This was a great homage to all the great literary monsters we all grow up reading, watching, and bonding over. There were some new, interesting retellings and some that struck the chord in my mind that craves classic horror monster stories.

Enjoyed most of the stories and had fun figuring out if it was a brand new story or an updated adaptation of a classic. At with most anthologies I didn’t love them all but enjoyed most of them, Seanan McGuires tale and wish it would be expanded to a larger story.

I love the classics so it was great getting the feel of the old stories through modern talent. Such a nice variety of seasoned authors and addition of new or unheard of authors. The included artwork adds to the wonderful feel of this collection.

To unleash something is to set it free. It implies a force beyond our control, a power that cannot be undone. Unfortunately, this anthology of twenty-nine classic monster stories (and one poem) re-imagined does not live up to that implication. Despite more than half the stories taking place in the modern age, this anthology felt dated and mired in the past. Little of it was fresh and reading it often felt like slogging through homework.

That being said, there were several standout stories. In reading order they are as follows:

She-Creature From The Golden Cove by John Palisano:

This was one of the few stories that truly had me on the edge of my seat. It was able to call back to its roots while still feeling novel and it did so without relying on gore or tired tropes. The characters had depth and I quickly cared about what happened to them. It was a story that proved horror can happen even on the brightest of days when you feel safe and carefree.

Mummy Calls by Simon Bestwick:

This was a clever take on the Manchester Mummy written in part as a letter to the editor and signed by the author himself. It was creepy in a cabinet of curiosities sort of way, and showcased the darker side of family obligations and legacies.

A Tale Of Wickedness by Kelsea Yu:

This is a nasty little piece (in all the best ways) and it is one of the most unique visions in this anthology. I will never look at The Wizard of Oz the same again. This author took something comical and turned it into something terrifying while also putting heart and depth into it. She's one to watch, folks.

Hacking The Horseman's Code by Lisa Morton:

This was by far the best story in the bunch, and I dare say, this story alone might be worth buying the book. Morton's take on the Headless Horseman steps right out of the near future and hauntingly asks the question: Is there a ghost in the machine? Superbly crafted, well paced, and highly original. This story will sit with me for years to come.

Other notable entries include:

The Invisible Man: The Fire This Time by Maurice Broaddus
Da Noise, Da Funk, Da Blob by Linda D Addison
Rapt by Rena Mason
Someone To Blame by Ramsey Campbell

Fans of horror literature tend to have specific tastes. There are those that love old fashioned blood and guts, and those who love stories with more meat on their bones. I tend to be in the latter camp. I want morality and trauma and a mirror held up to the world. Classic Monsters Unleashed caters more to the former but there are still gems of the latter to be found. All in all an interesting foray into all things classic monster, and there's sure to be something to please even the finickiest of readers.

NOTE: I received an ARC of this anthology in exchange for my honest review.

Took me a while to get to the end of this massive collection, but it was a solid anthology throughout! It hits all sorts of classic monsters from the golden age of cinema (or elsewhere). The most were Dracula, but Dr. Moreau, the Wolfman, and Frankenstein were all particularly well represented. Then there were some bits and bobs with characters like Jekyll and Hyde, The Creature from the Black Lagoon (I think?), and The Blob.

Overall most stories worked well for me. They "conversed" well with their source monster and brought something fresh at the same time. A nice variety of settings and time periods. Of this 30-story collection, there were only a handful that I either found confusing or so far removed from the classic monster I couldn't pin it down (I feel like there was at least 1 or 2 that weren't written for this anthology).

The one thing I wish was that each story had a little 1-2 sentence blurb at the end! Perhaps the author explaining what classic monster they chose, or even adding why they chose it.

My tops of the heap were:

Hacking the Horseman's Code by Lisa Morton - my top of this antho! An AI headless horseman story, set at a small town Halloween (makes sense, because I know the author's name for writing all the non-fic about Halloween!). Really lovely autumn vibes AND spook factor.

Blood Hunt by Owl Goingback - Sitting Bull and Buffalo Bill tracking Count Dracula across the frontier. Lots of wonderful Western vibes, and nostalgic talk about the dying of the Wild West and being the "last of a dying breed".

Mummy Calls by Simon Bestwick - A Manchester mummy story, written as a letter to the editor, with the writer of the letter none other than... Simon Bestwick!? A quirky, little, super realistic-feeling story. So modern it even mentions COVID (and I didn't even mind - it added to the realism).

Diminished Seventh by Sean Eads and Joshua Viola - they already had my number when I realized it's post-WWI, but the music connection, the Vienna setting, and the wonderful gore totally sold me on this.

The Invisible Man: The Fire This Time by Maurice Broaddus - starts with a James Baldwin quote (and the title is a Baldwin riff) so I was pointed in the right direction of racism and civil rights - and this take on the invisible man (with a Black man in a board room) is indeed full of righteous fury. And it's a horror antho of course, so plenty of violence too!

Rapt by Rena Mason - an archaeological dig for a water-entombed Chinese mummy queen. Douchebag protag, but you can see where he might just get his comeuppance. Really fun mummy story.

As with almost any anthology or collection of stories there are bound to be a few clinkers. There were so many at the beginning of this one that I nearly put this one aside and almost missed the gems hidden in the back half.. The Moonlight Serenade and Mummy Woman stories were well worth the dig.

Classic monsters and Gothic figures from horror are reinterpreted, reimagined, and paid homage to in this collection of short stories. Such concepts have been done many times before, but we have many authors putting their own spin on them.

We open with a poem, and our first short story invokes the Island of Doctor Moreau. From the sharp, spare words, the expectations we have of the characters are inverted in a twist that had me grinning in delight. Each of the stories here carries that formula, changing what we think we know about them. Horror is about the unexpected, after all, and the slight details of wrongness suddenly made sense. We get the classic monsters of werewolves, vampires, chimeric constructs, sirens, and the like, but now they're transported. Dracula existed at the same time as cowboys, serial killers stalk opera houses, gods of horrible things lurk in dilapidated houses, and family trauma can be overwhelming.

Some of my favorites include Tim Waggoner's "Old Monsters Never Die," JG Faherty's "Beautiful Monster," and Seanan McGuire's "Can Doesn't Mean Should." The stories sucked me in, hinting at a larger picture that I could imagine. (And the mad scientist lecturing the "sane" scientist on proper safety protocol made me laugh.) A great collection overall of stories that are horrifying and chilling in different ways.

Stories of famous monsters in a new horror anthology featuring Joe R. Lansdale, F. Paul Wilson, Jonathan Maberry, Ramsey Campbell, and many others.
Dracula, Frankenstein’s Monster, the Bride of Frankenstein, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Dr. Moreau, the Headless Horseman, the Invisible Man, the Phantom of the Opera, the Wicked Witch of the West—they’re all here, in this collection of horror short stories that reimagine, subvert, and pay homage to our favorite monsters and creatures.
Written by the biggest names in the genre—including Joe R. Lansdale, F. Paul Wilson, Jonathan Maberry, Ramsey Campbell, Lisa Morton, Owl Goingback, Richard Christian Matheson, Maurice Broaddus, Dacre Stoker, Seanan McGuire, Linda D. Addison, Alessandro Manzetti, Tim Waggoner, John Palisano, Mercedes M. Yardley, Lucy A. Snyder, Gary A. Braunbeck, Rena Mason, and Monique Snyman.
And monstrously illustrated by Colton Worley and Mister Sam Shearon.

This is a wonderful set of short stories based on the classics!!
Wonderful well written plot and story line that had me engaged from the start.
Love the well fleshed out characters and found them believable.
Great suspense and action with wonderful world building that adds so much to the story.
Such a thrilling read that I couldn't put it down.
Can't wait to read more of these.
Recommend reading.

I was provided an ARC from NetGalley and the publisher. This is my own honest voluntary

Take classic monsters from yesteryear like Dracula, Frankenstein and even Dr. Moreau. Add thirty of the best minds in horror wring today. Stir and you will concoct the tasty and thought-provoking horror anthology, Classic Monsters Unleashed.

With 29 short stories, one poem and several illustrations, there is sure to be something for every taste. The authors of these original works are award-winners including familiar names like Ramsey Campbell, Dacre Stoker, and Joe R. Lansdale.

Because of the creativity of the tales, I had the most fun trying to guess what monster would soon appear. To further complicate this task, many of the tales are set in different time periods than the original monster’s story. My personal favorite is “Can” Doesn’t Mean “Should”. A “mad” scientist is objecting to the political incorrectness of the title that he has been given. It’s too clever by half.

Classic Monsters Unleashed is a great collection for horror fans. 4.5 stars rounded up to 5 stars!

Thanks to Black Spot Books and NetGalley for a digital review copy of the book.

This was such a thrilling read! Thank you so much to the publishers for providing me with an arc in exchange for my honest review.

2.5 stars rounded up to 3

I will admit that I chose this anthology for the premise of a collection of monsters stories and since it was Read Now on Netgalley.

This book is a collection of stories on monsters both new and old in a new light. From Dracula to the Phantom of the Opera, to Mummy's and Dorian Grey and more, this collection has a story for everyone!

I personally really enjoyed many of the stories, including, Modern Monsters by Monique Snyman, Dreams by F.Paul Wilson, and, The Viscount and the Phantom by Lucy A. Snyder, just to name a few!

My one annoyance is the lack of female authors and the amount of badly written female characters by male authors in this collection. I would understand it with older texts and stories but considering this book is coming out in 2022, I was disappointed.

If you do love monster stories then there will definitely be at least something for everyone to read, but I would just say prepare for the characters, especially the female ones!

I must admit I wasnt sure if i was a monster fan before reading this book
or if i would recognise enough of the classics to enjoy a contemporary twist. I probably didn't get as many references as other people but was pleased to find it a deliciously dark book to dip into, and an anthology by respected authors is a great way to start one's education. The introduction was also really helpful and I'll definitely be looking out for more.
thank you to netgalley and black spot books for an advance copy of this book

First I have to start by saying I am a huge fan of the original Universal monster movies. They are my go to films to watch anytime. I love monster movies and monster tales and this did not let me down. I was so excited when I heard about this new collection and dug into it immediately. The retelling took on whole new aspects of characters that had for some become pretty bland in ways.

This new collection has become an instant favorite in my home and I will be purchasing a hard copy if only for the illustrations. Some of my favorites were. Höllenlegion by Jonathan Maberry,a new take on Dr. Moreau; Old Monsters Never Die by Tim Waggoner, a new take on The Wolfman; The Viscount and the Phantom by Lucy Snyder, a new take on Phantom of the Opera; and last but not least God of the Razor by Joe Lansdale, a new take on Jack the Ripper. These are just to name a few as they were all pretty great.

Thank you to NetGalley and Black Spot Books for the opportunity to give my honest review in exchange for this preview.

I received a digital advance copy of Classic Monsters Unleashed, edited by James Aquilone, via NetGalley. Classic Monsters Unleashed is scheduled for release on July 12, 2022.

Classic Monsters Unleashed is an anthology of short stories by a slew of well-known horror writers. Each story is a take on a classic monster. Some stories reimagine the monster, some turn the monster myth on its head, and others are a more straight forward honoring of the legend.

For the most part, I enjoyed this anthology. I most enjoyed the stories that had some sort of fresh take on a classic story over the more straight-forward stories. I do wish that the anthology had notes of some sort to indicate which monster each story was inspired by. While many were very obvious to me, there were a couple that I could not identify the original story. I would also imagine readers finding a key of some sort to be helpful if they were in the mood for stories involving a particular monster.

I also would have chosen a different order for the stories in the anthology. For me, the last several stories were not as engaging, and I found myself struggling to push through to the end. This may just be a matter of person preference, as the final stories featured settings and monsters that I have less interest in.

Overall, Classic Monsters Unleashed was a fun revisit of some legendary monsters. I would recommend this anthology to any reader who likes stories featuring well-known horror tropes and characters.

3.5/5

I have never considered myself a classic monster type person. They aren’t scary or interesting, and are generally rather boring. Could it be that these writers and their stories have changed my opinion? For the most part, yes. It’s pretty damn good as far as short story collections come at least.

Thank you for this opportunity! My Readerly gist is the one by invisiblemonster.

An enjoyable collection of classic monster stories; you know most of them, but do you REALLY know them?

Personal favourites are Höllenlegion and Mummy Calls.

Rated 2.5 really.

First off...DISCLAIMER: this title was up for grabs on NetGalley (in the Read Now section). Thanks to Black Spot Books for providing a temporary ecopy. This didn't influence my review in any way.

When I saw Seanan McGuire's name in this anthology's line-up, and found out that the book was "Read Now" on NetGalley, I acted on impulse and downloaded it, no questions asked. I realised only later that 1) I don't have an extensive knowledge of "classic monsters" (besides the bones of their stories, that is, and that's not even true for all of them), and 2) these stories weren't all modernised versions of the old myths like I expected, which posed a problem, since I tend to get bored and impatient with narratives set in the long-gone past. So, I'll admit skimming/skipping a dozen of these stories (plus the introductory poem, because that's not the kind of poetry I like), and not being the right audience for this book like I thought I would. Add to it the ebb-and-flow of the writing's quality, and eh...on the whole, I wasn't impressed. But as I said, this was probably more a case of bad-matching than anything, so I encourage you to read the other reviews if you think this can be your jam.
I have to point out, though, that I found the author roster a bit ill-assorted...you can't have women-empowering tales go hand in hand with Badly-Written-Woman-By-Male-Author examples ("Such a relief to be back to reality, back in my own body - young, lithe, smaller, smoother, with slim legs, dainty fingers, and firm, compact breasts". Seriously???).
Besides enjoying Seanan McGuire's story (a fresh reversal of the mad scientist trope - I wonder why she didn't use her Mira Grant alias for this one) and quite liking a few others, I LOVED LOVED LOVED Carlie St. George's feminist take on The Frankenstein's Monster's Bride. Both the content and the writing style are top-notch. She deserved better company IMO.

It’s a given that whenever Seanan McGuire contributes a story to an anthology I’ll be reading it but, in my experience, anthologies themselves can be a bit hit or miss. This anthology promises stories that “reanimate, reimagine, subvert, and pay homage” to monsters you already know and love.

Classic Monsters Unleashed includes twenty nine (!) stories and one poem, featuring Dracula, the Mummy, the Invisible Man and so many other favourites. Basically, it was destined to wind up on my TBR pile.

If I can say I liked half of the contributions in an anthology I usually call that a win. Having thoroughly enjoyed over three quarters of the monstrous fun on offer here, it’s safe to say this is one of my favourite anthologies to date.

I tried to come up with a list of my top five reads but am happy to report that I failed. So, the six I loved the most, listed in the order I read them because it sounds too much like hard work to rank them, are:

Höllenlegion by Jonathan Maberry

Unleashes Dr. Moreau

“What you are planning is madness”

Old Monsters Never Die by Tim Waggoner

Unleashes a character inspired by the Wolfman

“I’ve come to do something much worse.”

The Viscount and the Phantom by Lucy A. Snyder

Unleashes Phantom of the Opera

“The Palais Garnier presents a unique opportunity for a young gentleman of your tastes.”

Modern Monsters by Monique Snyman

Unleashes a character inspired by The Fly

“I hope you’re ready to see something spectacular”

Hacking the Horseman’s Code by Lisa Morton

Unleashes Headless Horseman

“What? It isn’t supposed to do that.”

”Can” Doesn’t Mean “Should” by Seanan McGuire

Unleashes Mad Scientist

“We’re the children of the laughter and the lightning, and we exist in the pause between “can” and “should”.”

Because I read an advanced copy I haven’t seen all of the illustrations that will be included in the final version yet. What I have seen, though, are absolutely incredible! I want framed copies of all of them, but none more than Mister Sam Shearon’s Frankenstein’s Monster.

My aimless wandering has resulted in me accidentally discovering there’s going to be another Unleashed anthology. There’s currently a Kickstarter for … wait for it … Shakespeare Unleashed! I definitely need this in my life.

Thank you so much to NetGalley, Crystal Lake Publishing and Black Spot Books for the opportunity to read this anthology. I’m rounding up from 4.5 stars.

Classic Monsters Unleashed is an awesome horror anthology that reimagines some of the greatest monsters and villains in the genre. I also backed this on Kickstarter.

Wow this was a fantastic read that I would recommend that anyone that calls themselves a horror fan to get stuck into ASAP.

I find it perturbing that there are so many reimagined versions of the ‘classic’ horror figures from fiction, to the point where the genre is so diluted that nothing feels unique or intriguing anymore. I always get excited when I see the words ‘gothic horror’ on a novel and so often I’m left feeling uninspired and wanting more.

However, this was not the case with Monsters Unleashed, I found myself ravenously making my way through each story and thoroughly enjoying each and every one of them. They were all unique in their own way and merged the modern twist with the ‘classic qualities’ to make some beautiful and haunting hybrids.

There isn’t much I can say about this book other than it was fantastic and you should go read it - like NOW!

This is a very decent short story collection with some clever twists on the classic monsters. Will probably give it another read around Halloween as it is a quick, fun read.