“As Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from uneasy dreams, he found himself transformed in his bed into a monstrous vermin.” When Gregor Samsa inexplicably turns into a big gross bug, his life is forever changed – but in his alienation, he also transcends the mundane demands of his former human reality. The following titles feature characters whose emotional struggles manifest in monstrous transformations – but their changed physical forms may give them the monstrous strength needed to overcome past traumas.
You can sign up for a free library card here.
If you are new to our eResources, check out these tutorial videos on how to get started.
If you’re looking for more book suggestions, we’re happy to recommend them to you! Use this Book Recommendation form to send us some information about what you like to read and we’ll curate a list just for you.
If you have any additional questions, you can contact a librarian through Facebook, Instagram or X. You can also call us at 412-622-3114 or email us at info@carnegielibrary.org
When teenager Ren Yu is pushed to the brink by pressures to be an elite swimmer and go to a top college, her dreams of becoming a mermaid start to become a horrifying reality.
This title is also available for checkout as an eBook on Libby, eBook on Hoopla, in eAudio on Libby, and in eAudio on Hoopla.
Since birth, Ada has been the host of ogbanje, a chorus of evil spirits that she keeps at bay. But when she leaves Nigeria for college in America, the hedonistic and violent ogbanje begin to take control.
This title is also available for checkout as an eBook on Libby and an eBook on Hoopla.
Gregor Samsa, a young working man living with his family, struggles to maintain his humanity after suddenly transforming into a giant insect.
This title is also available for checkout as an eBook on Libby, eBook on Hoopla, in eAudio on Libby, and in eAudio on Hoopla.
After the death of her son, mother Magos nurtures a piece of his lung until it becomes a child-sized creature. While loved and cared for by the grieving family, the creature has monstrous impulses that he can’t control.
This title is also available for checkout as an eBook on Libby and in eAudio on Libby.
Two years after giving up her art career, a stay-at-home mother becomes convinced she’s slowly turning into a dog. While researching a cure, she finds a book that encourages her to embrace animal nature.
This title is also available for checkout as an eBook on Libby and in eAudio on Libby.
Anita tries to convince her best friend Rainie that they should both transform into dogs, allowing them to always be bound to each other. But when the girls are separated, Anita falls into a rotting coma that only Rainie can wake her from.
After Leah returns from an undersea expedition that was presumed lost for months, her wife Miri is convinced that something is wrong. Leah spends all her time in the bath, no longer sleeps or eats, and won’t communicate with anyone. Miri is determined to find out if any part of her wife remains or is lost forever to whatever happened in the deep ocean.
This title is also available for checkout as an eBook on Libby, in eAudio on Libby, and in eAudio on Hoopla.
Weeks after their wedding, couple Wren and Lewis receive terrible and startling news: in nine months, Lewis will unavoidably transform into a great white shark. Wren wonders if they can stay together, but the changes in Lewis start to bring up unhealed wounds from Wren’s childhood.
This title is also available for checkout as an eBook on Libby and in eAudio on Libby.
Pregnant teen Vern flees the cult she was raised in to give birth to twins in the forest. While trying to keep her children isolated and safe, encounters with a mysterious violent entity and unsettling physical changes in Vern’s own body force her to face the outside world.
This title is also available for checkout as an eBook on Libby, in eAudio on Libby, and in eAudio on Hoopla.
When passive housewife Yeong-hye suddenly becomes plagued with bloody nightmares, she stops eating meat, and gradually stops eating altogether. As Yeong-hye starts to change in bizarre ways, this small act of defiance unmoors her husband and his family to the point of perverse obsession, and the actions they take to control her escalate beyond the rational.
This title is also available for checkout as an eBook on Libby and in eAudio on Libby.