Shadow of the Beast

by Gerald DiPego

A MAN WHO NEVER MET A WOMAN HE COULD NOT CONQUER.
A WOMAN WHO REFUSED TO LET ANY MAN MASTER HER.
AND A TEEN-AGED BOY LONGING TO PROVE HIS MANHOOD.

Deep into the trackless mountain forests of the Northwest they went, in search of a mysterious beast. Fourteen men and women, most of them strangers, each one on this odyssey for a very private and secret reason, each thoroughly prepared for the demands of survival in the rugged wilderness.

But strange things begin to happen between them. Inexplicable defilement, savagery and bloodletting. Terrifying things far beyond their most fearful imaginings about the creature they hunted. For in this wild and frenzied habitat, they slowly discovered the beastlike violence and lust that existed deep within them. . . .

Genres: Horror

286 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 1984

Reviews

[Grady Hendrix · Rating 2 out of 5]

Like most Bigfoot books, there's a lot of sex in this one. Unlike most Bigfoot books, there are also endless passages where people do nothing more than gaze into one another's eyes.

[Peter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Who is the beast here? Jack Lillion or a group of forgotten Yetis hard to be found in a mountain area? The story is sexually charged with a group of explorers trying to find those pre-human creatures. Jack is the hunter and there are numerous scenes of intercourse described in a vivid way. Great title, great cover, also Jack is quite well characterized. Had to think a bit about the movie Cape Fear the way Jack reacted. Is it a very good book? It is unusual with more focus on the going ons between the expedition members than on the Yeti. I couldn't put it down so it can't be too tedious. Of course I was thinking about the computer game "Shadow of the Beast" I played as a youth when picking it up. I wasn't disappointed, had it on my list for quite a while, liked it at parts and it was very good stuff for the early to mid 80s. Really recommended!

[[on hiatus, probably forever] The rockabilly werewolf from Mars · Rating 2 out of 5]

Extremely tedious.

[Bryan Brassfield · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book’s tagline claims it’s the most terrifying survival novel since Deliverance. So that’s not very accurate nor even close. The book concerns a group of people on a hiking expedition to find Bigfoot. So right off the bat there’s not much Bigfoot. What Bigfoot we get is sparingly and turns out he’s a magical being. In fact he’s almost like a mutant X-Men Bigfoot, but I’m getting ahead of myself.

Let’s get to the human characters. We have a 30 something female anthropologist, a tour guide and his daughter along with a helper. A photographer and his girlfriend, three dudes who are pretty interchangeable, a former film star who is 50 something and his 17 year old son. Plus a crazed psychopath tracker who is way over the top in his macho man bullshit.

Here are a list of highlights/lowlights:

The teenage son masterbates in the shower thinking about his 20 something stepmom who is married to his 50 something father who’s a fading movie star.

The photographer and his girlfriend are there to do a pictorial for Playboy. He treats her like shit and cries after sex with her.

The Anthropologist who is in her 30’s has sex with the 17 year old.

There is a rape scene that goes on for several pages.

The tracker is a sociopath who makes a mental list of the things he wants to do on this expedition. They are: 1) To have sex with three of the women, 2) To fight three of the guys to show he’s the Alpha Male (this includes the former film star and his 17 year old (masterbates in the shower thinking of his stepmom) son and 3) To find Bigfoot and kill him. One has to have life goals I guess. He also gets what I think is supposed to be an ironic comeuppance. I would rather he would have had a bare chested wrestling match with Bigfoot kind of like Leslie Nielsen wrestling a bear in the film DAY OF THE ANIMALS.

Then there is a magical Sasquatch who can cause wind to appear and can produce heat in a certain area and can I think communicate telepathically? Not quite sure on the last one. So essentially he’s got some of the powers of the X-Men. We find out he (along with some other Sasquatches who show up at the end) has evolved (according to our anthropologists) so they are mutants now? I guess? I’m not sure?

This book belongs to the WTF did I just read? We go from a multi page rape scene to magical Bigfoots and everything is going to be all right ending. Only in the 80’s I guess. I’m being a bit generous with the 2 star rating. I was fascinated with how the book goes into some crazy directions. If it would have had a bit more over the top stuff I might have given it a higher rating, but there is a bit of filler that drags the story down a bit.

[Giallo Julian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Maybe the shadow of the beast was in us all along.