This is a mediocre and stock murder monster. You don't usually need a reason for an anomalous predator animal to attack people, but the article is happy to point out that it has no reason to do what it does. In practice, the article may as well have said that it needs sustenance, because the containment protocols involve "feeding" it anyway.
Anybody could try to kill someone. It's why that's special. It can be straightforward (why does RPC-225 kill people? to build itself a body) or something deeper (why does RPC-666 kill people? because it's a spirit of war). Even just "it kills for food" gives some justification for these events to happen and raises new possibilities (e.g. did it only attack humans after its primary food source became scarce?). Giving it a purpose is my single biggest piece of advice for monster writers.
Due to this, it seems to thrive in temperatures below -0.6 degrees Celsius, though it shows anomalous resistance to heat.
This seems to be the half-baked answer to "why don't they just melt it," but weaknesses are depth. Having the snow monster live in cold climates because it's weak to heat is smart. You can use anomalous duct tape to force the story onto a different path, but you really shouldn't, because it quickly devolves into nonsense: a snowman that lives in cold climates despite being heat-resistant. Why? Because the author wanted it to live in a cold climate and be indestructible. The reader is punished for thinking.
"It actively and violently escapes containment efforts"… a lot of anomalies do that. It's the Authority's job to contain them regardless, and them throwing up their hands after zero documented attempts just to set artificial stakes is insulting. There is no reason to believe this hunk of snow is actually unstoppable, especially after the first instance was speedily destroyed. I'm really expected to believe that this thing slowly growing is an "apocalyptic scenario"? Get the hell outta here!
Because of these lousy choices, we have nothing more than an arbitrary force that kills things. All it has left is flavor, and this is where it makes an earnest effort. The "brinicles" mention attempts to set a frame of reference, but one arbitrary comparison is hardly palpable. Tangibility is not just about introducing the effect in the right way; making the effect feel real is a constant process, and when the article undercuts itself with dry, unevocative, and unconfident statements like this:
Consequently, most victims of RPC-906 expire due to hypothermia.
…the intended horror is moot. The article pays lip service to the idea of getting frozen to death, but doesn't feel the part.
The nameless Russian fellow in the audio logs has no depth or personality. Characters who say exactly what they're thinking at all times are not characters; they're billboards. He speaks for the sole purpose of adding exposition to the article and has zero interests or traits. If that doesn't sound like a problem to you… I was promised a personal story, and this is a crude facade of one. His friends and family are literally both introduced on the days they are killed.
It's sad how we have degenerated since this whole thing began. The whole damned town is either frozen solid, or a victim to the madness.
This is why they have the catchphrase "show, don't tell". The speaker has to talk about how tragic and scary it is, or else I won't be sold on it. Well, I'm not sold either way.
This article is poor, but it gets one point for having something thematically original to its name. It's "the snowman murder monster", and it will be loosely iconic for that reason alone. (It surpasses the competition, anyhow…) Were the focus on making the anomaly truly imposing instead of baselessly overpowered, I would probably like it a lot more. I'd love to enjoy everything I read, but I can't say I was fond of this. 2/5
