What Lurks: A Cryptid Anthology – Beware What Goes Bump in the Dark

What Lurks: A Cryptid Anthology by Graveside Press is a collection of short horror stories featuring cryptids of all shapes, sizes, and origins. Some have previous lore attached to them, while others have come out of the authors’ imagination.

Some stand-out creatures for me include, in no particular order:

a fox mother with multiple snarling, bloody mouths
an underwater tentacle monstrosity
a skeleton that sucks out brains
gigantic, rabid deer
a creature with slits for eyes that infects you with a rattling sound

Top of the Creepy Cryptids

What Lurks: A Cryptid Anthology book cover. Black and white image. On the bottom half is a sparse forest with a skeletal creature walking on all fours. The larger image is two creepy heads with yellowed, spikey teeth, one looking at you, one looking to the right.

What Lurks starts off strong with “The Spectergraph” by Liddell Rayne. This was one of the creepier stories, and it sat with me long after I finished reading it. A photographer captures a figure on camera in an abandoned industrial lot. Each time the photographer looks at the picture, the figure comes closer. They’re told, “don’t look,” but eventually it becomes impossible not to look. The tension that Rayne creates is delicious, creating a chilling, atmospheric story.

Den Mother by upcoming TYG anthology author Rey Revelli is another instant classic. Sofia, an older woman living alone beside a forest, makes sure she feeds the animals that visit regularly. Neighbours always pass along the promise and lore to each other, so when new neighbours move in next door, she encourages them to feed the animals, too. But one of her new neighbours is less than receptive, and with childhood trauma at the forefront of his actions, instead sets out a poisoned slice of pie, which Sofia is horrified to learn is from the pie she gifted them. A thrilling chase through the forest results in horrific memories for everyone, before peace returns to the forest.

Another I’d like to highlight is Quarry by Liam Hogan. This is such a different cryptid, one who lives underwater, in a quarry, who consumes whatever human happens to fall into the water. The story runs through the thought process of this tentacled creature who is learning about humanity with each body it eats, becoming more and more sentient. It learns that the quarry is off limits, quarantined, but still, humans find their way in. How will this cryptid survive when it is being hunted?

The Sounds of the Forest by Gaast is a standout story in What Lurks, as well. It is told through a series of found footage in the form of transcribed ham radio transmissions. We learn how Joe March enters the woods and hikes to his family’s remote hunting shack. What starts as a pleasant camping trip and ham radio experiment quickly turns deadly. Through these transmissions, Joe descends into fear and madness, describing how he’s being hunted by a creature that copies sounds.

As with most horror, our very real and human fears and traumas are explored throughout What Lurks.

Many of the stories are tales of resilience and revenge. Domestic violence and shitty men take centre stage more than once, with cryptids empowering women to take back control, often resulting in dead husbands and newfound freedom.

Stories like Split Stone by Joshua Lim come from Malaysia, and explore the dark side of colonisation, and what could happen to plundering white men when there is a local cryptid nearby.

Still, others, like RIP Dag Gadol Diner by Laura Barker and The Branches Look Like Antlers by Chrissy Gray, take a deeper look at what happens when we exploit the animals in our environments, either for profit or for personal intrigue.

I also loved that there were multiple drawings and paintings depicting inventive cryptids, straight from the talented artists’ imagination. These were fabulous inclusions that only added to the creepy vibe the entire What Lurks anthology builds.

No matter what type of cryptid, and what type of story you’re looking for, What Lurks is guaranteed to have something that suits your taste. But beware: a full list of content warnings exists in the back of the book and on the Graveside Press website, so make sure to take a peek at this if you’re wary.