October, with the changing of seasons and the influence of Halloween, brings magic and mythical creatures to mind: dragons, vampires, unicorns, zombies, fairies, witches, trolls, ogres and more. Their infamous reputations proceed them…but is it always justified? Pick a book or a few and decide for yourself.

Dracula by Bram Stoker is in part the genesis of the vampire trope in popular culture. First published in 1897, it is the original popularized and widely-dispersed vampire story. Written through a series of letters, journal entries, telegrams and diaries about Jonathan Harker, an English lawyer who travels to Transylvania, mayhem and blood loss ensues until Dr. Van Helsing puts an end to Count Dracula.

Zombies vs. Unicorns, edited by Holly Black and Justine Larbalestier, is an anthology of young adult short stories rendering the merits and proclivities of the title creatures. The book asks the reader to decide Team Unicorn or Team Zombie?

Fireborne by Rosaria Munda is a young adult story set in the aftermath of a brutal revolution, where the aristocratic Dragonlords were overthrown and new societal structures allow Annie and Lee, from opposite sides of the revolution, to grow up in the same orphanage and compete for the top dragonrider role.

Mythical Creatures and Magical Beasts: An Illustrated Book of Monsters from Timeless Folktales, Folklore and Mythology by Zayden Stone. This compendium informs the reader about creatures and beasts from myths and folklore from around the world. Divided into six themes highlighting commonalities, Stone dives deep into the stories, symbolism and histories of the creatures that fill folktales and imagination.

The Last Smile in Sunder City by Luke Arnold. Fetch, a human soldier turned private investigator, offers his services to the non-human creatures of Sunder City. Once a place of deep magic, Sunder City and all its “monster” inhabitants are just a shadow of their former selves now that the magic has been mysteriously cut off. Fetch, flawed and surly, takes on a missing vampire case and seeks redemption for his role in the missing magic.

The Jellyfish Problem by Tessa Yang. Lonely Dr. Jo Ness, preferring jellyfish to people, accepts her dank existence as she laments the death of her best (human) friend. When a long-lost friend calls asking for Jo’s help, she throws caution to the wind and travels to an island facing a unique problem concerning a giant jellyfish called Clementine.

The Witches by Roald Dahl is a children’s book about a young boy and his witch-hunter grandmother’s quest to save all the children of England from the Grand High Witch’s evil plan to turn them all into mice.

Mist Bound: How to Glue Back Grandpa by Daryn Kho is a children’s book full of magic, monsters, myth and family. Alexis must brew memory glue to save her grandfather’s fractured memories. But the eight ingredients are not the kind of thing she can pick up from the grocery store. To save him, she must face the folktale stories her grandfather loves to tell.

Six Crimson Cranes by Elizabeth Lim. “A princess in exile, a shapeshifting dragon, six enchanted cranes, and an unspeakable curse…” tantalizes the book description of this novel that draws from East Asian folklore.

The Dragonet Prophecy by Tui T. Sutherland is the first of the 16-book middle-grade Wings of Fire series all about dragons. Five young dragons raised underneath a mountain are destined to end the war between the tribes of Pyrrhia. But Clay and his friends have no idea how to fulfill the prophecy, or if they even want to.

Fablehaven by Brandon Mull follows Kendra and her brother, Seth, as they discover the hidden magical world of Fablehaven. Grandpa is the caretaker of the refuge created to prevent the extinction of mystical creatures. But when the carefully-crafted laws that govern the woods are breached, powerful forces of evil are unleashed.

 

By Celeste McNeil; courtesy photos