Night of the Beast [Paperback]

Harry Shannon (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 17, 2002

Welcome to the dying little town of Two Trees, Nevada; built in a place the Native Americans called 'The Valley of the Bones.' Something evil has awakened, something that feeds on the darkest of human emotions..."A superbly rendered, teeth grinding, tour-de-force of horror from newcomer Harry Shannon," William F. Nolan, 2001 Grand Master, International Horror Guild.

Product Details

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Medium Rare Books (August 17, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0971116296
• ISBN-13: 978-0971116290
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (41 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,640,509 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Like most authors, I've kicked around a lot. I've been an actor, a singer, an Emmy-nominated songwriter, a recording artist in Europe, a music publisher, a VP of Carolco Pictures and worked as a free-lance Music Supervisor on films such as 'Basic Instinct' and 'Universal Soldier.' I'm currently a counselor in private practice. All of my MICK CALLAHAN mystery novels are available on Kindle, and a few will be coming back into print in 2013. Check out my thriller THE PRESSURE OF DARKNESS. I have published dozens of short stories and written a number of screenplays, including the Lionsgate horror movie and novel DEAD AND GONE. My dark thriller CLAN was recently released on Kindle. My zombie opus THE HUNGRY (co-written with Steven W. Booth) is out now. There's also a pulp novella written for an exciting new Kindle/paperback series published by Amazon's own 47North. My entry is entitled THE DEAD MAN: KILL THEM ALL! For the curious, I've twice been nominated for the Stoker Award by the Horror Writer's Association. I've won the Tombstone and the Black Quill once each, and my short story FIFTY MINUTES, co-written with Joe Donnelly, was recently chosen for inclusion in the prestigious anthology Best American Mysteries of 2011. You can find me on Facebook or Twitter.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Perfect Halloween Companion, September 30, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Night of the Beast (Paperback)

If you are looking for a fun, page-turner to scare your pants off - this is it. Harry Shannon's story of murder, ghouls and antiheros in a small desert town is nothing short of mesmerizing. There's something here for every horror afficianado - vampires, zombies, spiders and things with no name. Shannon's writing is stellar, suspenseful and at times amusing. This is horror "pulp" at it's finest! I highly recommend this book.

24 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Old Fashioned Scarefest, February 24, 2003

By 

Mark J. Sieber (Hampton, Virginia United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Night of the Beast (Paperback)

Having received Harry Shannons Night of the Beast and also having heard so many good things about it, I picked it up yesterday and Im about 100 pages from completing it. I had little doubt that Id like it, as so many astute readers and authors have praised it.

Sacred Indian Grounds and Ancient Evil are just about the hoariest clichés in the horror field. Right up there with bloodsucking vampires. In Night of the Beast, Harry Shannon proves that there are no tired ideas or genres; only poorly executed ones. Which excludes this fun book. Harry obviously loves the genre and this story could have come up in the glory days of the mid 1080s. A burnt out songwriter flees LA to his boyhood home, where something seems to be VERY wrong. Many of his old friends are still there, and they are glad to see him, but strange things are happening to them.

No, this isnt a blazingly original plot, but Harry clearly states in his introduction that Night of the Beast wasnt intended to be. It is a labor of love and is intended to be a lot of fun. Does he succeed? Id say, YES. Im enjoying the hell out of NotB and I heartily recommend it to those old enough to remember the old days and also to younger readers who are just looking to have a great, scary time reading a pulpy novel. The pages fly, but not at the expense of the characters, which is really where the heart of this novel seems to be. Ive said it again and again, thats what great fiction is all about; the characters and whether we care enough about them to keep reading until the end. Harry Shannon has assembled a lovable assortment of small town eccentrics that keeps this novels pace going strong.

If I had to compare Night of the Beast with any other authors works that Ive read, Id say Rick Hautala or Joseph Citro or even Bentley Little. I even see a bit of early Stephen King in these pages.

If one cares enough to look for these things, I see Night of the Beast working on different levels as well. It appears to me to be about redemption and exorcising personal demons from our minds and our past. In his intro, Harry is pretty forthright about the hurdles he had to overcome during the long passage of this books struggle for life. I get the feeling that even had this novel never seen publication, it would have been remarkably therapeutic for the author to create.

However, Night of the Beast did see publication, from a small press horror outlet. Thats very nice, but this book deserves more. It would be a perfect entry in Leisure Books line of paperback titles. Even before Im actually finished it, I can tell its a lot more engaging than some of the Leisure Books Ive read in the last couple of years.

16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Taut & Visceral - This is great horror!, November 15, 2002

By 

Jon F. Merz "http://www.jonfmerz.net" (Boston, MA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Night of the Beast (Paperback)

One of the best things about Harry Shannon's book NIGHT OF THE BEAST, is that he is supremely adept at drawing the reader into their own memories while a character goes through the same. One of the earliest examples of this occurs when a character comes across a dead dog and recalls his own childhood experience with a mangy mutt and the perfect little girl who helped him care for the animal. In the short space of two pages, Shannon plunges your emotions on a roller-coaster ride of happiness, excitement, love, heartbreak, and agony - and that's just one simple flashback! Throughout this fine book, Shannon weaves a tale of horror - yes - but this book is also a masterpiece of human condition. The intricate and interesting lives of several characters coincide beautifully, producing a scary page-turner reminiscent of the great horror novels of yesteryear. This is a multi-layered book that reaches into the hearts and minds of all readers, leading them along a twisted maze of chills and excitement. Don't miss this excellent read by one of horror's brightest new stars.