Man-Beast by Deborah Sheldon

Feb 19

Man-Beast is a horror, action/adventure novella by Deborah Sheldon. It was published September 6, 2021 by Severed Press. This creature feature weighs in at 150 pages.

Right off, as a student of anthropology and biology, the cover drew me in. I could tell this book was going to be right up my alley. Also, the title had me wondering what kind of creature I was going to encounter in this action-packed story.

Man-Beast takes place around 1913. It’s a story about a travelling troupe of bare-knuckle boxers and two sideshow acts that together bring in enough funds to pay the troupe a pittance and line the pockets of two despicable characters, the ruthless couple that heads the mobile entertainment group. I love that the book is set in the past with no worries of technology getting in the way of the horror, creating a sense of suspense, thrill, and urgency. When the characters encounter the group of angry mountain beasts, the real action begins and there’s no turning back.

I enjoyed the characters in this story. My favorite was Pearl, a tiny young woman looked upon as fragile and incapable yet she surprises everyone with the amount of strength and tenacity she possesses. At times, her humanity and insight reminded me of a young Jane Goodall, which made my day. Through her speculation, the reader gets a glimpse into the culture of the “Yahoo-Devil-Devils” and how similar they are to humans. Her thoughts and feelings throughout the book create the backbone of the story as she interacts with both worlds. I also enjoyed the weaving of her backstory into the main story in helpful bits. The depth of her character grew stronger with each memory shared.

I also appreciate the way Sheldon made me feel compassion for the creatures. The reader is shown both sides of the story, so to speak. I found myself conflicted about which group to root for during the action scenes, since both had something important to fight for in the story. There was even a scene that made me fairly emotional.

There is a great presentation of the dark side of human nature and the treatment of the creatures throughout this story. Once I finished the book, the title became even more appropriate. I feel like the title has multiple meanings, and I’m impressed that a book about a creature could cause me to think deeper rather than just linger in the surface plot of the story. I enjoyed the descriptions Sheldon used for the human troupe that could easily be used to describe their assumptions about the troop of mountain creatures. For example:

“Eddie watched the crowd with its snarling, feverish, savage, urgent faces.”

One of the overwhelming themes that stood out to me in Man-Beast was the sense of family. It seemed the majority of characters in this story, human or otherwise, was seeking something greater than themselves. Whether human or beast, they sought the feeling of belonging, feeling worthy, the feeling of having a home.

This book also delivers on one of my other loves in a monster horror story, and that’s some good old-fashioned gore. Sheldon gave me moments to scrunch up my face, my head askew in glorious disgust.

Other books written by Deborah Sheldon as well as the books I’ve reviewed on my site that are published by Severed Press:

From Deborah Sheldon’s website:

I’M AN AWARD-WINNING AUTHOR FROM MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA.
I WRITE SHORT STORIES, NOVELLAS AND NOVELS ACROSS THE DARKER SPECTRUM OF HORROR, CRIME AND NOIR.
MY CREDITS ALSO INCLUDE TV SCRIPTS, STAGE PLAYS, MAGAZINE ARTICLES, AND AWARD-WINNING ANTHOLOGY EDITING AND MEDICAL WRITING.