Daikaiju! Giant Monster Tales

by Robert Hood (editor), Robin Penn (Editor)

Astounding stories of absurd size and impossible dimension! Mammoth mega-fauna! Apocalyptic adventure! Surreal suspense! Catastrophic comedy! Monstrous metaphysics! Featuring original fiction from around the world and a special film history by Cinescape's Brian Thomas. Winner of the Australian Speculative Fiction Ditmar Award for Best Collection 2005.

Contributors and their stories featuring in the anthology are: Chris Barnes, "Big Day"; David Carroll, "Footprint"; Terry Dartnall, "Footfall"; Chris Dickinson, "Watching the Titans"; Paul Finch, "CALIBOS"; Adam Ford, "Seven Dates That Were Ruined By Giant Monsters, Or Why I Really Need To Get Out of This City"; Anthony Fordham, "Aspect Hunter"; Cody Goodfellow", "Kungmin Horangi: The People's Tiger"; Richard Harland, "The Greater Death of Saito Saku"; Trent Jamieson, "Five Bells"; Martin Livings, "Running"; Penelope Love, "The Unlawful Priest of Todesfall"; Rosaleen Love, "Once Giants Roamed the Earth"; Michelle Marquardt, "Crunch Time"; Chuck McKenzie, "Like A Bug Underfoot"; Garth Nix, "Read It In The Headlines!"; Skip Peel, "Park Rot"; Stephen Mark Rainey, "The Transformer of Worlds"; Eric Shapiro, "Newborn"; J.M. Shiloh, "Man In Suit!"; Petri Sinda, "The Quiet Agrarian"; Andrew Sullivan, "Notes Concerning Events at the Ray Harryhausen Memorial Home for Retired Actors"; George Thomas, "Requiem for a Wild God"; Iain Triffitt, "In Final Battle"; D.G. Valdron, "Fossils"; Sean Williams, "daihaiku / haikaiju"; Doug Wood, "Lullabye"; Frank Wu, "The Tragical History of Guidolon, the Giant Space Chicken"; Special Cinema Supplement Article by Brian Thomas, "Wonders 8 Through 88: A Brief History of the Larger-Than-Life".

Genres: Anthologies, Fiction

376 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 2005

About the author

Robert Hood has been a published writer for several decades, with a long list of short stories and a few novels to his name. Though focused on Australia, he publishes anywhere he can and currently has books and stories in the US and UK. His books include the short story collections Day-dreaming on Company Time, Immaterial Ghost Stories, Creeping in Reptile Flesh and the career-spanning ghost story collection Peripheral Visions: The Collected Ghost Stories. Novels include Backstreets and the epic dark fantasy novel Fragments of a Broken Land Valarl Undead. He also co-edited the award-winning anthology Daikaiju Giant Monster Tales and its sequels.

Reviews

[Ralph Pulner · Rating 5 out of 5]

While not every story won me over I will say that the vast majority are top notch. What struck a cord with me is, at the time of publication, this was the first collection of giant monster titles I could find. Also, the layout of the book is simply gorgeous. Storyies, poetry, headlines arranged in perfect synchronicity to eachother. I read this one every couple of years.

[David Demoss · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best collection of daikaiju prose I've found in this or any other universe.

[Ralph Pulner · Rating 5 out of 5]

Powerhouse of a collection. There is something for everyone here.

[Jennifer Saylor · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it! Great consistency in providing readable, quality stories. A fun read for daikaiju fans.