Title: Sisters of the Crimson VineAuthor: P.L. McMillan
First Published: December 6, 2022
Publisher: Timber Ghost Press
Pages: 114
Genre: Gothic, Horror
Format: Ebook
Source: Kindle Unlimited
Rating:
Synopsis:
John Ainsworth nearly died in that car crash.
Soon he’ll learn there are worse fates.
After a brutal accident, John awakens in the dilapidated Crimoria Convent under the care of thirteen unconventional nuns. Grievous injuries trap him within the borders of the ruined sanctuary and its strangely successful vineyard. When his body starts healing faster than nature allows, John’s questions quickly pile up.
A pair of Church auditors arrive to look into the convent’s finances. It’s obvious the pair are unwelcome guests, but John has bigger concerns. The order’s annual ritual draws near and John begins to discover things that make him wonder if any of them are truly safe in the hands of the Sisters of the Crimson Vine.
Get the Book: AmazonReview
Sisters of the Crimson Vine is a wildly fun story, dripping with atmosphere and dread. It’s a wonderful blend of folk horror, cosmic horror, and gothic horror told with indulgently gorgeous prose. The hapless protagonist finds himself at the mercy of beautiful nuns that aren’t nearly as virtuous as you’d expect, but they are no less devoted.
Even though the stakes are immediately clear, the mystery drives the story forward that it was easy to fly through the pages. Reading this book felt like watching an episode of The Twilight Zone and I ate it up. I read the book a year and I still think about it often, it’s become one of my favorite cosmic horror stories that I recommend every chance that I get.
Quote
“I studied her as she stood with her back to me, her entire body lit with gold from the sunlight. She half turned to me, smiling over her shoulder. Gilded like that, she could have been an angel or something else entirely inhuman.”
Content Warnings
View Spoiler »About the Authors
About P.L. McMillan
P.L. McMillan is a writer whose works have been known to cause rifts in time and space itself…
Well, not quite. But writing often makes her feel that powerful.
P.L. McMillan is a Canadian expat living in the States, after having taught English for three years in Asia. With a passion for cosmic horror and sci-fi horror, P.L. McMillan sees every shadow as an entryway to a deeper look into the black heart of the world, meant to be discovered and explored. Infatuated with the works of Shirley Jackson, H.P. Lovecraft, and Ridley Scott, her dream is to create stories of adventure, of chills, of heartbreak, and thrills.
Her short fiction has appeared in a variety of anthologies and magazines such as Cosmic Horror Monthly, Strange Lands Short Stories, Negative Space, and AHH! That’s What I Call Horror, as well as adapted to audio forms for podcasts like NoSleep and Nocturnal Transmissions. In addition to her short stories, McMillan’s debut collection, What Remains When The Stars Burn Out, and debut novella, Sisters of the Crimson Vine, are available now.
Besides being a fiction writer, PLM has experience as an editor (Howls from the Dark Ages and The Darkness Beyond The Stars: An Anthology of Space Horror), hosts PLM Talks on Youtube (interviewing peers and professionals in the horror industry), and is the co-host of a horror writing craft podcast, Dead Languages Podcast. On top of all that, PLM does digital illustrations and artwork for anthologies and her merch shop.
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