetry at all – I’m really not qualified for such a thing. What I am happy to tell you is that I found each of the poems unique and I enjoyed them all because they all explored different themes within this gargantuan sub-genre, and they were all different in tone.
HUM (by Lee Murray) kicks the book off with a story of the children of New Zealand, who are dissatisfied with the way things are being run by their King. They take drastic, fantastical measures to try to drum up some attention in hopes of productive conversation and change, but not everyone is receptive to their method. This is one of my favourites. It’s topical, relevant, and very imaginative. Following that, we are treated to WE ARE ALL KAIJU (by Maurice Broaddus) and oh boy, it’s a totally different type of entertainment to the story that precedes it! In classic kaiju fashion, this story offers a giant ape AND a giant gator. It also offers some extremely relevant social commentary and parallels, folded cleverly into the narrative.
CRIS MANNING AND HIS TALKING CAT: A PARABLE (by Tananarive Due) is next, and offers us a kaiju creature that many of us, quite frankly, would be absolutely delighted by. This struck me a a very lonely and bleak story, centred around someone named Cris, who dreams up the kaiju in question (but don’t think I say ‘bleak’ as if that’s a negative thing, it isn’t). Benjamin Spada is next with their story, HORNED, which I really enjoyed because it revolves around the death of only one person, rather than the typical mass destruction we’re often shown in a kaiju story.
COMPLETE GARBAGE (by Jonathan Maberry) is about a group of scientists at sea that get a very unpleasant surprise when they discover an enormous trash pile. Just when they thought pollution might be one of their biggest problems, it…well…actually, it sort of it. Very creative! KAIJU, THEORETICALLY (by Kelley Armstrong) gives us a brilliant teen genius that has some big ideas….only in her case, they get a bit out of hand. FORBIDDEN SECRETS (by Kane Gilmour) merges kaiju with arcane magic, an unexpected genre blend that surprised me.
MAMA BEAR (by Jeremy Robinson) has one of my favourite concepts because this one deals with giant ghosts, which I found enormously entertaining and also a quite fresh take on kaiju, and it’s another favourite. KAIJU POO-POO )by Scott Sigler) is about…oh lord, well, I don’t even think you’ll believe me. Expect some humour and a scenario that might tickle some and disgust others. THIS IS GOOD! (by Jamal Hodge) has a potentially misleading but great title because “this”, depending on your species, might not be good at all, actually!
SIZE DOES MATTER (by Henry Herz) is another story that ventures quite far out of the usual box, because it puts us in space, so that was cool. TACHI-GAMI (by Taiyo Fujii) is a surprising story of financial woe but also love, set on Oshima. STRANGE BEASTS (by Seanan McGuire) explores the study of kaiju, and in particular, one that is affectionately named Wasabi. It also explores the voracious greed of man when it comes to knowledge and dominance.
THE PAIN OF GIANTS (by Tim Lebbon) gives us a brilliantly human story amongst the (potential) kaiju chaos, and I loved it because I’m always far more interested in the affected characters than the monster in any type of story, and Tim is one of those authors that always excels with his character work. SHEDDING SEASON (by Ai Jiang) also offers up some thought-provoking character study in a story of dire and dangerous living conditions.
THESE OCEANS ONCE COMPOSED SYMPHONIES (by Luke Dumas) is my favourite in the entire anthology, and it takes us to the sea! It’s about someone that dedicates their life to saving whales, but on their current trip, encounters something bigger…
JUST ADD WATER: A DAN SHAMBLE, ZOMBIE P.I. ADVENTURE (by Kevin J. Anderson) gives us an in-universe story, and I was tickled because I’m familiar with good old, Dan Shamble. Anyway, expect comedy, horticultural endeavours, a mystery, supernatural creatures, and – obviously – kaiju.
DON’T TELL ME HOW TO LOVE KAIJU (by Alma Katsu) is set in a world where everyone knows kaiju exist (they’re protectors). Tonbo, a dragon/dragonfly-like kaiju picks a girl as its companion, which is unusual because kaiju are apparently a boys’ thing. I love the take on the theme and the fresher perspective in this one. WHEN A GOD WEEPS OR, THE END OF THE WORLD AS WE KNOW IT (by Tobi Ogundiran) is a very different approach to kaiju. I don’t even want to hint at what this one’s about because half the fun for me was wondering (until it became clear) how in the world it fit the theme. It’s one of my favourites.
Christopher Golden and Daniel Golden close the book out with HANGING GARDENS, which is also another favourite. Wait, maybe THIS one actually is my overall favourite, now that I think about it again. It is, I think, the most “horror” horror story in the book, and has shades of otherwordly terror. Tentacles. I mean, the only thing worse than tentacles is not knowing what they’re attached to.
Overall, I was pleasantly surprised, and I don’t say that to be disparaging. I generally do not enjoy kaiju stories. I have zero interest in the heaviest hitters of this genre and avoid anything with giant reptiles and even worse, giant apes. I don’t know why because I’ve never had a bad experience with them but I am afraid of apes in general, and not even in a way that makes them enjoyable to me as horror foe. I’m not a fan of mass destruction stories, which sounds bizarre because one of my favourite areas of horror is the apocalypse, but what I’m getting at is that I prefer smaller stories of a few survivors rather than spending a lot of time with giant creatures that smash everything. There are exceptions (FFX and Cloverfield are the only ones that come to mind right now), but this is usually a genre I veer away from quite harshly.
This anthology has made me rethink that bias because what the authors gave me was unbelievable variety in not only creatures but tone and, perhaps most importantly, theme. I was quite surprised by how many thought-provoking ideas and topics were covered through giant monstrosities.
If you’re a fan of kaiju, obviously I think this would be great for you. However, if you’re like me and don’t tend to be that interested, maybe peruse the authors, pick up the book, and see what you think anyway.
If you’d like to check out the book, I’ve popped a link below for you:
Bleeeeat!
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