From Hellgatewiki.com

An aptly-named creature, the Shrieker is basically a worm with leech's teeth, tiny claws, and huge wings. They look like something you'd see bursting through a supporting character's chest in a Sigorney Weaver movie. How they attack and what sort of damage they do is unclear.

Name: Shrieker
Caste: Primus
Rank: Lesser Demon
Subtypes: Screecher
Special: Shrieking attack. Damage type unknown.

• See all the Shrieker shots in our image gallery.

Numerous early shots of the Shrieker showed them surrounded by wind-like graphical effects. It's unknown if this is/was some sort of attack, or just eye candy. It's not been seen in any of the more recent Shrieker images, at any rate.

That they scream seems undeniable, given their name. What exactly this shriek does remains to be seen. Flux did not encounter this beast during his play time at E3 or at Flagship Studios.

While Shriekers look like beasts; simple creatures with little more than teeth and a bad attitude, a March 2007 screenshot showed a subtype of Shrieker and labeled it as a Primus. Why Shriekers are higher demons is unknown; perhaps their attack is considered a form of magic?

Community Day Update

Flux, admin of the Unofficial HGL Site, reported on Zombies after some HGL play time during the 2007 Community Day event. (Registration required to read Flux's full four-page mega report.)

Shriekers were common early on, and interesting. They fly around (obviously) and dive bomb you, but their attack is a weird, close range scream that phases you. I only had 2 or 3 out of maybe 50 of them manage to hit me with the attack, and it didn't really matter since I was encountering them in mostly empty city streets. The most noticeable thing about shriekers is how they fly around and move in and out of range. I got them while playing a Guardian, and since I stupidly didn't have a pistol or rifle on my weapon switch, I had to leap around a lot, slashing at them. Eventually I realized it was more efficient to wait for them to come to me, since they'd flap around 10 or 15 meters out and about 5 meters in the air, until they lined me up for a straight dive bomb. I could then hack them as they passed overhead, or leap and hit them. The Guardian skill formerly known as Slam worked very well, since when triggered the Guardian leaps straight up about 4 meters and brings his sword down in a straight slash. This always killed the Shrieker, if I timed it right.