With Memorial Day weekend over, the start of summertime begins, and there’s no better time to catch up on your reading. This summer, I’ve got three monster suggestions with a vintage kaiju, modern ghost story and a Gen-X dark classic:

Godzilla and Godzilla Raids Again by Shigeru Kayama

I have loved Godzilla since I was a little kid, but it is the original, campy create features that still make Godzilla the King of the Kaijus. In 2023, University of Minnesota Press, with the help of the Japan Foundation, released two novellas by Shigeru Kayama, who drafted the original 1954 Godzilla screenplay for Toho Studios along with its sequel Godzilla Raids Again from 1955. They are finally available in English, translated by Jeffrey Angles, and something every Godzilla fan needs. If you love the old school Godzilla, along with the current Toho films like Shin Godzilla and Godzilla Minus One, this is a cool, nostalgic read.

How to Sell a Haunted House by Grady Hendrix

Grady Hendrix writes horror so well, because he is a true fan himself, having authored a fantastic look at some old school horror novels in with Paperbacks from Hell: The Twisted History of ’70s and ’80s Horror Fiction. My favorite of his is the nonconventional take on a haunting with Horrorstör set in an Ikea-like mega store. Currently, I’m reading another of his haunted fictions, How to Sell a Haunted House, as two very different adult children of couple who died in a car wreck try to unload their old family home. I can’t tell you how it ends, but I will tell I’ve already been hit with several jump scares, a few tear-filled moments, and one instance of being so mad at a character I had to put it down for second. Hendrix is good with characters, but even greater with twisting a story around to horrifying places you won’t expect.

The Crow by J. O’Barr

The 1994 movie The Crow is has been getting a lot of attention for turning 30 this year, as well as getting a very unnecessary reboot soon. But, have you read the original 1981 graphic novel that started it all? J. O’Barr, who experienced a devastating loss himself, created Eric Draven and his dark and lonely supernatural revenge story that is actually a lot more violent and desperate than the movie. Yet, it is a great depiction of the early era of the gothic rock and dark wave of Gen-X before the word “emo” was even a thing. If you can, pick up the 1994 graphic novel version from Kitchen Sink Press, with concept art and poetry and even some song lyrics from Joy Division. It’s the full mood.

Fall is coming with everything from work and school obligations to political fighting and the world still spiraling off its axis, so take some time to depart this reality for a bit by indulging in a good book. Even a bad book. Just sit down and read.