Lesser Known Monsters of the 21st Century

Fu, Kim. Lesser Known Monsters of the 21st Century. digital. 2022. Penguin Random House Audio. 

Twelve impossibly unique tales make up this short story collection of things that go bump in the night, that lurk in the shadows, and cavort in the daylight. Each short story introduces a different "monster," yet none are related or linked. The stories take place in our modern world; at a vendor show, a suburb, a dinner show, an old house. Kim Fu delights in giving readers monsters that defy expectations - they are wholly new and imaginative - the term monster is at times, loosely applied. A career woman can only fall asleep at night if she is visited by the sandman, a haunted doll that gives nightmares to neighborhood children, a girl on the brink of puberty sprouts wings on her ankles to the delight of her friends, and a bug infested house that steadily grows more and more unstable. Narrated by Piper Goodeve and Sean Patrick Hopkins whose calm, earnest deliveries make the stories even more intense. Thrilling, sexy, scary, and daring; Lesser Known Monsters of the 21st Century is a gem of a short story collection. - Erin Cataldi, Johnson Co. Public Library, Franklin, IN