Amelia is a young woman adrift in a sea of misery, a widow on the edge of being destitute after her husband commits suicide. Her only inheritance is Port Rock, an aging estate surrounded by the endless rolling sea, a tomb in the middle of the water. Forced to accept an inheritance that no one should claim. Amelia soon learns there is a reason no one chooses to live in that mansion. There is nowhere to run when the darkness is waiting with open arms, nowhere to hide when the walls have eyes, surrounded by the open maw of the waiting sea no way to escape from a place so isolated. From the Bram Stoker nominated authors known as The Sisters of Slaughter, comes a tale of wronged spirits, a cursed island and an eternity of suffering.
I love a read that pulls me right in ... sharp, vivid, and intense. The Sisters of Slaughter do it again ... and “it” ... I mean creep me out ... in the best possible way!
I've recently found myself buried in ghost stories. I've never not been a fan of that subgenre, but it has never been my go-to. I guess I had not experienced the right ghost stories before, because the ones I've read this year are nothing but killer stories. Isolation is no exception to that.
Here's what I liked about it:
It pulled me back into the era when electricity was new and booming (the exact date is not mentioned, let's say late 20th century at most). The prose is smooth. The protagonist, Amelia, is someone you can empathize with. The antagonists are people you'd have no problem rooting against. And the driving force isn't a drug that our protagonist is dependent on, but rather, the fear that Amelia has for practically everything, ESPECIALLY the ocean. Which so happens to surround the 26 acre property that she is willed after her husbands sudden demise and forced to live on.
The story totals 111 pages. If you've never read a Sisters of Slaughter book, this is a good start to get a feel for their writing voice. Overall, the story was interesting, the visuals played well with my senses, and I can see this being a great story to read over a roaring fire amongst friends or by yourself.
Side Note: A song that I had on repeat for the last few chapters when things REALLY got chaotic, is Salt and Sea by the Lumineers. To me, it was the perfect soundtrack to this haunting tale.
October was a busy month for Michelle Garza and Melissa Lason, the writing duo known as the sisters of slaughter. The first of two releases, Isolation is a historical horror novella rife with bloodline curses and ghosts.
A widow named Amelia inherits a house on literally on a rock in the ocean. Strapped with no way to pay for the debts her husband left behind, she is forced to leave her home and take residence on the piece of land left to her.
Amelia is no perfect heroine. She suffers from a few crippling phobias and an addiction to Laudanum. Amelia makes her way to her new home, only to find that it’s seemingly inhabited by the dead. Amelia must figure out a way to survive a curse upon the family in order to save the lives of herself and those around her.
I enjoyed Isolation quite a bit. Garza and Lason do an excellent job setting the scenes and the tone within the book. It’s dreary, and like it’s namesake, leaves the reader feeling isolated on the rock with Amelia. The writing is nicely done, the story unfolds quickly and keeps you turning the pages. My only complaint was how often the Laudanum was mentioned. I understand that she faces an addiction, but it seemed like it was being mentioned every other page. In the end, it was a minor annoyance, not really a big deal, you may not even notice it.
This novella is different from other offerings by the sisters, and so far this one has been my favorite piece of work they’ve done.
The Sisters of Slaughter proudly present their second October offering, along with Tapetum Lucidum. Isolation follows Amelia, a widow who inherits a house on a forsaken, and oh yeah, cursed, piece of rock in the middle of the ocean. Isolation is written as a period piece, and definitely presents with more than a bit of gothic flavor for it. At 114 pages, this story finds its perfect length. The atmosphere created is tense and full of dismay, and one can't imagine it being sustainable for much longer without the reader becoming overwhelmed. The imagery put forth as we near the climax is so lucid, we can picture every awful thing happening as if we were present in this horrific house. Consider me impressed with just how different the two books Garza and Lason released last month are from each other. Picking up and reading both truly provided an appreciation for the range of storytelling ability the sisters can put on display. I'm onboard for whatever this duo sends out in the future, after I catch with their back catalog of course.
This is a great ghost story! I really enjoyed the historical setting it just made the story that much creepier in my opinion. This felt like something that would’ve been written years ago and would easily stand shoulder to shoulder with the classic ghost stories of the past. I really felt for Amelia and I felt like I was right with her during her nightmare. Loved this!
This is a great novella, written in a gothic style with the newly-widowed protagonist sent to live in a large home on an isolated island. As she uncovers secrets relating to her late husband's family and the history of the island, she almost descends into madness. The writing is atmospheric and tense, and the story is very good.
This was an excellent Gothic horror story with some incredibly new and creepy elements mixed in. The descriptions are well done, and the Sisters of Slaughter do a great job with the ambiance, the pacing, and using the narrative language and dialogue that puts the reader in the right era, without seeming overdone. Loved it, and would recommend.
A tense and creepy historical horror novella from the Sisters of Slaughter. When a troubled and fragile young widow is left property on an island, she must also deal with the curse that goes along with it. A quick read full of intense imagery that will leave you emotionally strung-out.