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Cryptid Chronicles: The Beast: A Dogman Thriller
After a tragic car accident kills his wife and daughter, former schoolteacher Ed Harrow becomes consumed by grief and vengeance. Blaming the legendary Beast of Bray Road—a towering, wolf-like creature glimpsed the night of the crash—Ed abandons everything to hunt the monster that shattered his life.
But what begins as a quest for justice spirals into obsession. As Ed ventures deep into Wisconsin’s haunted woods, he encounters a hidden world of folklore, strange allies, and ancient secrets. When he finally confronts the Beast, the line between hunter and hunted begins to blur—and the cost of revenge may be far greater than he imagined.
As others are drawn into the darkness Ed uncovered, the truth the Beast is not alone, and something primal is watching from the trees.
But what begins as a quest for justice spirals into obsession. As Ed ventures deep into Wisconsin’s haunted woods, he encounters a hidden world of folklore, strange allies, and ancient secrets. When he finally confronts the Beast, the line between hunter and hunted begins to blur—and the cost of revenge may be far greater than he imagined.
As others are drawn into the darkness Ed uncovered, the truth the Beast is not alone, and something primal is watching from the trees.
142 pages, Kindle Edition
Published June 25, 2025
34 people are currently reading
2 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
August 7, 2025
Violence Rating: 2/5 - Pack Skirmish
Truly enjoyed the story, it hooks you up from the very first paragraphs and it never fails to keep you there. It’s fast paced, tense, the town has an eerie vibe about, the dialogue is real, natural, flowing effortlessly, and never forced. And the characters are all intriguing and somewhat suspect. The 1 star deducted was solely for the ending which didn’t seem to make sense for how the story actually flowed up to that point (I’ll explain below). Warning, potential spoilers ahead.
Perhaps the only thing that I’m not a fan of is the fact that the author is deciding to let you know what you should know or feel about the ending. Like 100% tells you who you should hate and who’s the bad guy. But that’s the thing, if you really, truly read the story and pay attention to the complexity and psychological aspect of it all, the bad guys are all, well…except Seamus. So, as I read this, I never felt the beast's actions were malicious (and lots of described actions or rather inactions proved this point), making the ending's insistence on this point feel like a forced and intrusive authorial intervention.
Another strange development of the story was Ed’s need to prove the beast was real so he could hunt it and kill it. But why? He knew it was real, others told him that too. Why not just go hunt for it? Why the whole detective work? Most probably to fill the plot and pages, because it was certainly not due to him growing a sudden consciousness. All this quest was pointless anyway because he still ignores Seamus and goes hunting it without waiting for other evidence. Which brings me to another missed and forgotten point - Anika’s analysis of the fur hair. The whole scene and timeframe given to come up with a more detailed analysis of its DNA gone into oblivion, serving no purpose to the story.
There are also small inconsistencies, like at some point Seamus states that Ed said the creature was female, but nowhere in their conversation did Ed ever suggested that, in fact he always referred to the beast as IT. The most obvious inconsistency is the creature’s behavior. Depicted on several accounts acting docile and yet at the end it's suggested that the creature was indeed evil and murder for no apparent reason but bloodthirst, even though it’s intelligent and not some mindless beast.
However, these small imperfections never stole away the joy of reading the story. It’s very good and the author has a very engaging writing style. Finished it in one sitting, turning page after page holding my breath.
Truly enjoyed the story, it hooks you up from the very first paragraphs and it never fails to keep you there. It’s fast paced, tense, the town has an eerie vibe about, the dialogue is real, natural, flowing effortlessly, and never forced. And the characters are all intriguing and somewhat suspect. The 1 star deducted was solely for the ending which didn’t seem to make sense for how the story actually flowed up to that point (I’ll explain below). Warning, potential spoilers ahead.
Perhaps the only thing that I’m not a fan of is the fact that the author is deciding to let you know what you should know or feel about the ending. Like 100% tells you who you should hate and who’s the bad guy. But that’s the thing, if you really, truly read the story and pay attention to the complexity and psychological aspect of it all, the bad guys are all, well…except Seamus. So, as I read this, I never felt the beast's actions were malicious (and lots of described actions or rather inactions proved this point), making the ending's insistence on this point feel like a forced and intrusive authorial intervention.
Another strange development of the story was Ed’s need to prove the beast was real so he could hunt it and kill it. But why? He knew it was real, others told him that too. Why not just go hunt for it? Why the whole detective work? Most probably to fill the plot and pages, because it was certainly not due to him growing a sudden consciousness. All this quest was pointless anyway because he still ignores Seamus and goes hunting it without waiting for other evidence. Which brings me to another missed and forgotten point - Anika’s analysis of the fur hair. The whole scene and timeframe given to come up with a more detailed analysis of its DNA gone into oblivion, serving no purpose to the story.
There are also small inconsistencies, like at some point Seamus states that Ed said the creature was female, but nowhere in their conversation did Ed ever suggested that, in fact he always referred to the beast as IT. The most obvious inconsistency is the creature’s behavior. Depicted on several accounts acting docile and yet at the end it's suggested that the creature was indeed evil and murder for no apparent reason but bloodthirst, even though it’s intelligent and not some mindless beast.
However, these small imperfections never stole away the joy of reading the story. It’s very good and the author has a very engaging writing style. Finished it in one sitting, turning page after page holding my breath.
July 8, 2025
Short but Hayes manages to put a lot into a modest volume. As usual, the characters are alive and very humanly flawed and, in a way, tragic.
Right up until the end, I was thinking to myself 'I need answers, dammit!' and Hayes gave me just that.
Easily one of my favourite cryptid horror authors right now.
Right up until the end, I was thinking to myself 'I need answers, dammit!' and Hayes gave me just that.
Easily one of my favourite cryptid horror authors right now.
July 2, 2025
I'm hooked
I'm hooked on these cryptid chronicles really enjoyed reading them. Sometimes the monsters do win.And the guys found out the hard way.
I'm hooked on these cryptid chronicles really enjoyed reading them. Sometimes the monsters do win.And the guys found out the hard way.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews