Beasts

by Stephen R. George

The origin of the virus was unknown. The first symptom was a pang of unbearable sensitivity to light, followed by pain shooting through the hip. Then came fever. And finally, the hunger for blood. Uncontrollable, insatiable, it drove the infected to hunt ... to strike ... to feed. Now, Sondra could feel the heat within her, rising violently. And she was consumed with bloodlust as never before.

Michael Smith came to the small Minnesota town to build a new life ... and to fight to contain the virus that raged within him. But then the bodies were discovered. Bodies of young men, shredded and disgorged. And Michael knew he was not alone. He knew who had followed him. And what she wanted. And the very thought of the blood taste made him drool ... with hunger.

Genres: Horror

350 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 1989

About the author

Stephen R. George is a Canadian author of horror fiction, suspense and dark fantasy. He writes under his own name and the pseudonyms Jack Ellis and Valerie Stephens. He has published 14 novels. His novels have been translated into Italian, Polish, Russian, and Norwegian. His short stories have appeared in a number of publications and anthologies including Cemetery Dance and the Hot Blood series. George was born in Scotland in 1959; he lives and works in Canada.

Reviews

[Phil · Rating 3 out of 5]

George's second (I believe) novel for Zebra shows his promise as an author, and his pacing is better than his first, but this comes off as pretty typical Zebra B grade horror of the era. Our main protagonist, Michael Smith, along with his travelling partner Sondra, were in South Mexico when they got infected with something. The local doctors were clueless, so they headed back to the States. The virus essentially makes them beasts craving blood and giving them superhuman strength and other abilities; kinda like a werewolf and George was definitely flirting with this trope here.

While Sondra embraced the virus and has been on a killing spree for the last three years, Michael went to Chicago and has been working with a doctor to control the virus. After three years, he needs a break and heads down to his old family homestead in New York, Minnesota. Shortly after he arrives, the killings begin. He knows he did not do it, but the way the victims were killed sure brings back some memories of Sondra...

This did attempt to breathe some new live in the werewolf genre, but do not expect a blood fest by any means. The story line boiled down to Michael's new romance with the 'girl next door' in town and her young son and Michael's struggles to control the virus; it seems when he gets agitated or depressed, the virus tries to take control. Overall, not a bad novel, but still, George got much better in his later works. 3.5 stars!

[Brandon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beasts⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

By Stephen R. George

Zebra Books. 1989.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

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Heads up, this is Zebra Horror, at its best. Totally serviceable, cheesy horror that paints by the numbers, with no deviation from exactly what you're expecting. Exactly what Zebra specialized in: by-the-numbers Horror Novels. And that is fulfilled here, for better or for worse, in spades. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

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It's never once boring. It is completely free of any fat or unnecessary subplots. No frills here at all. No flowery language, no metaphors, just a very matter-of-fact,  easy-to-read old fashioned horror novel. Basically, monsters and gore are delivered in a tight little package that is completely worth reading, but offers nothing new to the genre.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

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Stephen R. George sold three novels to be published by Zebra in 1989, Brain Child, his debut being released just a few months prior to this one. That book was okay, but had some sagging stretches where very little happened. I recall a good lot of chain smoking and ice cream eating, described for pages and pages, with bursts of horror here and there before a pretty good ending.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

In just a few months, George seems to have honed in on his craft, because Beasts is a much better, more flowing read. It's easy to tell this is the same writer, with many of the exact same story tropes from Brain Child showing up here, with lots of chain smoking, single parents who make ridiculous dating decisions that often put their own children in danger and a heavy focus on some heroic types here to save the day from a horror born-of-science.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

The thing that surprised me was that this was a story very much small in scope. I was expecting a sprawling viral outbreak that turns people into the titular beasts. What I got was a small town horror tale, with only a few characters and a focus on a mysterious main character on the run. Basically, new guy comes to town, and brings a bunch of unsolved murders on his trail. Of course, he is being framed by his murderous ex-girlfriend who is now a virus-infected mutant! But wait, there's more! He's got the same infection and is having a helluva time proving his innocence to those around him.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

I'm sure that if you've read one of these before you don't need a spoiler to figure out how it all pans out. It's a slightly better than average horror novel, and it's nice to see a writer working towards hitting their stride. I'm excited to read other books by Stephen R. George! I've got most of them in my collection too! I recommend this one for a fun, quick read that delivers in the way a direct-to-video horror movie does. 

[Beth (bibliobeth) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gory, grotesque and gripping!! The story of a mutant virus that quite literally turns its hosts into BEASTS.

[Jordan Anderson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Michael Smith has something wrong with him. Every 28 days, an inescapable rage overcomes him and he longs for blood and violence. After 3 years of fighting against the attacks that plague him, he escapes to Minnesota, where his past follows him with a path of bloody bodies and Michael is left fending for his life and his new found love.

An interesting, sort of original, take on the werewolf trope, Beasts is neither amazing nor terrible, neither exciting nor boring. I didn’t love it but I certainly didn’t hate it, even with the countless times George made sure his characters drank coffee and smoked cigarettes. Honestly, it’s pretty much the perfect example of a 3 star read, which, honestly, isn’t that bad when you take into consideration this is a peak 1980s Zebra horror novel and the track record they tend to carry with them.

It is kind of a surprise that I didn’t like it more, as Stephen R. George is probably my favorite from this infamous publisher and demonstrated time and time again he was probably the best (or at least most consistent) author from the cabal of Zebra regulars. Then again, this was only his second book, still cut him some slack, especially knowing his subsequent works are actually incredibly good and deserve far more praise than they tend to garner.

[Cole Baker · Rating 3 out of 5]

I need to describe the scenery. I was at a flea market and massive sale in Portland, looking for books. This time it was slim pickings, but there was an alternative and goth booth with a few novels. One book, with a reflective eye and angry scowl, completely caught my attention. This book was “Beasts” by Stephen R. George, published by Zebra publishing in the 80’s. Remember that name!

After a long time on my shelf, I decided it was time to read “Beasts”. It did not disappoint. This was a shlocky, stupid, disgusting, gory, ridiculous horror and I absolutely loved it. Let me be clear: this is not a good book. God dammit, it’s a helluva fun one though.

This book has an insane story progression. You will not guess what is happening next and these people are actual psychopaths. There is one character trait per person - somehow it works. The primary move of the main villain is seductive pediphilia - even that has a weird stupid twist. Stephen rides the thin line of genius and insanity so tightly I couldn’t tell you what side he ends up on.

Another important fact of “Beasts”: Stephen did not give a flying fuck about this book. Town name? New York, Minnesota. Big lake i town? Great Lake. The main character’s name is literally Michael Smith. There are two different characters named Bob, when there’s only like 6 named characters. It’s peak comedy and I was laughing out loud at this parody of writing.

The problem comes at the climax when Stephen tries. Well, actually, there’s lots of problems but this is one that affects the fun of the book. The ending is super cliche and predictable, though the killing of the main villain is quite funny. Ironically, the more effort Stephen puts in, the less enjoyable the chapters are. He does pull it back somewhat with an insane and nonsensical paragraph on the last page, so Stephen never really lets you down.

The problems are too many to be named can be ignored if you take the book as seriously as Stephen did: by Gods’ sakes the town is named New York, Minnesota. This is not a work of high American literature. I’d be remiss to not mention them, so here’s a truncated list:

- Characters are flat
- Lots of talk about women’s breasts
- Weird sex stuff
- Seriously, lots of weird sex stuff
- Nonsensical plot
- Nonexistent theme
- Simple writing with no emotion or prose

Honestly, this book was a Friday the 13th flick turned into a novel. If that sounds like fun and you can find a copy, go for it. The cover is enticing as hell! If a shlocky, gory, horror fest sounds dumb? You are right, it is, but some people like it! 2.5/5, did exactly as advertised and was entertaining.

Oh, remember what I said about fancy covers and Zebra publishing? Well, maybe me picking up this book wasn’t a coincidence. From Wikipedia: “Knowing their authors were not famous enough to sell books on name alone, Zebra focused on sensational covers.” Dammit!