The Angels of Our Better Beasts

Book excerpt: “Populated with vampires, werewolves, gryphons, gods, and cryptozoological inquiry, these tales are ultimately about the nature of humanity” (Speculating Canada). Trust the beasts . . . The lemmings are really researching the Arctic biologists, the werewolves sing sweet Christian praise songs, and the signing gorilla just wants someone back in the cage for a minute or two. The black dog who tells you God loves you may not be believable, no, and those old lions in the canyon are up to something, aren’t they? The shaggy aliens just want to have dinner with the people who pillaged and destroyed their world, honestly, and the vampires just want to cure you of a terrible blood disease. In the forest, the sasquatch has fallen in love with the cryptozoologist who follows him. By the lake, the god of Lake Michigan struggles with the nature of reality while acting in his first buddy cop TV series. While the god of the Brazos River only wants to court the young, pretty Texas college students. These fifteen stories of beasts—and the beasts we sometimes become—ask us how much influence we have over each other, to bring out our beast or best sides . . . and how much control the beasts already have over us. “Throughout the book, I appreciated Stueart’s dry, often dark, situational humor, and his skillful, sympathetic characterizations.” —Kristin Janz, Mysterion “Fabulous ideas and even more fabulous characters . . . Stueart manages to craft an interesting and unique take on a number of common, sometimes overdone themes.” —Black Gate