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The Suffering
Not yet published
Expected 1 May 26“Are we safe here?”
Atop a remote mountain in northern Italy rests the Sant’Arcangel convent, a sanctuary for women from all walks of life. On the cusp of winter, Dr Henrik Persson pays his final visit of the year. He cannot stay long, for a storm is coming that will shut the convent off from the outside world.
But when a young girl is found injured in the surrounding forest, the victim of a savage attack, Henrik decides to remain in the convent and nurse her back to health. It is, he believes, the correct thing to do.
But something has followed the girl to Sant’Arcangel. And once the snow begins to fall, the sinister presence will run rampant through the miserable corridors, bringing violent, bloody madness to all it touches. When all hope is lost, what remains is... THE SUFFERING.
A gripping tale of love, death, and total bodily destruction, The Suffering is a new nightmare of escalating dread from David Sodergren, author of The Haar and Maggie’s Grave.
Atop a remote mountain in northern Italy rests the Sant’Arcangel convent, a sanctuary for women from all walks of life. On the cusp of winter, Dr Henrik Persson pays his final visit of the year. He cannot stay long, for a storm is coming that will shut the convent off from the outside world.
But when a young girl is found injured in the surrounding forest, the victim of a savage attack, Henrik decides to remain in the convent and nurse her back to health. It is, he believes, the correct thing to do.
But something has followed the girl to Sant’Arcangel. And once the snow begins to fall, the sinister presence will run rampant through the miserable corridors, bringing violent, bloody madness to all it touches. When all hope is lost, what remains is... THE SUFFERING.
A gripping tale of love, death, and total bodily destruction, The Suffering is a new nightmare of escalating dread from David Sodergren, author of The Haar and Maggie’s Grave.
- GenresHorror
296 pages, Kindle Edition
Expected publication May 1, 2026
222 people want to read
About the author
David Sodergren
21 books3,137 followersDavid Sodergren lives in Scotland with his wife Heather and his best friend, Boris the Pug.
Growing up, he was the kind of kid who collected rubber skeletons and lived for horror movies. Not much has changed since then.
His best known books include the gory and romantic fairy tale The Haar, the blood-drenched folk-horror Maggie’s Grave, and the analog-horror fever dream Rotten Tommy. David also writes under the pseudonym Carl John Lee, publishing splatterpunk
novels such as Psychic Teenage Bloodbath and Cannibal Vengeance.
Growing up, he was the kind of kid who collected rubber skeletons and lived for horror movies. Not much has changed since then.
His best known books include the gory and romantic fairy tale The Haar, the blood-drenched folk-horror Maggie’s Grave, and the analog-horror fever dream Rotten Tommy. David also writes under the pseudonym Carl John Lee, publishing splatterpunk
novels such as Psychic Teenage Bloodbath and Cannibal Vengeance.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
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February 7, 2026My new book The Suffering is out May 1st 2026! This one's been in the works for over two years, and it's a sort-of cross between Hammer Horror, 1960s Italian gothic cinema, and David Cronenberg's early body horror. It was a lot of fun to write, and due to the unusual setting and time period, required much more research than usual, including a trip to visit Italian convents, catacombs, and medical museums. I really hope you dig it!
Review of advance copy received from Author
I was lucky enough to receive an advance copy of The Suffering by David Sodergren, and as always, he absolutely delivered.
From the first page, you’re thrown straight into it. No slow build. No easing in. Just immediate dread and chaos. He has this way of hooking you instantly and never letting you breathe. This one is a wild, gross, relentless ride and exactly what I’ve come to expect from Sodergren. The horror is emotional, the pacing is tight. He writes with such confidence that you feel completely locked into the story from start to finish.
If you like your horror brutal, uncomfortable, and impossible to put down, this one will absolutely hit.
Another win.
From the first page, you’re thrown straight into it. No slow build. No easing in. Just immediate dread and chaos. He has this way of hooking you instantly and never letting you breathe. This one is a wild, gross, relentless ride and exactly what I’ve come to expect from Sodergren. The horror is emotional, the pacing is tight. He writes with such confidence that you feel completely locked into the story from start to finish.
If you like your horror brutal, uncomfortable, and impossible to put down, this one will absolutely hit.
Another win.
February 22, 2026
Thank you David Sodergren for the ARC!
This book doesn’t hold back. It is a well crafted blend of grotesque imagery and mounting dread which leads to a descent into chaos and disturbing horror. This combination makes it impossible to put down, pulling you through the pages as you witness the carnage unleashed upon the inhabitants of Sant’Arcangel convent.
“The Suffering” is an exceptional piece of work. Sodergren masterfully crafts a dark, brutal and unsettling story that will leave readers with a range of emotions upon completion. This is an easy five star read and is one of Sodergren’s best works to date.
This book doesn’t hold back. It is a well crafted blend of grotesque imagery and mounting dread which leads to a descent into chaos and disturbing horror. This combination makes it impossible to put down, pulling you through the pages as you witness the carnage unleashed upon the inhabitants of Sant’Arcangel convent.
“The Suffering” is an exceptional piece of work. Sodergren masterfully crafts a dark, brutal and unsettling story that will leave readers with a range of emotions upon completion. This is an easy five star read and is one of Sodergren’s best works to date.
Review of advance copy received from Author
Describe this book in three words: "Cannibalistic. Nymphomaniac. Nuns"
All the vile, disgusting, horrific revolting fun you'd expect from a Sodergren book is all here, but add a little bit of satanic sexual deviancy and you've got yourself The Suffering.
A malignant presence, figurative and literal is brought into a secluded cloister of nuns right before they're cut off for winter. I'll say one thing about the nuns, they sure do have a lot of guts. And intestines. And every other kind of innards you can think of.
As the evil spreads, slowly turning the nuns into fungal rotting horrors, they begin to develop a taste for flesh. Carnal AND culinary.
Right off the bat, the first thing I noticed was that everything about this book is absolutely oozing with the same atmosphere and charm of a Hammer Horror film. The characters, the dialogue and the setting all evokes a Hammer film that never was. One of the main reason I love Sodergrens books so much is because he uniquely excels at translating the feel and tone of a particular style of film into the written word. I was glad to see in the afterword that I wasn't imagining things!
Vivid and putrid descriptions of nuns rotting while literally falling apart, eating each other and satisfying their nymphomaniacal desires are fine enough on their own, but the actual mystery behind the story here is so satisfying to watch unfold. There are hints straight from the beginning as to what's really going on, and I think the climax and culmination of everything at the end was some of the most fucked up shit Sodergren has ever written.
Another five star book from Sodergren, and quite possibly his darkest yet!
All the vile, disgusting, horrific revolting fun you'd expect from a Sodergren book is all here, but add a little bit of satanic sexual deviancy and you've got yourself The Suffering.
A malignant presence, figurative and literal is brought into a secluded cloister of nuns right before they're cut off for winter. I'll say one thing about the nuns, they sure do have a lot of guts. And intestines. And every other kind of innards you can think of.
As the evil spreads, slowly turning the nuns into fungal rotting horrors, they begin to develop a taste for flesh. Carnal AND culinary.
Right off the bat, the first thing I noticed was that everything about this book is absolutely oozing with the same atmosphere and charm of a Hammer Horror film. The characters, the dialogue and the setting all evokes a Hammer film that never was. One of the main reason I love Sodergrens books so much is because he uniquely excels at translating the feel and tone of a particular style of film into the written word. I was glad to see in the afterword that I wasn't imagining things!
Vivid and putrid descriptions of nuns rotting while literally falling apart, eating each other and satisfying their nymphomaniacal desires are fine enough on their own, but the actual mystery behind the story here is so satisfying to watch unfold. There are hints straight from the beginning as to what's really going on, and I think the climax and culmination of everything at the end was some of the most fucked up shit Sodergren has ever written.
Another five star book from Sodergren, and quite possibly his darkest yet!
Review of advance copy received from Author
David Sodergren has done it again!
High in the Italian mountains sits a convent cut off from the world. The only visit they get is from the doctor & his assistant who are from the nearest town, (a six hour horse ride up the mountain) twice a year. As the nuns prepare for the winter storm a young woman comes out from nowhere gravely injured. The nuns take her in & after the Dr helps her his assistant decides to stay behind to look after her. However this strange young woman brings with her a great evil that spreads through the convent. Will anyone survive? This book had me on the edge of my seat & often times grimacing at the gorey very detailed situations. Definitely recommend but reader beware, you may not want to be eating while reading this.
A huge thank you to the author for the advanced copy!
High in the Italian mountains sits a convent cut off from the world. The only visit they get is from the doctor & his assistant who are from the nearest town, (a six hour horse ride up the mountain) twice a year. As the nuns prepare for the winter storm a young woman comes out from nowhere gravely injured. The nuns take her in & after the Dr helps her his assistant decides to stay behind to look after her. However this strange young woman brings with her a great evil that spreads through the convent. Will anyone survive? This book had me on the edge of my seat & often times grimacing at the gorey very detailed situations. Definitely recommend but reader beware, you may not want to be eating while reading this.
A huge thank you to the author for the advanced copy!
February 21, 2026
Another 5 star book from David Sodergren! A sorrowful, tragic and flesh rotting story of a flock of Nuns and the price they pay for their Mother Superiors carnal actions. Through David’s always descriptive words, we get a look inside the hellhole that is Sant’Arcangel - a vile ride through a covenant as the winter approaches and they become shutoff from the world. Side note: I kept reading ‘abscess’ instead of ‘Abbess’ and turns out, that theme really held for the book😂
I was gagging during parts (many parts if I’m honest). My heart was breaking during others, and pounding in the next breath.
These characters were feral and unhinged, even before the sickness took hold. It’s what the suffering will do to you.
I was gagging during parts (many parts if I’m honest). My heart was breaking during others, and pounding in the next breath.
These characters were feral and unhinged, even before the sickness took hold. It’s what the suffering will do to you.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews