Review: Our Winter Monster by Dennis Mahoney

Rating: 7/10

For the last year, Holly and Brian have been out of sync. Neither can forget what happened that one winter evening; neither can forgive what’s happened since. Tonight, Holly and Brian race toward Pinebuck, New York, trying to outrun a blizzard on their way to the ski village getaway they hope will save their relationship. But soon they lose control of the car—and then of themselves.

Now Sheriff Kendra Book is getting calls about a couple in trouble—along with reports of a brutal and mysterious creature rampaging through town, leaving a trail of crushed cars, wrecked buildings, and mangled bodies in the snow.

To Kendra, who lost another couple to the snow just seven weeks ago, the danger feels personal. But not as personal as it feels to Holly and Brian, who are starting to see the past, the present, and themselves in a monstrous new light . . .

Ideal for the winter months, Dennis Mahoney’s latest plunges its readers further into an icy abyss with each page turned and twist unveiled. Glacial- layered with meditations on trauma, relationships and distance, despite the fact Mahoney quickly dials up the heat with an epic creature feature, “Our Winter Monster,” has an emotional core that will leave you shivering. Tender, baltic, brutal and coming for you January 28th 2025, from Soho Press, this rather cold commentary on what a monster really is, is ideal for curling up and dying with under a blanket this winter. 

Holly and Brian’s relationship is in icy territory, if you will, following an incident that left both of them, and the chemistry they once had, shaken. They’re hoping they’ll find the marital glue that they need so desperately in a small B&B in Pinebuck, New York. Determined to get this marriage back on track, it would take a blizzard to keep Holly from her holiday. As if they’re the punchline of some cosmic joke, sure enough, a snowstorm of mythical fury makes quick work of wiping their car off of the road- and Brian is snatched from the passenger seat. As the mysterious creature responsible begins tearing through Pinebuck, the town’s sheriff, Kendra, begins to suspect that the new arrivals are not mere victims.

At its bitter, frosty heart, “Our Winter Monster,” is an exploration of the human condition. Holly and Brian’s tumultuous relationship is painted with unflinching honesty, every interaction steeped in unspoken pain and mounting frustration. The two seem to be mirrors to each other’s misery, with Holly throwing herself almost wholly into her work as a coping mechanism, and Brian almost paralysed with anxiety. Whilst the prospect of the “winter monster,” itself is a scary one, it almost reads more like a natural disaster than a snow-forged freak of nature, a blizzard that is given form by the turmoil and resentment of its victims… hence the title. I can name probably 10 winter-themed isolation horror novels that melt into one big, forgettable puddle, but the complexity of the characters here, including the creature feature, certainly made my trip to Pinebuck memorable. 

For all of its emotional depth, this one certainly doesn’t skimp on the utter carnage. The chaos is relentless and gleefully brutal. The snow creature’s rampage is described vividly, Mahoney blessing us with a slew of brutal and inventive kills that made me sit up straighter whilst, simultaneously, frankly delighting me. It’s clear that this author (new to me) also loves a twist, the narrative peppered with surprises (admittedly, some more revelatory than others) which constantly kept me guessing. The prose itself is vivid and cinematic, with every crunch of snow and howl of wind adding to the steadily mounting claustrophobia, and the slow, creeping realization that something is deeply and irrevocably wrong. 

Dennis looks at the essence of monstrosity. Is it best encapsulated by the frost-formed creature who lurks in the woodland? Perhaps the guilt and pain that the characters inflict upon one another? The fear that holds us captive when we need it most? A surprisingly complex novel that redefines what it is to shiver, “Our Winter Monster,” is a compelling read that is icily introspective, quietly horrific in some areas, and unapologetically terrifying in others. A novel that demonstrates human fragility, often really quite literally, this one is an existential, explosive, sub-zero symphony of despair, and I look forward to seeing what Dennis Mahoney puts out next!