Real World War II battles are reimagined with the intervention of supernatural creatures—dragons, vampires, witches, kaiju, and more—who alter the course of history and blur the line between human and monstrous. This anthology explores the brutality and surrealism of war through a blend of fantasy, horror, and alternate history, challenging readers to reconsider what truly defines a monster.

Reader Review Summary

This anthology collects twenty short stories and two poems from award-winning and bestselling speculative fiction authors, each reimagining real events and battles from World War II by introducing fantastical or supernatural creatures. The stories span a wide range of settings, including the European and Pacific theaters, with locations such as Africa, China, Italy, America, Greenland, the Soviet Union, and the Mediterranean. The monsters featured are diverse, including dragons, vampires, werewolves, mermaids, trolls, witches, bioengineered animals like bears and a 'crocktopus,' kaiju, mechanical monsters, and mythological beings from various cultures. Each story is based on a specific historical event or battle, and the book includes historical notes and background information on the contributors. The anthology is available in both print and audiobook formats, with the audiobook featuring a different narrator for each story and, in some cases, performances in the accents of the main characters.

Readers appreciated the anthology's wide variety of monsters and settings, as well as the way it blended historical fact with speculative elements. Many highlighted specific stories as standouts, such as 'The Night Crew' by Peter Clines, 'Grigoriy’s Army' by Catherine Stine, 'Bockscar' by David Mack, 'A Terrible Aspect' by Jonathan Maberry, and Tanya Huff’s vampire story set in Holland. The chronological arrangement of stories and the inclusion of historical notes at the end were noted as helpful for context. Several reviewers enjoyed the diversity of mythologies and creatures, the action-packed narratives, and the way the stories explored the brutality and ethical dilemmas of war. The audiobook narration was generally praised, with multiple narrators helping to differentiate the stories and match their tones.

Some readers found the anthology uneven, with a few stories not resonating as strongly as others, which is a common observation for collections of this type. A minority of reviewers felt that certain stories ended abruptly or would have benefited from being longer. There were comments about a lack of variety in some of the stories, and a few readers noted that the overall tone was often grim or downbeat, reflecting the realities of war, which did not appeal to everyone. The use of modern profanity in dialogue was mentioned as jarring or unrealistic by at least one reader. In the audiobook version, some listeners found that strong accents made certain stories harder to understand.

The anthology features contributions from well-known authors such as Tanya Huff, Henry Herz, Peter Clines, Harry Turtledove, Jonathan Maberry, and others, and was edited by Henry Herz. The book has received an average rating of 4.03 out of 5 from 64 ratings and 30 full reviews. The stories are generally grounded in historical research, with some readers noting that the supernatural elements were integrated in ways that made them feel plausible within the context of the war. The collection has been compared to the Netflix series 'Love, Death & Robots' (minus the robots) and to works like 'Band of Brothers' and 'The Wolf’s Hour.' Several reviewers mentioned that the anthology introduced them to new authors they plan to follow in the future.