THE 2025 FESTIVAL OF MONSTERS HAS COME TO AN END. FOR PHOTOS, SEE OUR GALLERY.
Horrifying authors, scary artists and a terrifying in-person game bring the monstrous to downtown Santa Cruz on Oct. 15 and 18, 2025 as part of the Festival of Monsters’ Public Days.
Philosophy professor David Livingstone Smith, author of Making Monsters: The Uncanny Power of Dehumanization, gives a free public keynote 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 15, to open the 2025 Festival of Monsters. The lecture will be held at the Museum of Art and History (705 Front Street). No reservations are necessary.
Then authors Alma Katsu (Fiend), Nat Cassidy (When the Wolf Comes Home) and Gretchen McNeil (They Fear Not Men in the Woods) come together 11 a.m., Saturday, Oct. 18, at Bookshop Santa Cruz (1520 Pacific Ave) for Oh, The Horror!, a panel where they will talk about monsters, horror, and why they write stories that scare. Prof. Renée Fox of the UC Santa Cruz Center for Monster Studies moderates. RSVP for the free panel at https://bookshopsantacruz.com/2025-festival-of-monsters.
From 2-5 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 18, Santa Cruz monster artist Cole Lemke will sign copies of his graphic novel Savior: The Day the Devil Saved the World at Atlantis Fantasyworld (1020 Cedar Street). Lemke is the artist behind squid banana and many of the colorful monster stickers found around town. He will be joined by Philip Lindsey, author of Alone in Bad Company, a book filled with zany characters and fun sketches from five Dungeons and Dragons campaigns. No reservations are needed for this free event.
Lastly at 6 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 18, join others for Blood on the Clocktower at Game Santa Cruz (1101 Cedar Street). In this bluffing game, a demon is on the loose, murdering by night and disguised in human form by day. Some players have scraps of information. Others have abilities that fight the evil or protect the innocent. Who is the monster? One has to play to find out. Tickets for Blood on the Clocktower are $20 and can be purchased at https://square.link/u/0kh1V2pk
