What do you think?
Rate this book
Strange Matter #8
Frozen Dinners
Max is trapped.
A freak snowstorm has him sealed in his uncle's mountain cabin, along with his brother Mark and sister Teresa. But Uncle Shoe is missing, and no one's coming to rescue them. Should they take their chances and hike down the mountain to safety?
Max doesn't think so, especially not since he found those huge tracks in the snow. Then there's that inhuman howling coming from the woods.
Now barricaded behind the cabin door, Max thinks he knows what it might be. He's found some old reports that the Abominable Snowman, the yeti, was sighted there fifty years earlier. Has it returned?
The kids aren't taking any chances. They've boarded up the cabin, because as much as they want to get out . . .
Something else wants in.
A freak snowstorm has him sealed in his uncle's mountain cabin, along with his brother Mark and sister Teresa. But Uncle Shoe is missing, and no one's coming to rescue them. Should they take their chances and hike down the mountain to safety?
Max doesn't think so, especially not since he found those huge tracks in the snow. Then there's that inhuman howling coming from the woods.
Now barricaded behind the cabin door, Max thinks he knows what it might be. He's found some old reports that the Abominable Snowman, the yeti, was sighted there fifty years earlier. Has it returned?
The kids aren't taking any chances. They've boarded up the cabin, because as much as they want to get out . . .
Something else wants in.
Audio CD
First published January 1, 1996
31 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
January 3, 2026
Featuring the sibling trio from The Headless Rider (a later book in the series), this Strange Matter is another hit from the series. Jumping right into this—the book has a clear ramp up, with a good percent of the book building up the yetis and then the remainder chunk being the siege of said beings. It’s organized chaos and I had a lot of fun with it, plus the climax is just killer with some great high points. The tone of the story feels a bit different than other Strange Matters, and I don’t know if that’s the authors’ consequence (perhaps one of the duo had more leverage on this one than usual?) or just something they were going for, but I found it good. The characters are decent, the action/chaos sequences are intense, and I liked the setting of this one, being somewhere (but not far) outside of Fairfield and in the mountains. But, there’s a few things holding this back. The story was a little too linear for my liking; it didn’t differ from my expectations of where it was headed, as it is literally “yetis try and get to you in this isolated home up in the mountains, chaos ensues” and not much else until the very end. It’s not bad nor unentertaining—and I was never bored—but I yearned for a twist or a change up that brought something more to the straightforward direction of it all. The ending also tries to add some layers to what the yetis are and not only is it a little to rushed but also it feels like a pointless add-on. It’s unnecessary is all. Overall, 8.5/10. It’s great, being fun snow monster madness with some awesome sequences and moments, but was too linear and the ending was doing too much in a way I wasn’t completely jiving with (plus the random ass vanishing scene right before lol). Update on me and my wife, Strange Matter: we’re tryna adopt this kid named “Rilo Buru.” Sounds a bit familar… bah.
September 9, 2025
Well, it’s about time, huh? It’s time to start another ripoff round and we’re doing it a bit late this time. Sorry, been caught up in some other things but now I am ready to do this again. Who knows if I’ll be able to do a 3rd one of these in the fall like i want to but we’ll see.
To reward myself, I started on Strange Matter instead of using the wheel and got this one. It’s easy to explain: We follow Max and his siblings Mark and Teresa as they visit their Uncle Shoe (a nickname) who lives in the mountains near Fairfield. Shoe soon heads out to get some stuff but a blizzard hits, preventing him from returning and trapping the kids in his cabin.
Then of course they discover the abominable snow…or should I say, snowmen? So they gotta deal with those. This one was fairly solid. It’s simple and is just another good Strange Matter book that doesn’t shake things up too much. They actually first think this is a bigfoot case and it’s not as good as that bigfoot one but it is fun.
Mark is basic but he has some nice traits. I mostly like the sibling dynamic. It’s balanced as they can be annoying but step up to the plate. We get good small moments that show how this is escalating. There’s nothing deep, no big arc but things like Teresa not going back to her phone at the end shows some slight growth.
It’s mostly an intense and action packed ride. It starts fairly quickly and doesn’t let up. It’s a fun page turner that doesn't get too dizzying like a few of these can get. It doesn’t have that little something extra to make it super special but it doesn’t have much to complain about.
However, near the end they add lore to the creatures and that was a bit off to me. What we get is a cool idea but not well explained and was just sort of weird and the resolution is abrupt, leading the ending to feel a bit flat. It’s not bad, just a bit rushed and odd. That docks points but overall this is a rock solid one.
If this were a lesser series it would rank higher so that just shows how good these are. Doesn’t reach big heights but is a fun ride. I like stories of this nature and this is a good one.
And yeah that’s about. It’s a good time to read some Strange Matter given the authors are planning reprints. Yes, really. I’ll post the evidence on twitter/bluesky but yeah, even contacted Marty Engle to confirm that so that’s something to be hyped about.
Speaking of hype, next we are going with Shivers for one that seems fun. But that will later as next, I got a Monster Blood graphic novel to look at. See ya then.
To reward myself, I started on Strange Matter instead of using the wheel and got this one. It’s easy to explain: We follow Max and his siblings Mark and Teresa as they visit their Uncle Shoe (a nickname) who lives in the mountains near Fairfield. Shoe soon heads out to get some stuff but a blizzard hits, preventing him from returning and trapping the kids in his cabin.
Then of course they discover the abominable snow…or should I say, snowmen? So they gotta deal with those. This one was fairly solid. It’s simple and is just another good Strange Matter book that doesn’t shake things up too much. They actually first think this is a bigfoot case and it’s not as good as that bigfoot one but it is fun.
Mark is basic but he has some nice traits. I mostly like the sibling dynamic. It’s balanced as they can be annoying but step up to the plate. We get good small moments that show how this is escalating. There’s nothing deep, no big arc but things like Teresa not going back to her phone at the end shows some slight growth.
It’s mostly an intense and action packed ride. It starts fairly quickly and doesn’t let up. It’s a fun page turner that doesn't get too dizzying like a few of these can get. It doesn’t have that little something extra to make it super special but it doesn’t have much to complain about.
However, near the end they add lore to the creatures and that was a bit off to me. What we get is a cool idea but not well explained and was just sort of weird and the resolution is abrupt, leading the ending to feel a bit flat. It’s not bad, just a bit rushed and odd. That docks points but overall this is a rock solid one.
If this were a lesser series it would rank higher so that just shows how good these are. Doesn’t reach big heights but is a fun ride. I like stories of this nature and this is a good one.
And yeah that’s about. It’s a good time to read some Strange Matter given the authors are planning reprints. Yes, really. I’ll post the evidence on twitter/bluesky but yeah, even contacted Marty Engle to confirm that so that’s something to be hyped about.
Speaking of hype, next we are going with Shivers for one that seems fun. But that will later as next, I got a Monster Blood graphic novel to look at. See ya then.
March 9, 2023
Great story! These are always a fun quick read. Naturally since they are so short it is hard to give it more than 3 stars. It’s fast paced and filled with action. So if you want something easy, fast and filled with Yetis then this is worth a shot!
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews