The South Pole in winter is one of the deadliest places on Earth. The seven person crew of the US Freedom Base lives alone in months of utter darkness with no hope of help or rescue. A freak storm batters the walls and threatens to expose them to the deadly cold. All they can do is wait…and pray. The ground quakes. An alien screech rips through the night. There’s something, or someone, lurking … lurking outside. Fists bang on the walls. Each tiny crack in the base spells death by hypothermia.
Untold horrors have come to Freedom Base…and they want in!
Praise for FURY OF THE ORCAS “Incredibly horrifying. Highly recommended!” – Horror After Dark
“Full of absolute mayhem and tense scenes that will have you on the edge of your seat.” – The Horror Bookshelf
Cryptid horror with THE DOVER DEMON “Hunter does a complete mind twist in the pages of The Dover Demon. The sheer horrors come from a very dark and scary corner of Hunter’s mind.” – The Scary Reviews
“An excellent horror novel and a strong standout in the UFO and cryptid subgenres.” – Hellnotes
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Good creature feature romp in one of the most inhospitable places on earth! If the upcoming arctic storm doesn’t kill them something else might! For me this was the perfect length and loved the twist at the end!
I’ve had the pleasure of reading a few of Shea’s releases and absolutely loved his book ‘Creature.’ When I saw this announced and saw the cover I knew this would be one that I would buy!
Antarctic Ice Beasts follows a group as they hunker down for Antarctic’s ‘winter.’ From June to September, the southernmost continent is plunged into instant-freeze temperatures and hurricane-force winds. The new base that has been built is designed to withstand the worst Mother Nature can throw at it, but to be certain, the group is stationed there to ensure it withstands the harsh conditions.
Shea does a good job of introducing us to the crew and fills in their backstories to a degree that you become familiar with them early on, which is nice. One bonus is that due to a large scale failure at a different facility, the crew is paired down to a minimal number of folks, so we don’t become overwhelmed with a few dozen characters coming and going.
One of the biggest concerns that crews stationed in the South Pole is getting cabin-fever, developing a madness by not being able to go outside or even losing their minds over what Mother Nature might throw their way.
This plays key to the first opening ‘incident’ where a crew member looks outside and sees a large, muscular, naked hominid.
From there, Shea pulls out his patented creature-feature chops and we descend into utter chaos in one of the most uninhabitable locations on the planet.
Stories like this – set in places we as humans, can’t survive long will always have its plot failures or instances where reality is slightly pushed aside, but that’s ok, as long as we see the survival instinct and ‘do what it takes at all cost’ mentality, which Shea does very well.
I found that the first half of the story was great, while the dialogue was ok, with some of it falling into some stereotypical character tropes, it wasn’t so awful that I ever felt like DNFing. There were a few spots that I saw what was coming long before it happened, but overall it played out fine.
For me personally, I wished that Shea had left it at the first introduced creatures. I won’t throw out any spoilers, but the story continues down a creature path and it just lost some of its initial lustre.
This was a solid creature-feature romp, set in a very hostile environment, and I think this would make for a really fun movie.
Overall, I think fans of Shea will enjoy it and for new fans, it’s a really good starting spot. I’m looking forward to continuing my exploration into Shea’s other works!
4.5 stars!
ANTARCTIC ICE BEASTS, by Hunter Shea, is a book I originally thought of as a “creature feature”, but after finishing it, I have to say that it is much more than that! Now I love a good creature feature, but when you throw some amazingly original, complex characters into the mix, you’ve gone from “good” to “great”, in my humble opinion.
“Hope is starting to become a four letter word around here . . . ”
We start at the South Pole in June–the “Winter of Hell”–at the structure known as The Freedom Base. Seven people are currently living there, acting as the maintenance crew, over the worst months of the Antarctic darkness. When a large storm suddenly develops over the station–reminiscent of one that caused the deaths of a much larger crew in a similar station, years before–the group quickly takes notice.
“This one was different . . . as if it was sentient, its ire focused on Freedom Base . . . ”
There’s no denying the tremendous impact the elements have on this novel. Imagine living somewhere for months where the sun never rises, and where a breach in your housing would prove fatal as the sub-zero temperatures quickly permeate any layers of clothing. This hostile environment says a lot about the fortitude of those willing to literally risk their lives for a job. These people are driven. They’re survivors.
“. . . The only thing impossible in this world was the concept that there was an impossible . . . ”
These aren’t random people off the street. Shea takes the time to let us see inside their temporary “home”. We learn about them through their mannerisms, interactions with each other, their own inner thoughts, and the opinions of the others. I can honestly say that I felt I “knew” each and every one of them, as if they were a personal friend.
“. . . We’re all a little broken in our own ways . . . .”
This book managed to do something very few novels can lately.
It twisted and morphed into so much more than I was expecting.
“It’s all of those, but none of them . . . ”
Overall, I have to stress that ANTARCTIC ICE BEASTS was not a mere “fun” creature feature. This novel had all of the key components to make it one that you simply don’t want to put down. From realistic characters that you come to “know”, inhospitable atmosphere, and things that you’ll never expect, this book has just about everything you could want in a horror novel.
“You can’t scare a man who’s already dead . . . ”
Highly recommended.
Horror at its darkest
I’ve read quite a few books by this author and enjoyed them. He has quite an active imagination.
I like stories about cold environments, whether it’s Antarctica, the Arctic, under the ocean or deep in a cave so of course I had to pick up Shea’s newest book.
It started out great with seven Americans wintering over at Freedom Camp, Antarctica. (Note: in the book the Amundsen-Scott Research Station at the South Pole has been destroyed and replaced by the smaller but supposedly more durable Freedom Camp.)
I won’t go into details on what happens. It’s best to go in unprepared. But there are monsters and blood and guts and gore. Then it takes an unexpected twist and holy s**t.
This book was dark and depressing. It was not a feel good book in any shape or form. I might have rated it lower because of that but because Shea was totally balls to the wall creative in the story I upped the rating.
Be prepared, all ye who enter here!