(Editor’s note: The 2025 Cryptid Quarterly Awards are based on the Cryptid Quarterly Top 10 lists compiled by lionelraygreen.com in 2025. Today’s list features the Top 10 Books of the Year. Click here to check out the 2025 Top 10 Authors of the Year released May 13.)
I released the 2025 Cryptid Quarterly Authors of the Year on May 13, and today I follow up with the Top 10 Cryptid Quarterly Books of the Year. I compiled four Cryptid Quarterly Top 10 lists in 2025, spotlighting 40 cryptid horror fiction titles. If you add the 62 honorable mentions, I actually highlighted a total of 102 releases.
While the Top 10 Books of the Year list features stories about my favorite cryptid Bigfoot, it also includes tales about Dogmen, the Jersey Devil, the Wampus Cat, and the Mothman. If you read cryptid horror fiction, you’ll likely be familiar with some of these writers. Four of them are among the 2025 Top 10 Cryptid Quarterly Authors of the Year.
With this list, I actually revisited Amazon and checked the latest ratings and reviews on all 102 releases from my 2025 charts, including the honorable mentions. So, each one received a score. I limited this annual list to one book per author. Like with all my lists, I use a personally developed point system with a combination of factors, including Amazon/Goodreads ratings and reviews, recognitions, and media buzz. However, my own opinion carried the most weight. Amazon/Goodreads ratings and reviews are everyone else’s opinions, but this annual list is my opinion — and should reflect that.
Again, I’ll repeat what I wrote in my Authors of the Year post: “My only motivation for compiling Cryptid Quarterly is to help fans of cryptid horror fiction like me find a 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 horror authors and books.”
Without further ado, here are the 2025 Cryptid Quarterly Books of the Year, according to Cryptid Quarterly. Clicking on the titles takes you to their Amazon pages where the books can be purchased. Happy reading!
#1. Port Luck by Timothy King
Publication date: May 2, 2025
Length: 341 pages
Amazon rating: 4.3 stars (out of 5)
2025 Cryptid Quarterly rank: #2 in Quarter 2
Amazon description: Nearly eighty years ago, the town of Port Luck was a thriving community in the wilds of Alaska. That was until a series of unexplained deaths and disappearances forced the townspeople to abandon their home. The town has since been re-inhabited, drawing in new residents and businesses. By all accounts, the town is thriving. Until a body is found on the outskirts of town, shattering the illusion of safety and security. Sheriff Johnny Myers is tasked with investigating the grisly scene. What at first appears to be a random animal attack soon reveals itself to be something much more sinister. As the bodies pile up, Johnny digs into the town’s tragic past, searching for a way to stop the cycle of violence. In the wake of the ever-growing death toll, Johnny is forced to face the truth. The stories were real. And it’s happening again.
#2. Devil of the Pines by James Kaine
Publication date: September 23, 2025
Length: 468 pages
Amazon rating: 4.5 stars (out of 5)
2025 Cryptid Quarterly rank: #1 in Quarter 3
Amazon description: Book 2 in the American Horrors series is about the disturbing legend that has haunted the Pine Barrens for centuries. The year is 1735 in Leeds Point, New Jersey, and a weary woman discovers she is pregnant with her thirteenth child. In a moment of despondence, she curses the unborn that it may be a devil. On the night the infant enters the world, no one in the room is left alive to recount the tale. In 2005, thirteen-year-old Patrick Shourds 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 blame and shun him. A pariah in his community, Patrick is ultimately driven away, vowing to never look back. Twenty year 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.
#3. American Mythology by Giano Cromley
Publication date: July 11, 2025
Length: 296 pages
Amazon rating: 4.8 stars (out of 5)
2025 Cryptid Quarterly rank: #4 in Quarter 3
Amazon description: 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?
#4. Dead of Winter by D.A. Roberts
Publication date: July 15, 2025
Length: 319 pages
Amazon rating: 4.8 stars (out of 5)
2025 Cryptid Quarterly rank: #2 in Quarter 3
Amazon description: Book 4 in The Lakeview Man Series is set in 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.
#5. Clash Of The Cryptids: Part 2 by Luka T. Jacobs
Publication date: May 23, 2025
Length: 185 pages
Amazon rating: 4.7 stars (out of 5)
2025 Cryptid Quarterly rank: #1 in Quarter 2
Amazon description: Book 4 in the Nicole Beretti Thriller series follows the shocking truth of what really happened to Beretti’s parents, which was revealed in Clash of the Cryptids: Part 1. The grief-stricken Beretti is left raw and reeling, but there’s little time to unravel. As she fights to stay focused, the Dogman grows more cunning. It adapts, shifts tactics, and reveals a level of intelligence that’s far too close to human. While Beretti struggles to hold the line, her partner Noah Jacobi proves he’s more than just backup; he’s trustworthy in the shadows and capable in the spotlight when she needs him most. The war between the Sasquatch and Dogmen intensifies as the centuries-old conflict arrives on the townsfolk’s doorstep.
#6. Devils Desk 3 by Mark Tufo
Publication date: September 16, 2025
Length: 354 pages
Amazon rating: 4.8 stars (out of 5)
2025 Cryptid Quarterly rank: #6 in Quarter 3
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.
#7. The Terror of the Wampus Cat by Robby “Jed” Raines
Publication date: July 30, 2025
Length: 225 pages
Amazon rating: 4.6 stars (out of 5)
2024 Cryptid Quarterly rank: #8 in Quarter 3
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 where 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.
#8. Sasquatch Hunter by Jeffrey B Miley
Publication date: July 11, 2025
Length: 131 pages
Amazon rating: 4.6 stars (out of 5)
2025 Cryptid Quarterly rank: #9 in Quarter 3
Amazon description: Book 54 in the Sasquatch Adventures series introduces Rudy Moretti, a former sniper for the U.S. Army and then an assassin for the CIA. Moretti leaves that world behind but is plagued by PTSD. No longer a man of faith, Rudy has nowhere to assuage his guilt except 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 in that explanation, he interrogates his brother’s friends aggressively. They don’t break, leaving him with only one explanation. They are telling the truth. His 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 Morretti becomes something he never thought possible. Rudy Moretti becomes a Sasquatch Hunter. Just FYI: Moretti returns for another mission in the equally entertaining Sasquatch Hunter 2, Book 57 in the Sasquatch Adventures series.
#9. Shadow of the Mothman by Hunter Shea
Publication date: December 15, 2025
Length: 271 pages
Amazon rating: 4.4 stars (out of 5)
2025 Cryptid Quarterly rank: #5 in Quarter 4
Amazon description: In 1967, the town of Point Pleasant, West Virginia, was terrorized by a winged creature stalking the night skies, along with a host of other bizarre and frightening paranormal phenomena. It all came to an end with the tragic collapse of the Silver Bridge on a cold December evening. Ken Orsulak survived the Silver Bridge disaster, only to awaken from his coma sixteen years later. A man out of time and confined to a wheelchair now, he’s taken back to his childhood home of Remington, Massachusetts. By day, the bucolic farming town is just as it was when he left in 1967. By night, shrieks, strange shadows and unexplainable lights send ripples of fear throughout its residents. Something sinister has descended on the town. Has the terror of Point Pleasant come for Ken? The creature has a name – Mothman. The high strangeness surrounding the monster defies explanation. Ken and the town fight for answers, then find themselves fighting for their lives. Enter John Keel, the stalwart reporter who made the mysterious cryptid infamous. Has he arrived just in time, or is he too late to save Remington from the unknowable intentions of the Mothman? Remington is coming apart at the seams. Will anyone be left standing when … and if … the Mothman’s reign of terror ends?
#10. Death by Legend by Matt Bille
Publication date: March 11, 2025
Length: 250 pages
Amazon rating: 4.5 stars (out of 5)
2025 Cryptid Quarterly rank: Honorable Mention in Quarter 1
When science writer Greg Preston receives an urgent call about his friend’s brutal murder in Los Angeles, he knows something isn’t right. The death seems impossible – committed in a locked room with no sign of entry or escape. But this is just the beginning. As more inexplicable killings terrorize the city, Greg and his former flame Julie Sperling uncover a disturbing connection to an eccentric millionaire’s controversial museum project. At its center stands an ancient English burial mound, meticulously reconstructed on American soil. Some say it never should have been moved. Others whisper darker warnings. Now Greg and Julie are in a race against time with the LAPD to uncover the truth. But in a city of ten million souls, something is hunting them. Something that shouldn’t exist. Something that leaves no survivors. Ancient folklore crashes into modern-day Los Angeles with devastating consequences, forcing Greg and Julie to confront not only their past feelings but a present danger beyond anything they imagined.
RELATED LINKS
2025 Cryptid Quarterly Authors of the Year – LIONEL RAY GREEN
2024 Cryptid Quarterly Books of the Year – LIONEL RAY GREEN
2024 Cryptid Quarterly Authors of the Year – LIONEL RAY GREEN
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