Combat Monsters: Untold Tales of World War II edited by Henry Herz (book review).
‘Combat Monsters’ is an anthology of World War II stories in which creatures from myth and legend play a part in that conflict, sometimes changing the course of history. Dragons, mermaids, vampires, and sea monsters are featured in tales of military endeavors based on real-life historical situations. A note accompanying each title details the time and place of the events. It’s an intriguing concept for an anthology, and the writers came up with lively stories. Here’s what you get.
‘Kinje’kitile And The Jintu’ (Tanganyika, June 1940) by Eugen Bacon. Bazi is the only Black sergeant in the King’s African Rifles under Lieutenant Blake. Bazi believes that the African troops, equipped only with bayonets instead of rifles, face certain doom in the upcoming battle, unless Kinje’Kitile can provide assistance. She’s a witch doctor who makes him a lubricant from throat blood, snake oil, and crushed porcupine quills, which he uses for intercourse with his wife. Don’t try this at home. It’s fascinating to get the native point of view on World War II, as they were forced into a conflict that wasn’t much in their interest. There’s a mention of Lieutenant Colonel John Henry Patterson shooting tigers on the East African railway as told in the film ‘The Ghost and the Darkness.’.
‘The Fourth Man’ (Greenland Strait, May 1941) by Jeff Edwards. This story takes place about 85 years before Greenland becomes the 51st state of the USA and concerns a famous naval battle between the German battleship Bismarck and HMS Hood. On board the Hood is Oliver James Lightroller, an expert in Teutonic nautical mythology with a rucksack full of books. Could the indestructible German ship have supernatural help? ‘Sink The Bismark,’ on television about once a month, tells the true story, but this is a fun alternative, and the author is a retired Chief Petty Officer who knows his stuff.
‘The Night Crew’ (English Channel, February 1942) by Peter Clines. More sea adventure as Doctor Ken Kraft, professor of history and folklore, seconded to the US Department of the Navy, and Dar Carter, historian and treasure hunter, try to sneak back to England from Dieppe. The old ship they travel on encounters German battleships, but it has a night crew who are deadly indeed. The story cleverly concludes with a nod to a classic horror novel.
‘Breakout’ (Minqar Qaim, Egypt, June 1942) by Lee Murray. Rommel’s Afrika Korps were secretly assisted by a thirty-meter venomous snake with fangs the size of fenceposts that battled New Zealand’s Maori soldiers in this enjoyable ripping yarn.
‘Nachthexen’ (Voronezh Oblast, Soviet Union, October 1942) by Bishop O’Connell. Lieutenant Vera Lukianovna Belik, flight navigator, is assigned to the 588th Night Bomber Regiment, an all-women force. As a Ukrainian, Vera has no love for Russia, but the Nazis are worse. The ladies, equipped with battered old Polikarpov PO-2 biplanes made of cloth and wood, have the worst equipment, but some possess other skills that come in handy. The Nazis call them the Night Witches. Mind the cat.
‘Gods Of The Sea’ (Solomon Sea, Pacific Ocean, November 1942) by Tori Eldridge. The naval battle at Guadalcanal was a confusing and chaotic affair but a major turning point in the war. Here, a patriotic American from Hawaii encounters a sea serpent defending Japan.
‘Gorgopotamos Bridge (Gorgopotamos, Greece, 1942) by Harry Turtledove. The narrator, Konstantin, is working with a ragtag band of resistance fighters to blow up a railway bridge that connects Athens to Thessalonika. Konstantin remembers Aristophanes, Socrates, and Lord Byron, so he’s been around a while. A creature from German myth defends the bridge. This is a solid adventure yarn, written by an author with extensive experience in alternative history.
‘Grigory’s Army’ (Stalingrad, Oblast, Soviet Union, 1942) by Catherine Stine. Grigory once bashed his head, and his brain changed. He understands DNA and engineered bears that obey commands and work for him, clearing the forest and planting crops. War comes, and the Red Army recruits him and them to fight Nazis. A sad story about how innocent people get caught up in war.
‘Svart Hund’ (Rjukan, Norway, February 1943) by Scott Sigler. A Norwegian commando team, half-starved from living off the land for six months, must sabotage a hydroelectric plant defended by two hundred Nazis. They are helped by Mister Aumont, a scary older English gentleman who carries a dented old ivory box about the length of his forearm from which something wants to escape. Another tale highlights an important, little-known area of the war.
‘CS-13’ (Caribbean Sea, May 1943) by Gaby Triana. Ensign Mario Ramírez Delgado of the Cuban navy captains an eighty-three-foot CS-13, which is not powerful enough to take on a German U-boat but does, with a little help from some friends. There are plenty of naval tales in this collection.
‘Das Mammut’ (Gremuchii, Soviet Union, July 1943) by Henry Herz. The editor of the anthology contributes this long story in which a fictional machine takes on a fictional dragon. The Mammut is a gigantic metal land dreadnought, and the dragon is a three-headed flame breather piloted by T34 tank commander Andrei Petrov. It might be harder to empathise with the Russians in our time, but they are largely responsible for beating the Nazis.
‘Best Behave’ (Salerno, Italy, September 1943) by Ann Dávila Cardinal. Jorge from Puerto Rico befriends a local old lady called Signora Acheros and gets involved when her ancient silver spoons are stolen by a man in his barracks, but there’s no need. Looting and worse behaviour are common at war, but not all soldiers are bad boys.
‘A Terrible Aspect’ (Monte Cassino, Italy, April 1944) by Jonathan Maberry. Shortly before the Allies bomb Monte Cassino to rubble, a killer, codename Deacon, sneaks into the town on a secret mission. He encounters a powerful supernatural lady keen to rescue her werewolf man who is being held in the dungeon by Nazis who want to steal his power. Deacon is not a normal human, so there are a lot of monsters here. Although the story is compelling, I find scenes of torture to be unsettling.
‘Guardian Burma Road’ (Henan Province, China, June 1944) by Andrea Tang. Much of the story takes place in New York, where the Yang family has settled and become prosperous using their dragon magic. But young Nathaniel wants to defend the homeland from the Japanese, and his sister, Susannah, can’t stop him. This marked a shift in narrative as the protagonists reluctantly entered the war, and the action was not depicted in detail. When the land of their fathers is in danger, ex-pats must decide whether to stay safe or not.
‘Bound and Chained’ (Dresden, Germany, April 1944) by Kevin Andrew Murphy. Heinrich Himmler visits Dresden Library in search of ancient magical tomes, assisted by librarian Clothilde von Penzlin, who knows more than he does. This tale went off in unexpected directions and showed a good knowledge of old occult books, if the ones mentioned exist. It’s amazing how far an ambitious chicken farmer could go in those days. Hopefully, their journey would take them all the way to Hell.
‘The Scenic Route’ (Ramree Island, Burma, February 1945) by Jeremy Robinson. Out of two hundred men, Captain Tyler Moss is left with only twelve in a forsaken swamp where a creature larger than crocodiles is consuming human flesh. A fantastic monster and a surprising twist make this work well. Like half the stories here, it would be a fine B-movie.
‘Apeldoorn’ (Apeldoorn, the Netherlands, April 1945) by Tanya Huff. Henry FitzRoy, Special Forces, is a weapon. “I’m a weapon. Aim me,” he tells Major General Harry Foster of the First Canadian Infantry. Foster wants to get the Germans out of Apeldoorn, but with the war so near its end, he doesn’t want to bomb the town and kill civilians. Henry starts a campaign of terror to scare the Germans out. He can do this because he is not only a bastard son of Henry VIII but a vampire, too. Tanya Huff has written ‘Bloods,’ a series of novels about his adventures if you want more.
‘Bockscar’ (Pacific Ocean, August 1945) by David Mack. The Superfortress Bockscar is carrying the atomic bomb Fat Man to Nagasaki when some of the crew mutiny and need to be told certain secret information. It is a clever twist on real history, filled with plenty of authentic detail.
That’s all, folks. The stories are bracketed by two short poems from Jane Yolen, and there’s also an introduction by Joshua Palmatier, historical notes by editor Henry Herz, and an ‘About The Contributors’ section with information on the authors.
I’m not sure how much World War II means to younger generations. When I grew up in the 1960s and 70s, old black and white war films featuring decent chaps with stiff upper lips fighting the Hun were on television every Sunday, and since everything was shut, there wasn’t much else to do but watch them. The war wasn’t that far back. The serious British films were succeeded by Hollywood versions in which Nazis fired a million bullets but couldn’t hit the all-American hero. These Hollywood versions are more entertaining, yet they lack the authenticity of the original stories. These stories aren’t at all true (spoiler!), but they are entertaining. They also contain enough real facts and information to give the reader some understanding of that terrible conflict. They are definitely worth examining.
Eamonn Murphy
February 2025
(pub: Black Stone Publishing, 2025. 384 page enlarged paperback. Price: $18.89 (US), £15.51 (UK). ISBN: 979-8-87474-843-2. Ebook: Price: $ 9.99 (US), £ 7.99 (UK)(
check out website: www.BlackStonePublishing.com