Title: Monsters: Unsettling Short Stories

Release date: October 6th, 2026

*Huge thanks to Rare Machines/Dundurn Press & Edelweiss for the digital ARC of this one!*

I think it’s safe to say that most people will know my interest in this anthology was purely based on the fact that this contains a new, previously unpublished Andrew Pyper story, ‘The Sanctuary.’ Prior to this release, the last time Andrew had a story in an anthology was way back in a 2012 Canadian Christmas anthology titled ‘Best Canadian Christmas Stories.’ I once asked Andrew about the lack of short story appearances over the last decade plus, and his reply was along the lines of he wasn’t overly interested in devoting time to short stories. Fair game.

When I saw the other contributors that Russell Smith wrangled up for this anthology, I knew this anthology was going to be a home run. And, after reading Russell’s introduction, the excitement ramped up even more.

I do want to note how engaging that introduction is. I often bypass mentioning forewords or introductions to books, simply because they’re all usually the same, but Russell took an education direction with this one, detailing the origins of the term ‘monster,’ the different ways it shows up and is used in literature and the various regional connotations of the word. He also did a splendid job of briefly sharing what to expect with each of the stories within while not falling into spoiler or platitude territory, which was nice.

What I liked: The anthology runs the gamut of what each writer themselves understood what a ‘monster’ is. We get some very straightforward entries, as well as some that defiantly fall into the speculative world. A number of the stories really stood out for me.

First up was Naben Ruthnum’s ‘The Lair.’ The story follows Mark, who fell in love with action figures and video games as a young kid. That love becomes his life and, after finding no direction and having no desire to achieve anything, his family holds an intervention. Instead of making progressive choices, Mark leaves, and moves into his grandparents place. There, he has a shed, which he transforms into his video game and online lair. Not long after, his grandma passes away and it’s from there that he discovers his grandpa’s newfound online habits. Naben does a wonderful job of making Mark both a character you want to sympathize with, while also making him one of the skeeziest characters you’ll come across. This one walks the line of ‘is he or isn’t he’ a monster so very well.

Next, was ‘Throne’ by Andrew F. Sullivan. A biting commentary on the ultra-rich’s quest for acceptance and finding one’s ‘tribe,’ the story follows 20something Murphy. She’s bounced from job to job, and after being let go of her most recent position, doesn’t know what comes next. Then her former coworker, Carrie, invites her to check out a hip new place called Yggdrasil, where a brother and sister having found a group of people willing to change their lives if they follow the groups instructions to prune and regrow. Murphy takes to it and soon becomes a class leader, holding sway over those who attend the classes and are willing to go the extra step for her. The socioeconomical examination within this one is fantastic, if not a little frustrating over its accuracy, and the subtle changes Murphy goes through really highlighted what a small dose of power can do to an individual. This was a cult story told with only the implications of it being so.

Pasha Malla’s ‘The Undreamed’ was perhaps the most speculative story of the anthology, which set it nicely aside from all the others. The only way I can really do any justice to this story without being a spoiler is this – Things appear in the bedroom. Sometimes they are only on the periphery of vision. Sometimes they seem to be tangible. But they infiltrate the lives of those within the story and good Lord is this one unsettling. Not to take away from the title of the story, but this was an excellent fever dream experienced through prose.

Next up, I loved Emily Weedon’s ‘The Golem Suit.’ And while the title does suggest what is going to happen in here, the delivery mechanism and story vehicle reinvents what I expected to read. Following Felix, a man with a predatory mindset, he becomes a working crew member in the film industry which gives him access to women who sometimes believe if they scratch his back, he’ll scratch theirs allowing for career advancement. But it’s in these moments of vulnerability where Felix’s darkest predatory mechanisms come to the surface and he does what he will, rougher and more violent with each passing year. That is, until he meets a traumatized woman who seems to be his match. Weedon masterfully makes you despise Felix while also forcing you to stay for the ride and see how it ends. Unflinchingly impactful.

The last story that stood out for me was Andrew Pyper’s ‘The Sanctuary.’ Truth be told, I read this one first, then went back and reread all the stories, finishing with this one a second time. The story takes places in a remote wooded ‘campground,’ which continues Andrew’s examinations of such locations. In fact, Andrew first based a story in a summer camp back in 1994’s ‘Camp Sacred Heart,’ which was republished in his 1996 collection, ‘Kiss Me.’ His 1999 novel ‘Lost Girls’ mentions a summer camp, and we see a revisit to an area very similar to ‘Camp Sacred Heart’ in his 2019 novel ‘The Homecoming.’ And, an unpublished novel of Andrew’s also focuses on a similar style location. Throughout his literary career, remote wooded locations were settings Andrew utilized time and time again, and with ‘The Sanctuary’ he bolstered the oddness of where it takes place by having it occur in a sort of Canadian version of Bohemian Grove. If you’re unfamiliar with Bohemian Grove, it is a private campground in California where the elite of the elite congregate and take place in discussions and debauchery. The story follows a young man, who gets a summer job with his friend Ty, while at University. Once there, they learn their roles, and our main character is ‘befriended’ by The Secretary, a mysterious older man who seems to know everyone and everything that’s going on. Andrew warns us to not walk down the paths surrounding the campground at night, yet our character still does so, and it’s here where the monstrous revelation arrives. This one has all the classic hallmarks of a Pyper story, and told with the prose that only Andrew was capable of.

What I didn’t like: As always in an anthology some stories just didn’t connect with me. While I enjoyed every story, some were a bit on the nose and didn’t feel as impactful as they could’ve been. But as always, those might be the stories that you enjoy the most!

Why you should buy this: Filled to the brim with phenomenal stories, this anthology curated by Russell Smith will undoubtably have something for every reader. Taking the simply idea of ‘what is a monster,’ the authors of each story really out did themselves with the variety of subject matter we get. Fans of each of these writers will snag this to experience what they created, and will most likely find another new-to-them writer to check out more of their work.

This is a fantastic anthology collecting some of the most exciting Canadian writers creating dark fiction today, and throughout the stories tackle some very bleak subject matter really well. I for one am glad I read this, and as a Pyper super fan, this anthology will always hold a special place for giving me one more piece of his fiction to read and to cherish.