The world is full of monsters, but of those remembered best, it seems the boys have been having all the fun. The Monsters Three in Bonnie Jo Stufflebeam's Glorious Fiends intend to bring some gender equity to those numbers. Beginning just after a terrible battle in the Library of Evil with the tireless monster hunter Professor Abraham Lee Vansing, Roxanne the vampire must use an ancient ritual to revive her two slain immortal companions, Mx. Hyde (Doctor when they're in the mood) and Medusa (yeah, THAT Medusa). The fact that she has had to lower her standards and feed upon men hasn't made anything any easier. And of course, the underworld doesn't give anything up easily.

So yes, hopefully that synopsis puts clear that Stufflebeam's tongue is very firmly in cheek through this rip-roaring novella. From the beginning it felt very much in the mode of Christopher Moore's funny fantasies, with all the saucy queer sexuality and unadulterated gore of your Clive Barker. Our three femme monsters are unapologetically murderous (but hey, a girl's gotta eat/extract the pheromones that maintain their transformation) and unabashedly sapphic, though maybe aren't all quite ready to admit how much they love each other yet. At times I struggled to figure out exactly what the tone was supposed to be, between horror, humor, and heart. but when I realized she was making very obvious and specific movie references, I felt comfortable with the book to an homage to horror film with a pinch of farce. Stufflebeam's humor comes more from character and situation than jokes, and perhaps with the overt nature of the references some more jokes would have helped set the tone. But I really was rooting for Roxanne, Mx. Hyde, and dear sweet Medusa, and hope they have a chance for more adventures in the future.

I was provided a copy of this book to review through LibraryThing's Early Reviewers program.

This book was the perfect read for the fall season. I loved the different takes of monsters that we already knew and then added a new layer to them. It is a short read but kept wanting to read more. At times I was a bit confused with what was going on because it is a fast pace read (a lot happens in just a few paragraphs) but I very much enjoyed the friendship and the banter that happened between the main characters. I do hope that there is a little side story of the the librarian some day.

Plot:
Vampire Roxanne just lost her best friends, Medusa and Mx Hyde. But she will make sure that the fearsome fiends are reunited again. She has done her research (not her strong suit) in the Library of Evil and she knows exactly what she needs to do to bring them back. But the Guardian of the Underworld is none too happy to give up anybody who died. So he demands reparations in the form of three other, equally worthy monsters. Reunited again, the three f(r)iends set out to hunt some monsters.

Glorious Fiends has a lot of potential, but it feels unfinished. Maybe it would have needed to be expanded to novel-length to really work. As is, it was wanting.

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Roxanne is a vampire who resurrects her fellow monster friends, Mx. Hyde and Medusa, and the Guardian of the Underworld is not too keen on having lost these recent additions to his domain. Roxanne strikes a deal with the Guardian that would allow her to keep her and her friends’ lives, and the story follows their dark and wild adventure. This queer vampire novella explores identity and what it means to be true to yourself while also maintaining important friendships. I loved how the author used horror tropes to present these queer characters, and how she called on some horror mythology to tell the characters’ coming-of-age stories. The story is dark, bloody and sometimes shocking, as well as absurd and humorous. It’s the perfect short read as we’re transitioning into spooky season. If you’re down for a unique, fun, and bloody monster romp, check this out!

Thank you to the author and LibraryThing for this ARC in exchange for an honest review! ( )

Roxanne is a vampire who resurrects her fellow monster friends, Mx. Hyde and Medusa, and the Guardian of the Underworld is not too keen on having lost these recent additions to his domain. Roxanne strikes a deal with the Guardian that would allow her to keep her and her friends’ lives, and the story follows their dark and wild adventure. This queer vampire novella explores identity and what it means to be true to yourself while also maintaining important friendships. I loved how the author used horror tropes to present these queer characters, and how she called on some horror mythology to tell the characters’ coming-of-age stories. The story is dark, bloody and sometimes shocking, as well as absurd and humorous. It’s the perfect short read as we’re transitioning into spooky season. If you’re down for a unique, fun, and bloody monster romp, check this out!

Thank you to the author and LibraryThing for this ARC in exchange for an honest review! ( )