What happens when the beasts grow larger than the myths we construct about our own control?
Released today, 22 September, and edited by Henry Herz and Jonathan Maberry, The Big Bad Book of Kaiju gathers an original compendium of skyscraper-sized creatures, leveled cities, and humanity scrambling through the fallout. Featuring contributors such as Tananarive Due, Alma Katsu, Christopher Golden, Seanan McGuire, Scott Sigler, Cynthia Pelayo and Luke Dumas, the anthology offers a right royal monster mash of formidable beasts and cataclysmic reckonings.
At the same time, kaiju fiction has always offered far more than simple destruction. There is a sobering pleasure in reading about humanity abruptly getting knocked off the top of the food chain — and a surprisingly cathartic thrill in seeing the old world demolished to make way for whatever comes next. Far from mere B-movie schlock, The Big Bad Book of Kaiju proves that giant monster fiction is the ultimate, soul-cleansing elixir we desperately need right now.
To mark today’s release, Herz and Maberry spoke to CinemaChords about why giant monsters are so uniquely compelling to bring to the page, what guided their selection of writers, original creatures, and sui generis narratives, why these titanic beasts remain so adept at puncturing the human ego, and why, so often, the best remedy for modern anxiety is simply letting a giant monster paint the town red—quite literally.