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.
David 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.
My 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!
Naughty nuns, extreme amounts of gore, a disease beyond imagination (The Rot) and an explosive ending. This is the most graphic story I’ve read by Sodergren, be prepared for some very disturbing reading.
The story was written as a homage to Italian nunsploitation films of the 70’s. These films involve religious oppression or sexual suppression due to living in celibacy as the main theme. Sodergren says he also drew much inspiration from the classic Hammer Horror gothics, with one of the characters meant to be Christoper Lee who played Dracula in multiple films.
Sodergren stayed true to this style in his writing and created an atmosphere similar to these old films. It is apparent that much time and research was put into this book. 4/5 Think you will enjoy it if you have liked his other work.
Seeing that David Sodergren had listed Hammer Horror films as an influence on an upcoming nunsploitation novel had me enticed from the get-out for a few reasons. One, I am a big fan of those films. Two, I am always looking for books that properly capture that Hammer-specific version of Gothic atmosphere. And three, most importantly, Sodergren's previous novels have done a great job of proving that he can do tasteless extremely well, and a proper Hammer-esque take on nunsploitation in 19th century Italy would require at least a few dashes of restraint and/or atmosphere-building that is not always present in his other work. In other words, it promised something different. And mostly, it delivers.
A challenge I face with some of Sodergren's work is his tendency to lean into the pulpier 80s VHS rental aspects of his style--something that can ironically also be a source of a lot of his writerly charm as in MAGGIE'S GRAVE and ROTTEN TOMMY. I do, though, admit this may be more representative of an allergy on my part to this type of thing than a failing in his style. To this point, there are a few awkward stabs at humor and some flattening of character that work against the rich world-building he accomplishes in the first third of the novel. Similarly, the structure gets a little flimsy once the action gets moving and in the 80s VHS pulp of it all, this all tracks. But I always sense there is something more boiling underneath, something greater. This go-round, I find that to be especially true.
I think maybe some of it comes from the fact that Sodergren seems to, in reality, generally be a lovely and nice fellow who likes to get a little mean and cruel on the page. For me, this is why THE HAAR is so successful. Beneath the body horror and the meanness, there is a really big beating heart in that book. Here, there is a heart as well, but it is black and diseased. The impression I get is that the real Sodergren is a lot closer to the thing at the center of THE HAAR, and that there may be something inside of him that actively resists giving himself entirely over to the downbeat ugliness a plot like THE SUFFERING requires--which is why we see those tiny injections of silliness or humor that, to me, stick out like sour notes.
That being said, don't take my critiques as denigration. This book contains both some of his most accomplished writing and some of his nastiest, borderline vomit-inducing moments (for all you other sick freaks out there). He was right to cite Hammer as a reference point, and I hope we see more in this register in the future. His choice of setting is spot-on and his sense of place is strong. I love the brutally cold winter, even if the logic of the storm gets a little shaky at times--the whole 80s VHS thing again. The grander take-away is that THE SUFFERING and his last shortie HARD LUCK JENNY have been especially good and if this is the direction he is moving in, I think we may be seeing an artist hitting his stride. Top-tier work from one of the biggest voices in independent horror.
Sodergren Ranked: 1. The Haar 2. The Suffering 3. Hard Luck Jenny 4. Maggie's Grave 5. Rotten Tommy 6. The Forgotten Island 7. Dead Girl Blues 8. Summer of the Monsters 9. And by God's Hand You Shall Die 10. Satan's Burnouts Must Die 11. Death Spell 12. Cannibal Vengeance 13. The Navajo Nightmare
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.
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.
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!
This was absolutely terrific. Loved the writing and the setting. I am simply a big fan of horror in a religious setting. Disturbing, disgusting, gory and also kind of sad. I inhaled this book, for me it just hit the right spot. There was a passage in part II that literally made me gag, bah. There is a lot of pus in this book ... like a lot.
I think it is safe to say, this may be one of the most disgusting books I have read in a long time. I physically gagged in multiple spots, but absolutely loved every minute of it. While this book may not dethrone The Haar as my favorite book by David Sodergren, it definitely is close as a new favorite. It was dark and depressing and horrific in every way, the atmosphere written here is incredible and I felt like I could visualize and feel everything happening, which for some parts was not for the best, without spoiling anything, maybe don’t eat while reading this. This story will stick with me for a long time.
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!
The Suffering by David Sodergren is an extreme gothic horror novel that combines religious horror, body horror, supernatural infection horror, and survival horror. The story follows Dr Henrik Persson, who arrives at the isolated Sant’Arcangel convent before winter seals it off from the outside world. The convent, led by Mother Superior Lucia, descends into terror after Sister Caterina rescues a mysterious injured girl named Rosa from the forest, unleashing a supernatural plague that spreads madness, violence, and grotesque transformations among the nuns. As chaos consumes the convent, Henrik must uncover the source of the evil and survive the growing nightmare.
What I enjoyed about this book was the intense atmosphere, cinematic pacing like one of the Hammer Horror films from the 70s. The setting is vividly gothic, there are plenty of shocking body horror moments, and relentless tension. If you’re a fan of extreme horror you will enjoy its mix of gruesome imagery, psychological dread, religious themes, and claustrophobic isolation, along with Sodergren’s fast-moving writing style and unapologetically brutal storytelling. This is an excellent story and pure entertainment.
Thank you to Simon Maverick, an imprint of Simon and Schuster, for the free gifted audiobook! I actually felt nauseous listening to this book. That’s how intense the body horror is….especially as a female! It was so disturbing and gross, and I absolutely loved it. I mean… WOW… I am reeling. On a remote mountain in Italy rests the Sant’Arcangel convent. Dr. Henrik is paying his final visit for the year and must leave with a big storm rolling in. But when a girl is discovered injured in the forest, he remains to nurse her back to help. What unfolds is one of the most disturbing stories I have ever read! Something sinister has entered into the convent with the girl and all hell breaks loose within its walls. There is definitely an underlying message for sexual oppression within these pages. I love the setting, I love the mounting dread, I love where it ultimately leads. At one point I messaged a friend and was like “wow this is so gross”, and he was like “just you wait, it gets worse.” Great job. I don’t know how something so well done could be rated anything less than five stars.
Wow, like, really WOW. You obviously can't tell where a storyline is going to take you as a reader, and that's the beauty, but this one i don't think anyone could predict. It's certainly in sharp contrast to the beginning of the book.
There was a particular scene which actually made me feel sick. And no book has done that before. Or not that I can recall anyway. Just the imagery that David portrays through his writing was a bit too real for me. There's another scene which was super tense, heart racing tense. The whole book is great but there are definitely a few standout moments. Those were a couple for me. The environment is eerie given it's remoteness and isolation but it soon descends into something quite different.
I love the era, and David does a great job of portraying it through dialogue and descriptions.
Overall, another wonderfully horrible (in a good way!) David Sodergren story. Go read it!
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.
Well, that was gory and bleak! I love a good religious horror and this one wastes no time getting into it with the discovery of a young girl with old axe wounds and was seemingly buried alive. An isolated setting is set with a harsh snow storm keeping the nuns and lone doctor trapped in the convent. Things escalate quickly and don't really let up at all. This was a gory, depraved ride all the way to the end!
The Suffering is everything I want in a horror story.
"It was an unspeakable orgy of total bodily destruction."
The setting of this story was perfect - in an isolated convent, mid-winter - a girl is discovered in the surrounding wilderness. Near death, the nuns bring her inside the walls for aid. That's when shit starts to get weird. A mysterious plague starts to spread among the Sisters and God is nowhere to be found. What follows is a masterpiece in Nun-horror and body-horror.
Take heed to this warning:
"My dear Joseph, if you're reading this in Sant'Arcangel and I stand not by your side, then I urge you - nay, I beg you to get the hell out. Run from this place and never look back. Or better yet, burn it. Raze these hallowed walls to the around and let the mountain wind scatter the ashes, for whatever macabre terror stalked these halls when first we arrived... is no longer alone."
Another great story from David Sodergren. I was happy to read in the afterwords that it drew inspiration from the good old Hammer House of Horror series. I could feel that vibe as I was reading it. The characters in this one genuinely feel authentic, the pacing is spot on. I can't really fault it at all. It's got it all going on. Gets pretty gross-out at times, too. Superb work as always. Five stars no question.
4.75 ⭐️ This book is brutal, gross, and sad. The setting is awesome, some supernatural elements, and characters that are very well written. Only holding off on 5 stars because of the end…Mr. Sodergren…I needed 5 more pages!!!
Yeah, it's gory, yeah, it's intense, but no, it's not enough to get over my distaste here.
I'm here for gore and disgusting stuff, but this was just a bit much. EXACTLY how I feel about The Exorcist (1973), why did we need that scene with the girl and the crucifix? There's a line, personally, and this is crossing it, and I guess I won't find out if that scene even served any purpose to the plot. This is because where I stopped is with a nun being sexually assaulted by another nun for the horror factor, and that is so disgusting to me.
The commentary isn't even that deep, and the whole conversation/joking around about nipples for the callback to be one nun choking on another nun's nipple just gives South Park humor honestly.
Yes, nunsploitation this, nunsploitation that, but sexual assault? To this degree? As a horror element? Yeah, count me tf out.
As a horror fan, this book was an absolute blast. Completely deranged, disgusting, and over-the-top in the best way possible. I had so much fun reading it and enjoyed every horrifying second!!!!