Short stories are a great introduction to an author's work. Like many short story collections, this has some great ones, some good ones, and some okay ones. My favorites were "Pre-Simulation Consultation XF007867" and "June Bugs."

5 imaginative stars

So this was pretty fantastic! A magical realism gem.

"The strange is made familiar and the familiar strange" says the blurb, and I can't think of a better way to describe magical realism!

Writing short stories that are satisfying and engaging is an art in my opinion and Kim fu is a VERY GOOD artist! This is the kind of book I would grab when I need to get out of a reading slump. Ten pages. The end. Story's over. Loved it. Ready for the next. PUFF. BYE READING SLUMP. MAGIC!

And the title is PERRRFECT! Because the topics of these stories are indeed the modern monsters that plague our nightmares: insomnia, social media induced loss of boundaries and empathy, sense of inadequacy. Relevant and Entertaining.

The other thing I loved is that all these stories felt like writing prompts executed by a VERY IMAGINATIVE mind.

Here... write an ingenious story about... hummmmm... I don't know.... less say... "a dog digging a hole"

PUFF! Here... fantastic story delivered!

I was also really impressed with all the wisdom and scientific knowledge weaved into the fantasy of these tales.

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐦 𝐨𝐟 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐝𝐨𝐨𝐫𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐮𝐬, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐝𝐠𝐞𝐬.

Kim Fu’s collection of stories takes turns of freakish oddity and yet is often an emotional touch. Tales of ordinary people dealing with abnormal situations, one in particular involving a bug infestation (which made my skin crawl) not as unlikely as we imagine. Moments that make people question things that are happening, all their peculiar patterns. Tales of loss and the intense grief that follows, memories and moments you can’t get back. Accidents, denial. The telling isn’t overly fantastical magical realism, but just on the edge of eerie, believable.

In the first tale the character wants to be with their deceased mother in a simulation, hungering for a small ordinary encounter, only to be disappointed by limitations. In the second, Liddy First To Fly, girls who are growing apart bond with the secret of their friend’s winged legs. Is she meant to fly away or can she be normal again? A woman chases “nourishing” sleep in Sandman, welcoming a monster to fill every hollow within. Twenty Hours is brutal, as a married couple adds excitement to their life with a special printer. It’s also a macabre play on how we hurt those we love and ourselves. How with each transgression we get closer to the ugliest side of ourselves. There was a catch in my throat when Connie, the wife, wakes up in the printer tray and her spouse thinks about the questions she isn’t asking. Despite the brutal endings they put each other through, again and again, there is tenderness. It also is about the great void that still exists between partners, places within’ the other we can never go. Our desire to return to one another at war with our need to be separate. It’s my favorite story. The Doll is creepy, yet it begins as a sad tragedy, one of those ‘thank god it didn’t happen to us, but it could have’ that neighbors are left to stew over. The neighborhood children are forced to confront the mean whims of fate and yet there is something exciting too about the house, daring each other to enter it, being scared. But can a doll be haunted? There is a touch of erotica in Scissors (an apt title), as women take to the stage for a show in a cabaret style theater. Dominance and surrender, the thrill of not knowing what will happen, the electric threat of danger, the ‘flinch’ of the audience. A question of trust.

Every tale is original, a reluctant bride and a sea monster, the loss of taste and how one woman finds a way to experience the sensation bodily… more than anything the tales are about how people cope after their lives have been upended by strange twists and turns. Loneliness, longing, grief, fear, love- quite an interesting collection.

Publication Date: February 1, 2022

Tin House

Lesser Known Monsters of the 21st Century is an eclectic blend of short stories that examine the human condition. The characters are often in precarious, unhealthy situations or in dire mental states. Most of the stories tend to have a futuristic, alternate universe setting but with grounding similar to ours, for example, in one story (Bridezilla) climate change has worsened and exacerbated the environment these characters must navigate. These changes cause an evolution of sorts resulting in a new type of sea-dwelling monster in itself, while in Liddy, First to Fly, touches on human evolution in the form of growing feathers and flight. Other stories (my two favorites), #ClimbingNation and The Doll tap into curiosity, selfishness, greed and survivor’s guilt respectively. The gem of the collection is that each story gives the reader salient aspects of human nature to examine and ponder.

Although I was a bit underwhelmed with the collection, I recommend to those who enjoy speculative fiction short stories bordering on the bizarre and strange. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an opportunity to review!

An amazing short story collection! I loved the range of the stories: from the supernatural to every day human terror. If you've been looking for another collection like Her Body and Other Parties, this is IT! I loved the Sandman story it was so incredibly weird and wonderful.

A terrific and unusual collection of 12 stories which touch on, duh, monsters in reality and in our minds. These have a strong streak of magical realism (feathers emerge from a girl's legs) and of oddities in our nightmares (bugs, the sandman) but they never go too far. There's grief, there's despair, there's a very strange couple. Fu has a way of turning a phrase that captures a thought and an image and make them real. Thanks to netgalley for the ARC. Read these one at a time- one a day- to fully appreciate what Fu has created. Short story fans should pick this up asap.

These are some fascinating stories, though for me the collection started out incredibly strong and tapered off a bit after the first few. But, of course, a collection as diverse as this one probably isn't meant to please everyone all the time. Overall, the stories that truly hit for me are ones I'll be thinking about for a long time to come. And the others...linger as well, disturbingly effective.

Thanks to Netgalley for a copy of this ebook. I thoroughly enjoyed each story. They were written with beautiful prose. I will highly recommend this one to many.

This is one of those books that haunts you in a sense. I could not put it down, even when I should have! Each story with its own peculiarity that was never off-putting. I would recommend this collection to people that like magical realism with a side of darkness. I will be buying this collection and adding it to my bookshelf.

Surreal short stories, many about strange things happening to women. I could finish the one about the bugs.

Thank you to Tin House Books for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Lesser Known Monsters of the 21st Century by Kim Fu is a fun collection of short stories from an emerging voice who is making a name for herself. The stories run the gamut from the strange to the realistic, and I would classify some of the tales as magical realism in the tradition of Kelly Link or dystopian in the style of Black Mirror. One involves girls growing wings on their legs; another involves toys that can control time; another is about the romance between an insomniac and the Sandman.

Here is an excerpt from one of my favorite short stories, "Liddy, First to Fly":

"Liddy showed us her ankles during first recess. She lifted the cuffs of her blue corduroys, first one and then the other, as we sat by the broken picnic table in the patch of grass between the parking lot and the basketball court. Chloe and Liddy sat on the table, their feet on what remained of the bench. Mags and I sat in the grass, avoiding the jagged wood. Raised white bumps protruded from Liddy's skin, one on the outside of each ankle, each a few inches above the rounded knob of bone - perfectly symmetrical.

Overall, Lesser Known Monsters of the 21st Century is an amazing collection of short stories. My two favorite short stories happen to the first two stories in the collection. The Simulation Consultation XF007867 is a sci-fi story about the future of technology that reminded me of Black Mirror. Just like Black Mirror, it uses the possibility of future tech, such as a dream or wish simulator, to comment on our current reality. My other favorite short story, "Liddy, First to Fly" is magical realism and uses the conceit - girls growing wings - to comment on coming of age, puberty, and the magic of childhood. If you're intrigued by the excerpt above, or if you're a fan of magical realism, you won't regret checking out this book when it comes out in February!

Lesser Known Monsters of the 21st Century is an incredibly exciting debut collection from Kim Fu. Full of warm, enchanting stories, reflective of our rapidly-changing world.

One of the themes I picked up on was grief, in its many forms. In the first story, Pre-Simulation Consultation XF007867, an individual wishes to virtually connect with a lost relative, and finds unexpected compassion. The strange unfamiliarity young people feel on their first brush with death is captured in a fascinating way in The Doll.

Another theme is female liberation. In Liddy, First to Fly, a young girl struggles with a strange bodily development, which could be the key to her freedom. June Bugs is an imaginative take on domestic abuse, and how escape is possible. And a hesitant bride-to-be finds freedom in a very strange place in Bridezilla.

Fans of Black Mirror may enjoy the darkly comic Twenty Hours, where a 3D printer enables a couple to explore the limits of their commitment to each other.

This was a consistently beautiful and imaginative collection. These stories gave me a similar glow to the one I get when I read Sarah Pinsker and Kij Johnson. This is inclusive sci-fi and fantasy with real heart.

Excellent collection of short stories! "Sandman" is outstanding, and I really love "Do You Remember Candy".

There are many fantastic tales in Kim Fu's Lesser Known Monsters of the 21st Century that I cannot stop thinking about, and for good reason.

Absurd and dark stories that I cannot stop thinking about. I want to bring them up in every conversation, but I wouldn't dare spoil to thrill of stepping into Fu's little worlds.

It’s been a hot second since I’ve read a short story collection, but I’ve seen a handful that are coming out next year, and that has me really excited! Even better, most of the ones I’ve seen are fantastical and macabre.

Lesser Known Monsters was one of the first upcoming collections I encountered, and I, honestly, was just really taken by the cover and title before I even knew what it was about. The stories kind of remind me of Carmen Maria Machado’s Her Body and Other Parties. I’m still chasing the high that collection brought me. Fu’s stories made me think, but they didn’t quite hit the same. In a strange twist of fate, I had actually read one of Fu’s stories earlier this year in the anthology Kink! Reading her work in this collection was definitely better than Kink– I wasn’t the biggest fan of that anthology.

The reason I’m only giving Lesser Known Monsters three and a half stars is because some stories were captivating, but others put me to sleep. But, oh boy, when they had my attention, they really had me enraptured.

The 12 stories (favorites are bolded):

PRE-SIMULATION CONSULTATION XF007867: A man argues with a simulation operator to experience a day with his dead mother once more. Immediately fantastical because the man is arguing with a machine, but one that seems disconcertingly human.
LIDDY, FIRST TO FLY: A young girl sprouts Hermes-like wings out of the side of her legs. This one gave me very heavy Machado vibes because of how normal Liddy’s friends perceived these new growths. It seemed like just another part of puberty, until more adults started getting involved. Really puts an emphasis on how children see everything as amazing when we’re that small.
TIME CUBES: A man sells toy-like cubes that flash forwards and backwards in time, where society lives in a humongous mall. Alice is entranced with the cubes and after spending a night with the kiosk man, she discovers a human size time cube. It felt post-apocalyptic because all of human society is living in such a huge space, it reaches far into the sky and deep underground, but the space is actually a mall, a pinnacle of capitalism, which destroyed the world in the first place. There was a fascinating Benjamin Button idea that was totally subverted because Alice wasn’t interested in staying young forever.
#CLIMBINGNATION: A young woman attends the funeral for an old college acquaintance who died in a rock climbing accident. Despite his half a million Instagram followers and thriving YouTube channel, Travis was a secretive man, even to his sister Miki and fellow climber Zach. Mutual friend Nick and Miki know Zach was involved in Travis’ death, but he refuses to admit it. When Miki reveals Travis was a Doomsday Prepper with a shack loaded with gold, Zach steals the info and heads out. This story was a rollercoaster ride; we’ve all stalked someone on social media, but I’m sure very few of us have pretended to know them well enough to attend their funeral. I like how Fu is commenting on how we can think we know a lot about someone because we follow them on social media, but we only actually know only what they want to share.
SANDMAN: A woman with severe insomnia develops an intimate and obsessive relationship with the sandman. I think this one felt the most fantastical to me, because of the relationship with the Sandman. He’s been made real, but he’s still an enigma. There was also no explanation, just unflinching acceptance that this is what’s needed for a good night’s sleep.
TWENTY HOURS: After killing his wife, a man spends 24 hours alone, just long enough for her new body to print. As he waits, he dwells on why they keep killing each other and loading into new bodies. Very Black Mirror. I expected the couple to hate each other, but the killing is used as a kind of foreplay, bringing them closer together. Subversive and surprisingly emotional.
THE DOLL: After a whole family is decimated, a group of local kids steals one of the kid’s abandoned dolls, only to experience strange and disconcerting events. It’s like “Liddy, First to Fly” in the sense that these kids view all the paranormal events as an obvious event attached to the doll. They’re all spooked, but by their logic they just have to dispose of the doll and everything will go back to normal, if there really can be a new normal.
IN THIS FANTASY: A woman with a rather normal, mundane life daydreams about drastically different scenarios, including: being a childless landlady, a woman living alone deep in the arctic, and a spoiled princess during a revolution. The lines of the fantasies really blurred, and at first I thought everything was happening to the childless landlady, but upon a second reread, it’s easier to see how Fu transitions between each fantasy and real life. This story really confronts maladaptive daydreaming.
SCISSORS: Two women perform a sensual sex show with scissors and audience participation. This was the story featured in Kink, and honestly it felt better suited to that anthology collection. The intimacy and taboo behavior isn’t out of place in Lesser Known Monsters, but in this setting it seems more depressing. It plays with consent and makes you wonder: are the monsters in the audience, or the very person this woman is trusting with a knife to her skin?
JUNE BUGS: After escaping a toxic relationship, a woman moves into a house that is infested with beetles. I hate bugs, so this story made my skin crawl, but what really disturbed the MC was her previous relationship, and how she let it influence her. It’s like the beetles were a physical representation of the toxic relationship.
BRIDEZILLA: A woman agrees to a shotgun-esque wedding in an attempt to convince herself marriage doesn’t matter to her while a sea monster is forming in the ocean. When she runs from the boat altar, she meets the monster. Honestly, I can tell this story is probably a larger metaphor for something, but I’m just not seeing what. It reminds me of the collection The Sea Beast Takes a Lover.
DO YOU REMEMBER CANDY?: When all food suddenly tastes disgusting and inedible, a woman makes a new career out of helping people experience their favorite foods again. I was absolutely fascinated by this story. It’s one thing for food to suddenly be disgusting, but another to try and recreate food without food. The way Fu described the sounds, how to make them or illicit the same sensations, was fascinating. It was an entirely new, and different, way of thinking about food.
Each story is different, with a different degree of reality, but it’s thought provoking. Can you pick out the real monster in each story?