Snow Shark By Brian G. Berry

Snow Shark
By Brian G. Berry
2022 Self-published
Paperback, 199 pages

 

                Peter Cushing was a great actor. No matter what the role, he always took it very seriously. Blood Beast Terror? Silly hokum, but he played it straight.  I bequeath the Peter Cushing Award to Brian G. Berry. Snow Shark could have been played for laughs, but it isn’t. Not that aren’t some intentionally funny parts, but Berry keeps a straight face and the book reads much better for it.

                A secret military project, a mutant, invulnerable shark that thrives on land, in the snow, accidentally drops from its transport near a ski resort. This spells trouble for the packed lodge, including the young family there to celebrate a child’s birthday. A military crew is on hand to try to stop the unstoppable but between the shark and its protective creator, who is part of the crew, it’s not going to be easy. Or possible.

                Berry is known as an “extreme” horror author, and he sure lays the gore on thick. He doesn’t, however, dwell in the nihilism and mean spiritedness that I tend to associate with “extreme” horror. He is having fun and it’s catchy. I was enjoying all of the ways he was describing the pulped human mess that was the aftermath of a shark attack. The snow truly runs red and after a bolt of lightning sets the lodge on fire, there is some wonderful drama… to stay in and fry or take a chance with the shark.

Being self-published, it could have used another run through of editing but nothing was bothersome to me. In the afterword in the book, it is said that this is the first in a series called VHS Trash, stories that would be great 80s movies that went directly to tape. It is exactly that, with a heavy dose of SyFy Channel CGI monster madness. I’m eager to read more in the series as well as Berry’s other work. His storytelling is right in my wheelhouse.

                This book sports a very nice cover by Jorge Iracheta.

Midnight Magazine