Customer Reviews

The Beast Within

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Being the editor of this anthology I figured most would consider my review somewhat biased, but it should be known that this anthology recieved raves from such independant review sites as Horrorscope, Goodreads, Monsterlibrarian, and Speculasphere. Amazon won't let me post the links, but a Google search should help prospective buyers find any information they are looking for--information that's more accurate than the one review that makes mention of a character dying by "firing squad" which does not appear in this book. If you're still uncertain, vist Gravesidetales to read story samples and interviews with the authors.

It should also be mentioned that Lee Battersby's novelette "The Claws of Native Ghosts" (which opens the anthology) won the 2008 Australian Shadows Award. The Australian Shadows Award is the pinnacle award for horror fiction in Australia.

-Matt Hults

The Beast Within, a horror antho that in my opinion brought the beast back to the were-creature subgenre. The sheer variety of monsters in this book (expect more than your average werewolf)and the depth the stories delve into life as the were-creature or their potential victims, makes this a collection worth reading. The artwork is a bonus you don't see enough of in books these days, only adding value to the product you're buying. But don't kid yourself, right from the first story you'll realize it's not just a book you hold in your hands -- it's an experience. I thoroughly enjoyed each story. I honestly can't single one out and hold it above the rest. From Joel A Sutherland's "Beached", John Palisano's "The Marine" or Gary A Braunbeck's "Some Touch of Pity", this enough thrills, chills and laughs to keep you up at night and garnering strange looks on the commute to work. Mr. Hults did a superb job of selecting these stories. Well worth your money.

I had to give a little love to this small press anthology after seeing the sabotage attempt below. I personally enjoyed a lot of the stories in here as a fan of all things lycanthropic. True, it's not without a very few flaws, but on the whole, very satisfying and enjoyable stories. I'll give a few of my favorites, though by no means the only enjoyable stories in the lot.

"Claws of Native Ghosts" is the opener and gives a brilliant first person narrative of a British soldier's madness that is only made worse by the spirit of a beast that attaches itself to him. "Like Cat and Dog" takes a new spin by entering a world inhabited by both humans and non-shifting anthropomorphic canines and felines that struggle to control predatory urges. A nice action story with several good turns. "Desert Heart" is a marvelous short western story about a sheriff with a special ability for tracking the lycanthrope that surfaces in his small town. "Let's All Welcome the New Guy" is a hilarious take on company sensitivity training that had me chuckling for several minutes after I finished. "Okie Werewolf Seeks Love" is just plain fun for the narrative and story it tells. "SQ 389" takes a wonderful sci-fi approach blended with some traditional werewolf lore upgraded for a world of virtual reality and the police that protect it. "Of Silver Bullets and Golden Teeth" (one of my favorite titles) is an excellent frontier adventure involving Navajo legends. "The Immaculate Conception" is very amazing take on a unique form of shape-shifting breaking out aboard a slave ship.

And really those are simply the ones that stand out in my mind right now, just about all of the other stories are enjoyable too. Recommended for any fan of varied shape-shifting mythos.

Virtually all but one of the stories in this anthology were bad in two ways: the only one that wasn't was from a previous werewolf anthology. If they were coherently written, the stories were either unexciting, just plain bad, or present a potentially good and exciting idea and never do anything with it. Two of the stories read like bland revenge fantasies, where the weremonsters in question are nothing more than fleshy punching bags to be mutilated by the wrathful protagonists. One story features a protagonist so unsympathetic that, upon his death by firing squad, one would wish that he was fired upon by cannons, and not rifles.

And then there is the problem of the art. At best, the art is extremely amateurish, at worst, appallingly lousy. Many of the artists appear to be ignorant of wolf or cat anatomy. The artist who illustrated the story about the werehyena appears to have been unable to even google an image of a hyena.

All in all, it was a complete waste of money to buy, and an even worse waste of time to read.