The Sorcerers

by Daoma Winston

Hired as a companion to Mrs. Walker, Gilly is horrified when bodies are found with wounds identical to those Mrs. Walker has been inflicting on lifelike dolls

Genres: Gothic, Horror, Fiction, Witches

160 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1973

About the author

Daoma Winston was a prolific writer of Gothic romance and horror/thriller novels. All of her novels have a strong occult theme and usually feature ghosts, witches, demons or magic.
(Not "Golden Tramp.")

Reviews

[Taylor - Muse Ignited Reads]

4.5 Stars - This is a great example of a well written classic “Gothic Thriller”. Written in the mid 70’s as part of Avon’s Satanic Gothic line (the occult was a huge influence on most genres in this era especially horror and suspense) and while proclaiming to hop on that satanic bandwagon there is very little “boobies & blood” here (so those looking for that kind of a sensationalist pulp read may find this lacking).
What this is is a more slow build to terror “what the hell is ACTUALLY going on here” kind of story. We’ve got an isolated house populated by a family and their spouses and caretakers, add in strange under currents, family secrets, possible crimes, and potential black magic? This is the set up our heroine arrives at when she’s hired on as a caretaker to the owners invalid wife (who may or may not be mad, or may or may not possess magic powers and be a witch). Eeriness eventually escalates - including creepy doll apparitions in the mirror (magic? A trick? Madness?) - along with the body count until our final showdown with the “evil” in this house.
Even though this is labeled as romantic suspense there is very little romance here (its more obligatory than actually present), so don’t expect much in that department.
Overall a really well written and really good classic slow burn gothic suspense thriller. Recommended to both Gothic fans and retro thriller/mystery fans.

[Sidney]

In the the latter days of the gothic paperback era, Avon books offered up a brief and now hard-to-find (or at least pricey) Satanic line. Distinguished by a goat's head logo, each was penned by a different author. They bore titles like Lord Satan, Her Demon Lover and Red Wine of Rapture and appeared from 1973 to 1974.

It was the time when every TV detective battled satanists, from McMillan and Wife to Ironside ("Bubble, Bubble, Toil and Murder" featuring Jodie Foster and a cameo by Rod Serling). Cults and the dark lord must have seemed like perfect adversaries for gothic heroines historic and contemporary.

I've wanted to explore some of the gothics for a while, so I've been nabbing the occasional title. I sought out an affordable Avon Satanic and ran across a reasonable, "good condition" edition of The Sorcerers by Dorian Winslow, a pseudonym of Daoma Winston. I didn't key in on that until I opened to the copyright page, but I once owned Winston's hardcover thriller Mira, so I was pleased to return to her work after many years.

Despite what the logo might lead you to believe, The Sorcerers is not a tale of black-robed cultists and late-night rituals with chickens and blood. It's actually a well-crafted if slow-burn mystery with elements of The Fantastic. Is black magic at work at Walker Hill, the creepy mansion at the core of the story? Or is human evil and superstition?

That's indirectly what the heroine, Gilly Davis, must find out when she accepts a job as companion to Caretha Walker, a woman turned into an agoraphobic emotional invalid by the accidental death of her child.

Recently devastated herself by the decampment of her husband John with her best friend, 23-year-old Gilly accepts the job from Mason Walker, a man of "imposing good looks." He's wealthy and has pretty much taken in most of Gilly's family at Walker Hill in the remote town of Cumberland, surrounded by red hills and shrouded in mist.


As Gilly works to bring Caretha out of her depression and despair, she observes strange behavior and disturbing occurrences including black, inverted crosses smudged about the house. Miss Ming, a Pekingese, serves as a sinister observer, seemingly materializing at inopportune moments.

Caretha's sister Megan indulges Caretha's taste for fortune telling and dressing dolls as if they are members of the household, practices Mason strives to obliterate as detrimental.

There's a musty old attic, a mysteriously departed former employee, weird visions in a mirror, a burned out residence in town and soon mysterious accidents and a death.

There's certainly a Dark Shadows feel to it all, but everything's subtle, building to revelations in the final few pages, tying things together in a satisfying fashion almost in an Agatha Christie vein. I suppose the less patient reader might find things a little slow, but it's all to a purpose.

The romance component may really be what's lacking or at least taking a back seat to other goings on. It comes late in the slim (160-page) novel and without much real justification that we're shown. It's really like genre requirements had to be shoe-horned in around the mystery, but so it goes.

In general, I liked this volume and its quiet, moody horror. It's not for all tastes, but it's not a bad entertainment, especially for a cold, dark night's reading.

(Originally from my Thrills and Chills From the Attic blog)

[Likes To Read]

To me, this book was the book equivalent of The Babadook. Suspense, a slow burn, keeps you guessing until the very end. A gripping book that I thoroughly enjoyed. I highly recommend this one.

[Susi]

3.75

First, the back of this book is very misleading as well as gives quite a lot away. I'd strongly recommend against reading it and just knowing this is a suspense book of a woman in a house where suspicious things are happening and she's trying to figure out what. It's gothic horror in the definition sense - there's really no horror; it's not frightening to read. Almost all of the book is spent building up the mystery of what's going on.

The pros: It's very well written. It is very enjoyable, and unlike the 3 other books I read yesterday (it was rainy!), it was the only book that I am still thinking, "I'm glad I read that" today, and I even had a dream about it.

The cons:

Near the halfway point, it became predictable, but it tries valiantly to keep "which side of the divided household actually does the black magic" going, so perhaps if you have not read a lot of gothic horror books (or the back of the book), it will come as a surprise.

Also, if you're here for romance with the current romantasy trend, don't. There is a "romance" that I'm putting in quotes that seems more obligatory than anything - there's very little interaction between the characters except the woman daydreaming of how handsome the man is and the man checking up on the woman. This felt extremely like "oh boy, we need a happy ending" in the last few pages of the book.

Overall:

I would highly recommend it if you don't know much about the book going into it and don't mind that it's predictable.

[Heather Brooks]

A genuinely creepy little book. This is my second time reading it. I finally obtained a reprint copy. The original was part of the now coveted Avon Satanic Gothic line that briefly ran in the 1970’s. I have managed to read around six of them and I have to say so far The Sorcerers is my favorite. I’m a sucker for tales about witches and creepy dolls. Originally printed under the pen name of Dorian Winslow, this is one of my favorite from Daoma Winston.

[Gina Dickerson]

I first read this during my teenage years and really enjoyed it. Remembering the tale I still enjoyed it this time around, however I did find the middle a little slow and the ending felt rushed in comparison, but I will re-read this again in the future. An entertaining, quick read.