#Fahrenbruary Review: Satan’s Sorority by Graham Wynd @GrahamWynd @F13Noir @FahrenheitPress

Hello and a very warm welcome to Day 16 of the month long celebration of all things Fahrenheit Press and Fahrenheit 13 that is #Fahrenbruary.

If you have been in a state of hibernation for the last 15 days and are unaware as to what a Fahrenbruary is, please feel free to click on this little link below and enlighten yourself:

Fahrenbruary? What’s that all about then? #Fahrenbruary @FahrenheitPress @F13Noir

Now that that’s all taken care of, let me introduce you to today’s post…

Today I am reproducing a review from the quite, quite brilliant Indie book blogger Matt Keyes. He runs the magnificent It’s An Indie Book Blog and you can find him on Twitter, too: @ThatMattKeyes. I strongly suggest that you check out his blog and all of his #Fahrenbraury posts, as they are truly great things.

Matt is my co-conspirator in the whole #Fahrenbruary thing and, quite frankly, without him this would have been a very different month. He has been an absolute rock and a total star. So, I thought, how could I honour and reward him?

Well, I stole his review of Graham Wynd‘s devilishly good “Satan’s Sorority“, that’s how. It’s what he would’ve wanted.

Now, there is a reason why I stole this review (with Matt’s permission of course; I’m not a total cad 😉), in fact there are two:

Firstly, I have read SS and loved it, but it was a while ago now and although I had planned to read it again so I could write a fresh review, sadly time was against me and I couldn’t manage it.

Secondly, Matt’s reviews ROCK and are far, far more articulate, concise and intelligent than anything I could ever write.

So there’s that.

Satan’s Sorority is a short, sharp thrill ride of a book. It is a novella that, as novellas are won’t to do, doesn’t hang about. It is a very bloody, gruesome and sexy book. It won’t be to everyone’s taste, but then again, not everything is. Take goat’s cheese for example; I fucking hate it, but I don’t bang on about it and try to force everyone else to stop eating it just because I find it offensive to my palette. But I did try it, and every now and then I try it again to see whether my tastes have changed (spoiler alert: They haven’t 🤢). Now, I’m not saying that SS is like goat’s cheese; it isn’t as smelly or as rancid, and neither has it come from a goat’s boobies, but it does contain graphic and sustained scenes of a bloody, sacrificial and naughty nature that, frankly, I LOVED, but not everyone else will. However it is so good that I strongly suggest that you give it a go. What’s the worst that could happen? 😉

If all of that has piqued your interest, Satan’s Sorority is described in the blurb thusly:

“In the fall of 1958 Sandra Delites is packed off to college in Connecticut after an ‘incident’ with another girl.

Her father thinks a small town university will be just the thing to straighten her out, only he hasn’t reckoned on the sisters of Sigma Tau Nu. Not just any sorority, their rites are bloody and the girls are hot – but not for the boys!

President Trixie Faust sees a lot of potential in the newest pledge and Sandra is eager to learn: the thrill of the kill is just the beginning for these college girls gone wild.

Halloween will be extra scary this year. Forget black cats, you don’t want one of these sisters to cross your path.”

If that hasn’t whet your proverbial whistle then Matt’s review below will seal the deal, trust me.

So, read on and enjoy. TBBB. X

 

Available to buy at:

ePub e-book     Kindle e-book     Paperback

 

Reads like the very best of classic 50s and 60s horror. It’s a Hammer movie on the page. Not for the faint hearted. At times pure filth, in the best possible way.

Satan’s Sorority is a short sharp read. Like the classic Hammer horror that is clearly an influence, it’s a great story told with brutal efficiency but that nonetheless lingers in the mind.

A mash up of horror and crime, the story follows Sandra Delites who is sent to college by a prurient father to ‘straighten’ her out. That doesn’t quite go to plan, or not Sandra’s fathers plan anyway. A lesbian occult sorority isn’t exactly what 1950s America would define as homely. Sigma Tau Nu is however the setting for a fast paced pulpy story, full of sex and violence.

Graham Wynd has crafted a novel effective in its brevity, there is no wasted space or extra exposition. The world you find yourself in is small but perfectly formed, encapsulating the college experience of so many. Your entire world is about your friends and campus life. Placing the story in such an identifiable situation gives it a real punch, makes you wonder what’s going on behind the doors of your own community. Or question whether you really want to know?

As the story escalates, so does the violence until it reaches a crashing crescendo with a memorable final sequence through which you will barely draw breath. I said it’s not for the faint hearted, I meant it. The ending does leave scope for a return visit to Sigma Tau Nu, if Graham Wynd does decide to go back, I think I can handle it…

A real mash up of noir and horror. At just over 70 pages (in paperback) I devoured Satan’s Sorority in a single sitting. A highly recommended quick read.