A chilling YA horror set in the Northwest Territories, Beast by Richard Van Camp takes readers back to the 1980s and forces them to face pure evil.

The town of Fort Simmer is known as the place of “The Treaty”, the peace treaty between the Dogrib and Chipewyan. Lawson must uphold his Dogrib family’s half of the treaty with the Crane’s, the Chipewyan. Although Lawson and his father do their best to respect the treaty, they are faced with sneers and derision from the Cranes. There also seems to be a movement to open old wounds and somehow break the treaty set in motion by the eldest Crane son. It falls on Lawson to not only protect the treaty but all of Fort Simmer in the battle between good and evil. Luckily, Lawson has some new friends to help him along the way.

If you aren’t already familiar with Richard Van Camp’s work, run out right now and find everything you can written by this incredible storyteller. His masterful use of text and his clever invitations to readers draw us into every story he writes and none more powerfully than Beast. It was easy to fall into the story as a reader and become a member of the Fort Simmer community, learning the town gossip, empathising with the people and being welcomed into the community. 

In Beast, Richard Van Camp creates powerful images with his words without making the reader feel bogged down by heavy description. He masters the balance of detailed description which is needed in this horror tale with snappy dialogue. He mixes sentimentality with realism.

This story had all the creep factor of the perfect YA horror, blended with Indigenous mysticism to create a story you may not want to read too late at night. I loved how in the fight against good and evil, it wasn’t just one person to bear the brunt but a whole community of people from different Nations, experiences and spirits who came together. I love that Richard Van Camp took us back to the 1980s and referenced so many nostalgic things from that era from bands to specific songs to television shows and movies. It felt historical but still contemporary at the same time.

Beast is definitely a book that is not to be missed. I’m not a huge consumer of horror stories but I found this one to be just the right amount of scary and disturbing while also offering interesting learning, perspectives and time.