Sisterhood: Dark Tales and Secret Histories

by Nate Pedersen (Editor), Nadia Bulkin, Gemma Files

In churches and convents and other religious communities, sisterhood takes many forms, forged and tested by such mundane threats as disease and despair, but also by terrors both spiritual and existential—Satan’s subtle minions and the cosmic nightmare of the Cthulhu Mythos. Dark Tales and Secret Histories presents sixteen horror stories by some of the genre’s leading female voices. Their settings range around the globe and across the centuries, from 6th century Ireland to 17th century Virginia to Indonesia in the recent past.

“The Wine of Men” by Ann K. Schwader “From an Honest Sister, to a Neglected Daughter” by Monica Valentinelli “Étaín and the Unholy Ghosts” by Lisa Morton “The Barefoot Sisters of Saint Beatriz of the Mountain” by Kali Wallace “Unburdened Flesh” by Penelope Love “Only Dead Men Do Not The Trials of the Formosans” by Kaaron Warren “Jane, Jamestown, The Starving Time” by Sun Yung Shin “Dorcas and A True Story” by Molly Tanzer “The Resurrected” by S. P. Miskowski “The Low, Dark Edge of Life” by Livia Llewellyn “The Anchoress” by Lynda E. Rucker “Siūlais ir Kraujo ir Kaulų (Of Thread and Blood and Bone)” by Damien Angelica Walters “Gravity Wave” by Nadia Bulkin “The Veils of Sanctuary” by Selena Chambers “The Sisters of Epione” by Alison Littlewood “Red Words” by Gemma Files

Genres: Horror

357 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 17, 2021

About the author

Nate Pedersen is a librarian, journalist, and historian in Savannah, Georgia. His website is http://natepedersen.com

Reviews

[Philippa · Rating 4 out of 5]

There was a lot of unanticipated variety in these stories, and I really enjoyed reading through them. While not every story hit the mark, for me, I put it down more to personal taste than anything else.

This anthology introduced me to two authors whom I haven't read before (Livia Llewellyn and Selena Chambers), and I now absolutely have to hunt down more of their work because their stories were my exact cup of tea. Gemma Files also has a story in here, and her writing blows my mind every time.

[Timothy Grubbs · Rating 4 out of 5]

Women and the dark pacts they forge, the secret societies they form, and the things in the darkness they serve….

Sisterhood: Dark Tales and Secret Histories is a chapsium anthology focusing entirely on female lead characters across human history…with a handful of tales set in modern time.

When it comes with a large number of unrelated period pieces, there isn’t a ton of time to properly establish the world, though most are set in small isolated areas (not relying on massive world building). Unfortunately, while the table of contents lists the location and century of each story, this is typically missing at the start of the story itself which led to much backtracking to verify when and where each was set.

Most of the stories dabble in witchcraft, hydro Christian beliefs, and even some Celtic folklore. There wasn’t a ton of Cthulhu nythoz representation but that’s ok as MANY religious and mythical figures are often connection to the MYTHOS in some way (just requires additional research in other sources).

It’s fine but the stories were so brief (and some were simple expanded poems) to really get a feel for the world…plus the quality varied due to the large number of authors…

[Janet · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have not read all of the stories yet, I like to read short stories haphazardly when in the mood rather than in one fell swoop. That said, those I have read are wonderful and eerie. I acquired this book just so I could read "The Resurrected" by S.P. Miskowski, both because I will gladly read anything S.P. writes and because the story relates to her Skillute Cycle of books and I am addicted to all things Skillute. "The Resurrected" is a creepy little piece of Skillute history.

[Arthur B · Rating 3 out of 5]

Significantly shakier on quality control than Chaosium's previous anthology with an all-woman slate of authors (Cassilda's Song), in part because of the extremely loose criteria. (At least one story isn't supernatural horror at all, for instance.) Full review: https://fakegeekboy.wordpress.com/202...

[Theofilos · Rating 4 out of 5]

A mixed bag, as is expected from any collection, but the theme was done really well and it was really different from what I expected!