Creature Review

I tried to think of one word that jumped at me to start this review. I couldn’t. So here are a few words that come to mind as I reflect on what I just read. Powerful, sad, tense, brutal, and emotional. This book is all of those things and more. Creature is considered by many to be the best book by Hunter Shea, and while I haven’t read his other works to be able to speak on that, I CAN tell you that it’s one hell of an impressive book.

Creature follows Kate and Andrew, a married couple who’s lives have been put through the ringer due to a number of autoimmune diseases that Kate suffers from and the havoc the treatments wreak on her body. Daily pain and suffering had made every day a test of will for Kate while Andrew is tasked with caring for his wife and working an office job he hates for the medical benefits. Not everything is how it seems and illness won’t be the only monster the couple must face.

Creature is a slow burn of a novel. We spend a large portion of the book witnessing the horrors of Kate’s medical conditions and the physical and emotional toll they take on Kate and Andrew, not only as individuals, but on their marriage as well. This is most definitely a monster novel, but the most effective horror on display here is the daily agony Kate is forced to withstand. The time Shea spends developing these characters pays dividends, as you genuinely care about them and want them to pull through. The feelings you have for them turn out to be a double edged sword as they’re also the reason why agony experienced by Kate will literally cause the reader to wince in pain.  I’m no easy scare and I don’t cringe easily but there were a few parts of Kate’s ordeal that I can only describe as truly disturbing. This is all before the monster even shows up. When it does, the shit really hits the fan.

I was pleasantly surprised by Creature. I thought it would be a straightforward monster horror, instead what’s on display here is a deeply personal, horrific story of a married couple doing the best they can with the bad hand Kate was dealt. The real monster here is the litany of illnesses Kate suffers and the medical torture she endures to treat them. It’s worth mentioning that in the authors notes Shea mentions the story being inspired by his wife and it shows in the care and effort he takes telling the story of Kate and Andrew. This is a must buy for any horror fan.