[3] Jane Housham of The Guardian gave the book a positive review, describing it as "a gothic road novel" and saying that its pace was "well-handled throughout".
[4] In 2015 Lister received a nomination for Hideous Creatures for that year's Edinburgh First Book Award[1] – the prize ultimately went to Colin MacIntyre for The Letters of Ivor Punch.
[6] David Duff of We Love This Book reviewed described the story as "extraordinary" and the characters as "fascinating".
Monks praised the "fast-paced plot... strong characters and witty, energetic dialogue", and felt that Lister's style was "charming", but criticised the novel's premise as "familiar".
[6] Jane Jakeman of The Independent similarly felt that about the book's evocations of "lush", but that "Lister takes us whirling through time so fast that nothing makes any great impression".