Cryptid Quarterly VII (2025): Top 10 List of Cryptid Horror Fiction

(Editor’s note: Since 2024, Cryptid Quarterly is a feature where I highlight cryptid horror fiction from each quarter of the year, using Amazon Kindle release dates.)

James Kaine debuts atop the Cryptid Quarterly VII chart with a Jersey Devil thriller, and D.A. Roberts returns at No. 2 with the fourth book in The Lakeview Man series.

Kaine’s Devil of the Pines is a novel about the legendary Jersey Devil and is the author’s first title on the Cryptid Quarterly list. I also compile a monthly Horror Fiction chart for MalevolentDark.com, and Devil of the Pines ranked No. 2 on my list of some of the best releases in September. Click HERE to check out Malevolent Dark’s Horror Fiction Top 40 — October Edition.

Meanwhile, Roberts makes his fourth appearance on the Cryptid Quarterly chart with Dead of Winter, Book 4 in The Lakeview Man series. Roberts previously topped the Cryptid Quarterly lists twice with his Dark Frontiers novels, Cry of the Wendigo and The Demon of Palo Duro Canyon.

Luka T. Jacobs continues to make her mark on the chart with two novels in the Top 10. Book 5 in her Nicole Beretti Thriller series titled Red Eyes is No. 3 and Forest of the Sasquatch 4: Redemption reaches No. 7.

Michael Cole also delivers two novels in the Top 10. Book 4 in his G.O.R.E. Sector series titled Half-Moon Trench is No. 5 and Beast of Death Cavern rounds out the chart at No. 10. By the way, Cole almost had three titles on the list as his deep sea thriller Architeuthis just missed the cut, finishing at No. 11.

Cryptid Quarterly VII features two more newcomers to the Top 10 with Giano Cromley and Robby “Jed” Raines. Cromley’s American Mythology is No. 4, and Raines enters at No. 8 with Book 3 in his Shadow-Walkers series titled The Terror of the Wampus Cat.

The rest of the chart includes Devils Desk 3 by Mark Tufo and Sasquatch Hunter by Jeffrey B Miley. Tufo’s Devils Desk 2 was the 2024 Cryptid Quarterly Book of the Year. Miley was the 2024 Cryptid Quarterly Author of the Year and is the only author to reach the Top 10 in all seven Cryptid Quarterly charts.

So, without further ado, here’s my Top 10 cryptid horror fiction releases from July 1 through September 30, 2025, along with their Amazon descriptions. There’s also a list of honorable mentions worth checking out. Clicking on the book titles takes you to their Amazon pages where they can be purchased.

#1. Devil of the Pines by James Kaine

Publication date: September 11, 2025

Length: 466 pages

Amazon rating: 4.7

Amazon description: Book 2 in the American Horrors series, Devil of the Pines is about a man named Patrick Shourds. In 2005 at age 13, Patrick and his friend encounter a terrifying creature in the Pine Barrens. When only Patrick emerges from the woods alive, the residents of the small town of Leeds Point blame and shun him. A pariah in his community, Patrick is ultimately driven away, vowing to never look back. Twenty years later, Patrick reluctantly returns to Leeds Point after the death of his mother. Seeking to lay the ghosts of his past to rest, he soon discovers they refuse to go quietly. When a string of grisly events rocks the small town, old suspicions resurface, and the residents again point their fingers at the prodigal son. Patrick will learn that he can’t run from the past. He’ll have to confront his demons — the monster in the woods and the darkness that dwells within.

#2. Dead of Winter by D.A. Roberts

Publication date: July 15, 2025

Length: 310 pages

Amazon rating: 4.8

Amazon description: Book 4 in The Lakeview Man series invites you to step into the shadowy depths of the Ozarks, where every whisper of wind and rustle in the forest conceals a chilling truth. What begins as a terrifying encounter with a clan of Bigfoot, morphs into an unfathomable nightmare, as unseen figures manipulate the darkness and ancient forces rise to claim their prey. Deputy Connor Logue finds himself at the center of a sinister web that ensnares the Sloan County Sheriff’s Department. As an omen of death looms over them all, secrets buried within the rugged hills and deep hollers come to light, challenging everything they thought they knew. The boundaries between ally and enemy blur, and survival becomes a fleeting hope. Will you dare to uncover the truth lurking in the shadows? Because in Sloan County, nothing is ever as it seems.

#3. Red Eyes by Luka T. Jacobs

Publication date: July 15, 2025

Length: 301 pages

Amazon rating: 4.8

Amazon description: Book 5 in the Nicole Beretti Thriller series takes you to the forests near Upper Klamath Lake where a young Sasquatch witnesses the violent loss of his family. What follows shapes him into something else, something feared. Over the years, he becomes a legend whispered about by locals, a towering creature with red eyes and a growing obsession with a blonde-haired girl he once saw near the edge of the woods. That girl was Nicole Beretti. Now a Special Agent, Beretti grew up believing her parents died in a tragic accident. But when a neighbor recounts how a creature forced the crash and dragged her parents from the wreckage to their deaths, the past Nicole thought she had buried comes roaring back. Together with Agent Jacobi, she uncovers two decades of sightings and attacks, some only days old, and sets out to uncover the truth and bring down the creature that tore her family apart.

#4. American Mythology by Giano Cromley

Publication date: July 15, 2025

Length: 296 pages

Amazon rating: 4.8

Amazon description: A charming and comic debut novel about a quirky ensemble embarking on an epic quest to find Bigfoot. Every month at St. Pete’s Tavern in rugged western Montana, a meeting is convened by the Basic Bigfoot Society’s members — both of them. Jute and Vergil are lifelong friends, bound by an affinity for the elusive North American Wood Ape. Their monthly meetings and annual expeditions are a tradition that keep their friendship alive when so much else about their small town has fallen away. But things are about to get exciting for the Basic Bigfoot Society. Dr. Marcus Bernard, the country’s foremost Bigfoot “expert,” approaches them with a proposition that seems almost too good to be true: to join their next expedition, along with an ambitious young documentarian, Vicky Xu. Thankfully, Vergil’s daughter Rye is home from college and decides to tag along in order to make sure her dad and Jute aren’t made fools of. Once in the woods, strange things begin to happen to them that seem to defy rational explanation. Is this a hoax? Or are they on the precipice of the greatest anthropological discovery ever?

#5. Half-Moon Trench by Michael Cole

Publication date: August 18, 2025

Length: 161 pages

Amazon rating: 4.4

Amazon description: Book 4 in the G.O.R.E Sector series finds the Raptor Pack team dispatched to an advanced deep-underwater mining facility in the Pacific Ocean known as the Scarlett Caldera. Owned by a powerful corporation, the facility operates with the goal of harvesting the secret to renewable energy. But now, the Scarlett Caldera has inexplicably gone dark. Computer logs reveal the departure of escape pods, but none arise to the surface; grainy security footage shows staff members fleeing some unseen force within the facility; and all radio contact is gone. Equipped with state-of-the-art exploration technology and combat weapons, Thomas Rodney and his team make the three-mile descent into the trench. There, they find the station dark, vacant, and deathly quiet. Thin grooves line the bulkheads, bloodstains soak the decks, but no bodies are found. But something moves within the darkness. Watching. Waiting. As the team presses further, they uncover the true purpose of the Scarlett Caldera’s operations, as well as the deadly consequences. With disaster looming, Raptor Pack must race against time to rescue a small group of survivors and destroy all mutations inside Half-Moon Trench.

#6. Devils Desk 3 by Mark Tufo

Publication date: September 16, 2025

Length: 354 pages

Amazon rating: 4.7

Amazon description: They say greed lit the match, that gold was at the root of this evil. The miners up near Devils Desk, Alaska, dug too deep, blasted too hard, and they broke something that can never be repaired. Quakes shattered ancient barriers creating a rift between worlds that had been sealed by an ancient race, and the domino effect of those first tremors rocked both the earth’s foundation and humanity’s. Global devastation has brought an apocalypse, and the dwindling human race is forced to battle a vicious race of legendary monsters who are hellbent on their annihilation. Survival is no longer a right but a bloody fight. Michael Talbot, his family and tribe (many of whom he has known in parallel existences), find sanctuary at the mansion of international billionaire, John “the Tripper” Stephenson. But as calls to arms become more difficult then impossible to ignore, they embark on a mission to lend aid to the last human holdout. Once again, the Talbots are forced into the center of chaos, and this time, their journey begins on the other side of the world. Join Michael, BT, Trip, and several familiar friends and villains as this terrifying adventure series continues.

#7. Forest of the Sasquatch 4: Redemption by Luka T. Jacobs

Publication date: September 5, 2025

Length: 178 pages

Amazon rating: 4.6

Amazon description: The fourth and final book in the Forest of the Sasquatch saga, Redemption follows the survivors of a southern Sasquatch clan who are scattered and broken after the carnage in Duluth. Grief and near-extinction drive them from Superior National Forest into a brutal westward trek. The journey strains their resolve, frays their tempers, and tests the fragile bonds that may be the only thing keeping them alive. In the heart of the wilderness, their leader Matto chooses to stop running and stake a claim for what remains of his clan, but he’s haunted by the fear that leadership only leads to ruin. But survival demands more than strength. It demands protection, wisdom, and sacrifice. A younger voice urges him to see another way, forcing Matto to confront what kind of leader he will become. Can he rise as the protector his clan needs, or will he watch the last of his people fall around him?

#8. The Terror of the Wampus Cat by Robby “Jed” Raines

Publication date: July 29, 2025

Length: 212 pages

Amazon rating: 4.6

Amazon description: Book 3 in the Shadow-Walkers series follows monster hunters Rick Becker and Sarah Dalton as they retreat to the Smoky Mountains for a well-earned vacation. They expect peaceful hikes and quiet nights, but when a gruesome attack shakes the nearby woods and massive feline tracks turn up near a tourist cabin, peace quickly gives way to something darker. As legends of the Wampus Cat begin to blur with reality, Rick and Sarah are pulled into a chilling investigation that uncovers not just ancient Cherokee myths, but evidence of a secretive research facility hidden deep in the forest. With the help of trusted allies and a mysterious Cherokee elder, the team races to uncover the truth before more blood is spilled. Are these creatures a relic of folklore, or something engineered and far more deadly? The forest holds its secrets tightly, but Rick and the team are about to tear them open — even if it costs them everything.

#9. Sasquatch Hunter by Jeffrey B Miley

Publication date: July 11, 2025

Length: 131 pages

Amazon rating: 4.6

Amazon description: Book 54 in the Sasquatch Adventures series, Sasquatch Hunter is about a former sniper for the U.S. Army and assassin for the CIA named Rudy Moretti. When he leaves those worlds behind, he’s plagued by PTSD, loses his faith, and has nowhere to assuage his guilt except for the mostly ineffective therapy sessions with a VA psychiatrist. Adding to his burden is the fact that his brother was abducted by a Sasquatch while camping with friends. Not believing that explanation, he interrogates his brother’s friends aggressively, but they don’t break, which means they must be telling the truth. Rudy’s greatest wish becomes wanting to avenge his brother’s assumed death. Others suffering the same pain offer him that opportunity. Along with two other men, Rudy becomes something he never thought possible: a Sasquatch hunter.

#10. Beast of Death Cavern by Michael Cole

Publication date: August 6, 2025

Length: 132 pages

Amazon rating: 4.4

Amazon description: Outpost Four was supposed to be a quiet rotation — babysit a radar dish in the frozen mountains and count the days. But when Bravo Team arrives, they find the base in ruins. No signs of life. No signs of Alpha Team. Only wreckage … and something watching. A monstrous predator has awakened beneath the ice — an ancient terror shaken loose by a recent
earthquake. Towering at eighteen feet, possessed by murderous instinct, it has emerged from the
cavern to kill. Now Bravo Team is being hunted, stalked, ambushed, and torn apart one by one. The snow runs red. The beast has come. And it wants more than territory. It wants blood.

HONORABLE MENTIONS

Abattoir Ocean by Sam M. Phillips

Architeuthis by Michael Cole

Bigfoot Frenzy by Stu Croskell

Bloodbath Shark Attack by Brian Gatto

Carnivores by Brian Gatto

Cryptid Classics #8: The Bryan, Texas Gargoyle by Jeffrey B Miley

Gators by Eric S. Brown

Howl of the Nightwolf by Robby “Jed” Raines

Hunter’s Moon: Awakening by Ryan Kelly

Monsters in the Woods by Tyler Knutson

Nightmare Reef by Deborah Sheldon