Browsing all articles tagged with monsters.
Monsters, the Monstrous, and Reclaiming the Other
Monsters—or, in the very least, the monstrous—show up fairly frequently in most speculative fiction. Whether under the guise of dragons and creatures from the deep (ocean or space) or by way of vampires and the fickle, often cruel fae, monsters and the absolute other of evil is a mainstay of much of our fiction. Casting the net […]
The Island of Doctor Moreau by H. G. Wells
The late Victorian era was a time of new and dangerous ideas. The concept of evolution challenged traditional religious belief. The first few voices were questioning the politics of Empire. Ideas of hypnotism and psychology were starting to be taken seriously. H. G. Wells’ The Island of Doctor Moreau is a vivid, uncomfortable exploration of […]
Monster Hunter World – Video Game Review
I have no desire to stalk and kill big game across the savanna plains of Africa. To be honest, the whole concept of big game hunting; shooting and killing an animal just because it is a) there and b) I happen to have a gun and it does not, holds absolutely no appeal to me. […]
In Defence of a Zombie-Free Apocalypse – Part Two: The Rest!
And we’re back. Last time we explored how vampires, werewolves, and ghosts have so much more potential to create an exciting Apocalypse scenario than just rehashing all those rotten old zombie tropes. Now it’s time to look at a bunch of the less obvious creatures to see if they’d be any good at bringing down […]
In Defence of a Zombie-Free Apocalypse – Part One: Vampires, Werewolves, and Ghosts
Zombies are awful. They look disgusting and they smell worse. Their eating habits are appalling. Their conversational skills leave a lot to be desired. People keep trying to explain them through science when they’re clearly beings of magic. (Note how they keep on walking around endlessly even though their metabolism has clearly stopped working and […]
The Ten Strangest Races in Fantasy Literature
To me one of the most wonderful things about reading fantasy is the chance to encounter strange and magical beings that couldn’t possibly exist in the real world. Ferocious and exotic warriors, wise immortals, fey creatures as beautiful as they are mysterious, people made from wood or stone, animals that walk and talk like humans, […]
Monthly Short Story Winner: Through the Beast’s Eye
Writing often means putting yourself in somebody else’s shoes and writing from their perspective. The barmaid, the warrior, the shady detective, the witch, or the orphan boy. You do this all the time, becoming somebody else for the time you write that person. If you’re good at it, all the characters will read, sound, and […]
A Monster’s Place
The terrifying monster has been a staple of the fantasy genre since its earliest origins, when bards told tales around a fire at the dawn of time. They frightened listeners with descriptions of horrifying creatures, they talked of scaled hides, the fearsome length of its claws, of hungry eyes peering out of the darkness. This […]
The Creatures We Base Aliens On
One of the interesting things about fictional aliens is that they’re almost never completely alien. We have no real idea what extra-terrestrials would look like, and it’s nigh impossible to imagine an entirely new species unlike anything we’ve ever seen. As such, we usually fall back on earthly species for inspiration, combining known elements to […]
Paternus by Dyrk Ashton – Cover Reveal
Hello everyone! Some of you may be familiar with my novel, Paternus, from last year’s SPFBO competition hosted by Mark Lawrence (Archsaint of self-published authors). Paternus was Fantasy-Faction’s pick for the final round and ended up taking third place out of three hundred entries. Even with that success, I’ve decided to give the book a new cover. […]
Why I Don’t Like Dragons – Guest Blog by Oliver Langmead
First, a confession: the title of this article is a little bit sensationalist. The truth is, I don’t actively dislike dragons. I don’t go around hating them and huffing and puffing at books with dragons on the cover, and films with dragons in the trailers. My feelings towards dragons is closer to an indifference. They […]
Why Aliens Look Like Octopuses
Have you ever noticed that extra-terrestrials in most “aliens-make-contact” science fiction usually resemble octopuses, squids, or other cephalopods? At least, when they don’t just look like humans in Halloween masks or cheap make up. Arrival, Independence Day, War of the Worlds, The Simpsons… the list goes on. The default non-humanoid aliens seem to always have […]
