(Editor’s note: The 2024 Cryptid Quarterly Awards are based on the Cryptid Quarterly Top 10 Lists compiled by lionelraygreen.com in 2024. Today’s list features the Top 10 Authors of the Year. Later this month, lionelraygreen.com releases the Top 10 Books of the Year.)
In between watching AI-generated videos of kittens singing the Rosé/Bruno Mars song “APT,” I read a lot of cryptid horror fiction. And the amount of cryptid horror fiction released in 2024 seemed as vast as the Pacific Northwest forests of the United States where Bigfoot lives — at least in my imagination.
Most of the books I read and videos I watch are about cryptids, chiefly Sasquatch. I also write about them in my column for HorrorAddicts.net called The Bigfoot Files, and I compile a monthly Horror Fiction Top 25 list for MalevolentDark.com. When I research Amazon for books to highlight in The Bigfoot Files and the Horror Fiction Top 25, I usually discover several cryptid horror fiction releases. So, in 2024, I created a Cryptid Quarterly Top 10 List on my website to highlight some of those releases.
Well, 2024 is over, and I decided to use my lists to honor the Cryptid Quarterly Top 10 Authors of the Year. To be considered for the award, authors simply had to have more than one cryptid horror fiction release either in the Top 10 or in the Honorable Mentions of my four quarterly lists. These awards use my personally developed point system combining the rankings of the books on my quarterly Top 10 Lists and their Amazon/Goodreads ratings and reviews. Of course, I have my favorites, but my personal bias didn’t change any of the rankings after I added up the scores and factored in the ratings. I can tell you that the battle for the top spot was a two-person race decided by 2 points.
What I enjoy about the cryptid fiction penned by these authors is that the primary goal of their stories is simply to entertain. I read fiction for pleasure. My goal is to escape the insanity of news and social media and the world in general for a short time. I think these authors offer a public service to middle-aged cryptid enthusiasts like me by effectively channeling the nostalgia for a simpler time when storytelling was more forthright without an agenda or a message. I grew up on First Blood and Predator. John James Rambo isn’t that complicated. Neither is Major Alan “Dutch” Schaefer. Bigfoot and I aren’t either.
Admittedly, I would love to watch Rambo and/or Dutch battle Bigfoot. I don’t ever see that happening, so these authors are the next best thing.
One final word. My only motivation for compiling Cryptid Quarterly is to help fans of cryptid horror fiction like me find a neat new author or title that they may have missed in the wilds of the Amazon publishing jungle. There’s no controversy here. There’s no drama. I’m simply sharing my enjoyment of cryptid horror in my spare time. Feel free to comment below and recommend your favorite cryptid authors and books.
Without further ado, here are the 2024 Cryptid Quarterly Authors of the Year along with their top-ranked book titles, according to Cryptid Quarterly. Clicking on the titles takes you to their Amazon pages where the books can be purchased. Clicking on the author names takes you to their websites or Amazon home pages.
#1. Jeffrey B Miley
Miley is a prolific Bigfoot author with more than 50 titles released in his Sasquatch Adventures series. One of two authors with books ranked on all four Cryptid Quarterly Lists in 2024, Miley consistently pumps out action-packed, entertaining, and sometimes heartfelt takes on the Bigfoot legend. In 2024, his ranked books included plots about a cursed cabin in Montana; Sasquatch attacks during Alaska’s World Ice Art Championship and Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race; and a cable show known for debunking myths that faces reality in Louisiana. Miley always finds new angles and locations to write about Bigfoot, keeping the series fresh by mixing in historic tales, mysteries, and modern-day stories with Sasquatches that are sometimes monstrous, sometimes misunderstood, and even heartwarming at times.
Top-ranked books: Sasquatch 48: The Cabin, Sasquatch 46: Northern Lights, Sasquatch 42: Swampus, and Sasquatch 38: Snow Monster.
#2. Luka T. Jacobs
It was a busy 2024 for Jacobs who delivers action-packed cryptid fiction with thriller vibes. The first three books in her Night of the Dogman series were a highlight of the year as Jacobs wrote likable lead characters, while infusing her Dogmen with believable motivations for their violent behavior. Jacobs also debuted a new series featuring Special Agent Nicole Beretti, a fan favorite from the Night of the Dogman series. I love the opening scene of the Beretti series when two men capture a Dogman in their illegal bear trap and have no idea what it is or what’s about to happen to them. That first book in the series is titled Savage Rogue, and it scored one of four #1 slots on the Cryptid Quarterly Lists of 2024.
Top-ranked books: Savage Rogue, Night of the Dogman: Vengeance, and Night of the Dogman: Retribution.
#3. D.A. Roberts
In 2024, Roberts delivered the third entry in his Dark Frontiers series about Declan Caine, a rebel soldier with a dark past, who leads a branch of the U.S. Marshals Service called the Nightmare Hunters. Their mission: To eliminate inhuman threats in the Wild West frontier of 1865. What a cool concept. Titled Cry of the Wendigo, it earned one of four #1 slots on the Cryptid Quarterly Lists of 2024. Roberts also released an outstanding collection of horror short stories that included tales about Bigfoot and Dogman. Roberts is one of the best at seamlessly blending cryptid legends with Americana and making it read like an actual part of U.S. history.
Top-ranked books: Cry of the Wendigo and Death Stalks Moon Valley.
#4. William Meikle
In 2024, Meikle continued his popular S-Squad series with Book 17 as the squad breaks in a new recruit on a “stroll in the park” mission to back up an inspection team at a new oil exploration site in the Yucatan. Unfortunately, the site was built on land claimed by familiar creatures from legend, and they want it back. Meikle also delivered an action romp about killer crabs descending on Manhattan with the fun, first line: “The whale farted.” Meikle is a master at telling stories filled with old-school action scenes and no-nonsense characters.
Top-ranked books: Crustaceans and Operation Yukatan.
#5. Dan Durkee
Durkee is a promising new author who hit the ground running with his first two novels in 2024. His debut captures the escalating fear that a small coastal town in Maine feels when facing a threat from the deep sea. His sophomore effort focuses on survival horror and the heroism of firefighters after an accident traps the crew in the wilderness while something sinister hunts them down. Durkee is one of those authors with a knack for storytelling boosted by an ability to write relatable characters worth rooting for when the chips are down.
Top-ranked books: Survive and Prey.
#6. Lucas Pederson
Pederson delivered Book 4 in his popular Cryptid Force Six series, continuing the team’s adventures in the aftermath of tragedy. This one ramps up the action blended with goodly doses of camp and humor as the team travels to Australia to face monsters from Down Under. In another ranked book, Pederson gave us an interesting take on the origin of the Loch Ness Monster dating back to a World War I experiment. Pederson’s stories are fun and reminiscent of the over-the-top action romps of the 1980s but with cryptids. I mean, the lead character of Cryptid Force Six is named Cujo and the opening line of Book 4 is “The creature’s head exploded into a splatter of blood, brains, and bone.” Rambo and Dutch would be proud.
Top-ranked books: Cryptid Force Six: The Swamp and Monster of the Loch.
#7. Eric S. Brown
Along with Miley, Brown is one of the two authors with books ranked on all four Cryptid Quarterly Lists in 2024. His ranked releases feature a story about a billionaire buying a large piece of land in Alaska to escape the limelight, only to discover a creature of legend already claims the territory. Other ranked books include one pitched as “Nightmare on Elm Street meets Bigfoot War” and another where a variety of cryptids emerge from all over the world to attack humanity. The other release was about a soldier seeking vengeance by returning to the place where he witnessed his family slaughtered by a Bigfoot as a boy. No character is safe in a Brown book as he entertains readers with high-octane action scenes thoroughly influenced by the futuristic military sci-fi fiction of the 1980s like Hammer’s Slammers by David Drake and Endworld by David Robbins.
Top-ranked books: Stomping Ground, Sasquatch Nightmare, Cryptid War, and Hunting Bigfoot.
#8. Michael Cole
With his novel Saurian, Cole scored one of four #1 slots on the Cryptid Quarterly Lists of 2024. It follows the killing spree of a 10-foot-tall alien that would give the Predator a run for its money. With one of my favorite opening chapters of the year, Cole crash-lands his alien on Earth and effectively introduces us to the creature with a vicious deer kill showing its quickness and urge to slaughter followed by another kill that demonstrates its innate intelligence. “Like a baby aching for its mother’s milk, the beast yearned to slay.” Good luck, humanity. Like other authors on this list, Cole skillfully transforms his love for classic creature features and action films into highly entertaining reads.
Top-ranked book: Saurian.
#9. Heath Stallcup
Stallcup writes with a cinematic flair, effectively conveying the thrills and violence from the action films of the ’70s and ’80s that influenced him as a child. The Genoskwa series is like reading one of those action movies, except the enemies are cryptids living in the Catskill Mountains. What separates Stallcup’s Sasquatches from many others is his choice to highlight their intelligence and their clan dynamic, giving them added depth and making them even more dangerous. If I had to pick one, the Genoskwa were my favorite cryptids from 2024. Stallcup’s fourth book in the series, A New Beginning, introduces a new clan of Sasquatch that clashes with FBI SWAT teams during a rescue operation for unsuspecting teens who were hoping to see a living Bigfoot in its natural environment. With a meaty length of more than 300 pages per book, Genoskwa is one of the best cryptid series released in the past two years because of its well-written action scenes, pacing, and characterization.
Top-ranked book: Genoskwa: A New Beginning.
#10. Brian Gatto
Growing up on a steady diet of the old Sci-Fi Channel, Gatto tackles a variety of cryptids in his writing. In 2024, Gatto cracked the Cryptid Quarterly Lists twice, including with a deep-sea thriller set in a tropical paradise off the coast of Mexico where a drug-addicted tiger shark roams the waters. He ranked again with a shock-ending creature feature about a local hermit who asks his cryptozoologist son to bring a team to investigate a legendary beast that is killing livestock, pets, and humans in their hometown. The strength of Gatto’s writing is how his respect for the legends and his passion for the monsters shine through in his storytelling.
Top-ranked books: Stripes and Bog Beast.
LIONEL RAY GREEN 
I didn’t realize that a magazine- or a genre- like this existed. I’ll have to try to consider sending them a story.
Hi David! Cryptid Quarterly is not a magazine; it’s just my Top 10 List that I started posting last year. However, cryptid fiction is definitely a subgenre of horror fiction. If you’ve got a tale to tell, my advice is to check out the publishers of the authors on this list and see if they’re taking submissions. Also, I know HorrorTree.com has a calendar of deadlines for various anthologies, and occasionally I see one asking for cryptid short stories. Good luck!