The Big Bad Book of Kaiju

by Tananarive Due, Jonathan Maberry (Editor), Henry Herz (Editor)

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.

Featuring bestselling and award-winning authors such as Tananarive Due, Christopher Golden, Seanan McGuire, Scott Sigler and Steve Alten, author of The Meg.

An explosive collection of monster terror, featuring 25 original tales of creatures the size of skyscrapers. See cities shattered and worlds ended, as great beasts rise from the deep.

Featuring work from:
Steve Alten
Linda D. Addison
Kevin J. Anderson
Maurice Broaddus
Tananarive Due
Luke Dumas
Kane Gilmour
Maxwell Gold
Christopher Golden
Henry Herz
Jamal Hodge
Ai Jiang
Alma Katsu
Tim Lebbon
Jonathan Maberry
Seanan McGuire
Lee Murray
Tobi Ogundiran
Cynthia Pelayo
Jeremy Robinson
Michelle Sagara
Scott Sigler
Ben Spada
Anne Walsh

Genres: Short Stories, Horror, Anthologies, Science Fiction, Adult, Short Story Collection, Fantasy

400 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 25, 2026

About the author

TANANARIVE DUE (tah-nah-nah-REEVE doo) is the award-winning author of The Wishing Pool & Other Stories and the upcoming The Reformatory ("A masterpiece"--Library Journal). She and her husband, Steven Barnes, co-wrote the Black Horror graphic novel The Keeper, illustrated by Marco Finnegan. Due and Barnes co-host a podcast, "Lifewriting: Write for Your Life!"

A leading voice in Black speculative fiction for more than 20 years, Due has won an American Book Award, an NAACP Image Award, and a British Fantasy Award, and her writing has been included in best-of-the-year anthologies. Her books include Ghost Summer: Stories, My Soul to Keep, and The Good House. She and her late mother, civil rights activist Patricia Stephens Due, co-authored Freedom in the Family: A Mother-Daughter Memoir of the Fight for Civil Rights. She and her husband live with their son, Jason.

Reviews

[Roberta R. (Offbeat YA)]

Mini blurb: 24 authors from different backgrounds pay homage to (and often reinvent) the giant monster genre.

***

Rated 2.5 really.

First off...DISCLAIMER: I requested this title on NetGalley. Thanks to Titan Books for providing a temporary ecopy. This didn't influence my review in any way.

RTC

[Jeff]

Something For Damn Near Everyone. Some *REALLY* Good - Some *REALLY* Bad. This is a collection of 20 short stories and 4 poems from a global variety of authors, at least a few of which I'd read before and a few more I'd at least heard of.

Fortunately/ unfortunately, most of the *really* bad stories are the *first* ones we encounter going straight through the text, meaning that at least once you get through those stories, the rest of the book really picks up.

Mostly the really bad are preachy politics that would get a single star deduction from me if they were standalone stories - these include Lee Murray's Hum, Ann Walsh's Dozer poem, Seanan McGuire's Strange Beasts, and Luke Dumas' These Oceans Once Composed Symphonies. Maurice Broaddus' We Are All Kaiju, however, would have been a two star as a standalone due to its blatant, pervasive, and subtle as a nuclear bomb level bigotry combined with a story that is about as close to openly plagiarizing Rampage as he could likely legally get.

And then there is Tananarive Due's Cris Manning And His Talking Cat, which in addition to being openly Marxist *also* actively calls for violence against those whose politics you disagree with - which is something that should NEVER be platformed in ANY media and which *should* get Due cancelled so hard she can never again so much as flip burgers... but which will unfortunately get her praised by those who agree with her.

But these are just six of the 24 entries here, and everything else would have gotten a five star rating from me individually, raising the overall collection's average to a 4.54, which rounds to 5* as anything higher than 4.5 *exactly* is in fact closer to the higher number.

Among these excellent stories, we really do get several that stand out as intriguing worlds that I'd love to come back to either in subsequent short stories or perhaps in full on novels, and there are a lot of things here I think a wide variety of readers will agree with that perspective on.

Benjamin Spada's Horned was utterly terrifying in the end, but also *really* well done leading up to that ending.

Jonathan Maberry's Complete Garbage was a fun story set in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.

Kelly Armstrong's Kaiju Theoretically was a phenomenal homage to Jurassic Park.

Kane Gilmour's Forbidden Secrets was very fun and very atypical for such stories... and reminded me of the near century old MGM cartoon King Size Canary (which I had recently seen on social media somewhere - even my zeitgeist connection powers aren't *that* good ;) ).

Jeremy Robinson's Mama Bear is actively set inside the world of one of his standalone novels, which he makes quite clear in the opening few paragraphs... if you've read that novel. If you haven't and/ or this story is your introduction to Robinson, know that the concept he names within this story is the title of that book, should you wish to read more in this particular world... ;)

Scott Sigler's Kaiju Poo-Poo is one of the most wildly inventive stories of this entire collection... yet also is evocative of one of Ron Perlman's lines in Pacific Rim, which was a fun connection in my mind - even though the story itself has next to nothing in common with that franchise beyond being a post apocalyptic kaiju tale.

Henry Herz's Size Does Matter is absolutely a world I'd love to come back to. Somewhat reminiscent of Avatar (or Alien, a touch more directly really), but with an ending that I truly want to see where this story goes from here.

Taiyo Fujii's Tachi-Gami is a historical fiction kaiju tale from the Meiji Restoration period that almost feels like Timothy Spall's Simon Graham from The Last Samurai is telling this particular tale... and it absolutely works on so many levels.

Tim Lebbon's The Pain Of Giants could be really fun expanded out, in the same manner that it sometimes feels that the MCU could place so many more stories in its version of Johannesburg from Avengers: Age of Ultron. Except Lebbon's version would be giant kaiju and their world, possibly with more exploration of some of the things left unexplored in this form of the story.

Kevin J. Anderson is an author I'd never read before (like so many of the other authors named here), but his Just Add Water *reads* even here like it is one small part of a large and expansive pre-existing world that likely has many more stories to read for those so inclined. And given everything here... yes, there will be many who want to see more of this particular world. While not *quite* my normal thing, I include myself among them.

Alma Katsu's Don't Tell Me How To Love Kaiju is a more purely Japanese kaiju tale that absolutely works in so many ways, evocative of everything from Pacific Rim to Pokemon to even some versions of the Godzilla (or Jeremy Robinson's Nemesis) tales and even some of the more famous animes.

Tobi Ogundiran's When A God Weeps is a rather trippy tale that starts out feeling rather Victorian (at least to my mind) before becoming something else entirely (and which I will not spoil here), and the entire tale is really one of the better modern twist tales here.

Finally, Christopher and Daniel Golden's Hanging Gardens is another historical fiction tale set in post-WWII London that very much has War Of The Worlds, Cloverfield, and even Adrian Walker's End Of The World Running Club vibes - and is a truly excellent end to the overall collection, ending it on a particularly high note.

Overall, despite a few struggles up front (that could likely have been better spaced to be a touch more interspersed and spread out among the truly excellent tales), the overall collection here really is quite strong, and with the diversity of tales and perspectives here - yes, including the blatantly political and even bigoted tales - there really is something for damn near any reader out there, with a wide range of global authors represented within the collection to boot. Thus, even with the few struggle stories, this really is a solid collection for anyone looking for quick ish scifi reads and will serve as a great introduction to its many authors for those unfamiliar with their works. Even those readers familiar with a few authors here (as I was) should make it a point to read the entire collection, as you will likely find several more authors to explore further.

Very much recommended.

[Rebecca]

3.5 rounded up. The first half of the book is exceptional, especially the first story. Things peter off a bit in the second half, but possibly that's simply because this is too long - it almost would have been a better as two shorter volumes to give readers more time to appreciate each story. That's largely because the majority take Godzilla's cue and use kaiju as the evidence of man's hubris and tendency to destroy the natural world for their own benefit. It's true, but there's really only so much you can take. Still, if you're a kaiju fan, definitely pick this up - especially for that first story.

[Gregor Miller]

A collection of stories exploring the strange and fantastic world of giant beasts and monsters.

The best thing about this book is how different the stories are. There’s no set lore or canon, allowing this great selection of authors to explore everything from the ghost Kaiju, to giant cats, floating garbage monsters, rebellious youth, and more.

There are direct references to Jurassic Park and the dangers of scientific exploration and its morality, as well as more nuanced takes that explore environmentalism and interpersonal relationships.

If you like movies like Alien, Inner Space, Jurassic Park, Godzilla, and Starship Troopers, I think you will love this.

Thanks to Titan for the early access via NetGalley!

[Dan]

As (almost) always with themed anthologies, this is a mixed bag. The stories run the gamut from the terrible to the hey, that was pretty good, actually. I’m not going to draw attention to the ones I hated because why, but let’s highlight some of the stars. Jonathan Maberry’s Complete Garbage is a novel take on the Pacific Garbage Patch, Kelley Armstrongs’ Kaiju, Theoretically is Jurassic Park updated for the 2020s and our exhaustion with tech bros, Jeremy Robinson’s Mama Bear has a great central idea, Scott Sigler’s Kaiju Poo Poo is deranged in the best possible way, and Alma Katsu’s Don’t Tell Me How To Love Kaiju is nicely sweet.

In the end though, for me as a huge fan of Kaiju movies and someone you would avoid making conversation with so you don’t have to hear how the 90s Gamera movies are the peak of the genre again, the biggest disappointment here is that there is very little traditional Kaiju action. Reinvention and fresh takes are good things of course, but the balance is off here. Would it have killed the editors to include a bit more stamping on buildings and heat rays? 2.5 rounded up, 'cause I'm nice like that.

[Jen]

I read an eARC of this book on NetGalley so thank you to the author and the publisher.

This was one of the most fun short story collections I’ve read. It was delightful. There’s a mix of short stories and poems all exploring Kaiju. The creativity of how the authors interpreted this was really impressive and there’s such a huge variety of different approaches.

As with any short story collection there were some stories I enjoyed more than others, but the standard across the book was incredibly high. It started off so well with a brilliant story, and then Mama Bear was phenomenal. I also really loved the stories about the garbage patch and the one about the whales. The greatest surprise though was the one from Scott Sigler. The title gives the impression of something quite silly. However the application of science to problem solving in that story was really well done and it was an engrossing story.

There’s a huge amount of variety in this book. With stories where humanity has been decimated, to intimate tales detailing the bonds between a human and kaiju. I thought this was a brilliantly creative and entertaining collection.

[AitziST]

(I received this book from the editor and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review)

This is one of the most original anthologies I have ever read. It is about kaijus (hence the title), but the freedom the writers had ended up creating such different stories that they felt cohesive but not extremely similar. Was I initially afraid of this? Kind of, because let’s be honest: Kaiju – destruction – battle.
And I am so happy to tell you that this was definitely not the case, and the kaijus felt completely different and unique.

Mi favorites:

Lee Murray’s Hum. The very first story of this anthology and an amazing idea, linked to the desperation of young people who want to protest and find their place in the world; Benjamin Espada’s Horned, because sometimes you just want to go, go, go!; Kane Gilmour’s Forbidden Secrets, which had such an intriguing first pages; Jeremy Robinson’s Mama Bear, I think my favorite among favorites; and finally Hanging Gardens, by Christopher and Daniel Golden, very eerie and action oriented and the perfect way to end this anthology.

[Geordie]

A collection of short stories about kaiju and other giant monsters.

It's hard to fairly rate this book since the quality of the stories varies wildly, but Bottom Line Up Front, the majority of the stories are mediocre, and of the remainder the crap stories definitely outweigh the good stories. There was far too much bad editing, bad prose and bad analogies (one story attempts to sympathetically compare oppressed immigrants to rampaging giant monsters. What the hell was this writer thinking???), not to mention all the poop jokes. Yeah, so, if there are giant creatures, they will have giant poop. This sounds like a joke too cheap to be included in a Captain Underpants comic. Many of the stories feel like they were pre-written stories that went nowhere, so the author just changed 'supernatural thing happened' to 'big kaiju happened'.

I feel bad for the writers of the decent stories, but the vast majority of this book is not worth it.

[Kara]

The real reason I picked this up is because I’m a huge Seanan McGuire fangirl and will read anything she writes. I was excited to dive in because I think kaiju are super interesting: there are so many different ways you could take a kaiju story.

Unfortunately, I think this is the lumpiest short story collection I’ve ever read with some five star stories but many three and even a couple of one star ones. It also didn’t flow as well from story to story like I’ve come to expect from great anthologies.

The standouts for me were “Forbidden Secrets” by Kane Gilbert, “Tachi-gami” by Taiyo Fujii While, “Strange Beasts” by Seanan McGuire, and “The Pain of Giants” by Tim Lennon. All five stars. I thought these really made full use of the kaiju theme while being well-written and engaging.

Thank you to NetGalley and Titan Books!

[JennyBrown]

A really fun and surprisingly varied collection of kaiju stories. There’s a little bit of everything here: traditional giant-monster mayhem, sci-fi, supernatural elements, humor, environmental themes, social commentary, and even a few poems. Some stories were definitely stronger than others, but I appreciated how many different ways the authors found to approach the kaiju concept.

My standouts were Cris Manning and His Talking Cat, Complete Garbage, Mama Bear, Size Does Matter, Tachi-Gami, and Hanging Gardens. Kaiju Poo-Poo deserves a special mention for being completely ridiculous in the best possible B-movie way. Overall, this was an entertaining anthology with plenty of creativity, and even the stories that didn’t quite work for me were usually interesting enough to keep me reading.

[ScarlettAnomalyReads]

Giving this one more of a 3.5, but still a good read especially if your into Kaiju and of course the authors lined up in this one.

My two stand out favorites were

These Oceans Once Composed of Symphonies by Luke Dumas who is becoming a fast favorite, this one was mysterious and tense and to be honest I could have read a book of just this one. I also liked the formatting on it, it was something I remembered after I was done.

I loved Don't Tell Me How To Live by Alma Katsu, the title caught my eye and I do love Alma's writing so no shock to me this was one of my favorites. It was weird and sad and dark, but beautiful and I loved the ended.

Definitely give this a read if your into the more creature driven stories.

[Alan]

This review is for an ARC copy received from the publisher through NetGalley.
The Big Bad Book of Kaiju is composed of short stories and poems featuring various giant monsters/strange animals. Though some stories contain the variety commonly associated with the term "kaiju," many authors came up with very unique, inventive and outside-the-box versions of kaiju creatures. While the various interpretations of kaijus were interesting, many of the stories themselves were just OK. The ones that stood out for me were "Complete Garbage" by Jonathan Mayberry, "Kaiju, Theoretically" by Kelley Armstrong, "The Pain of Giants" by Tim Lebbon and "Don't Tell Me How to Love Kaiju" by Alma Katsu.

[Darcy]

I only read the stories from Jonathon Maberry, Kelley Armstrong and Seanan McGuire.

This whole book was about monsters and the different takes on them. All of the 3 stories scared me for different reasons. All of them also made me wonder, if what they wrote out could come true. But I think Armstrong's story disturbed me the most, because yes there were monsters, but also there was betrayal and then the person left behind had to deal with so much, just because they were still there, despite never wanting everything happen.

[Yuuto]

DNF @ 64%. All short stories collections seem to have good entries and not so great ones. The first story was good, and everything else I read was just…meh.

[Chrissy]

Kaiju, Theoretically by Kelley Armstrong - 5 stars
This was great. definitely chilling.