{Book Review} Daughters Of Darkness: Various

Daughters Of Darkness

Featuring: Theresa Derwin, Ruschelle Dillon, Stephanie Ellis & Alyson Faye

Reviewed By Steve Stred

Look – there’s a number of Women Horror Writers who you need to read. The list is long, winding and covers a really wide scope of styles and stories, but there is a list. Within that list, there are a number “must-reads,” “want to reads” and “will reads.”

But for me – there are only a handful of “drop everything and reads.”

Three of those names appear within this anthology with the fourth being a new and exciting author whose discovery was fantastic.

What I liked: ‘Daughters of Darkness’ is an anthology that features a foreword by the Queen of Horror, Lee Murray as well as poems and stories from Theresa Derwin, Stephanie Ellis and Alyson Faye – three of my “drop everything” authors. The fourth author is Ruschelle Dillon (whom I mean no disrespect for listing last) a new to me author, but one that I’ll easily be looking to read more from.

The foreword from Lee is fantastic, as you’d expect, which leads us into Therese Derwin’s section. Of her 5 stories and single poem, the one that I enjoyed the most was her body horror take ‘Tummy Bug.’ An outstandingly creepy affair.

Next up we get six stories from Ruschelle Dillon. I loved each of her featured pieces, but if there were two that really stood out for me. ‘Timmy and the Tempest’ which was absolutely creepy and ‘Seasons in the Sun’ a music-filled story that was equal parts beautiful and horrific.

Stephanie Ellis arrives shortly thereafter with her two stories. ‘Painted Ladies’ and ‘Beyond Hope’ are both stunning short stories and show once again why Ellis is so celebrated.

Last but not least is one of my personal fav authors – Alyson Faye. We get five stories and a poem from Faye, with my favorite being ‘It’s In the Walls.’ This was such a dread-filled story and Faye is one of the absolute best at describing creatures. Loved it.

What I didn’t like: Nothing. Total cop-out so… how about this – ONLY TWO ELLIS STORIES?! COME ON! Haha! Seriously, each story and poem in this was great.

Why you should buy this: ‘Daughters of Darkness’ continues Ellis and Faye’s partnership as well as introducing Derwin and Dillon to the fold. These four have really delivered with this anthology and with Lee’s foreword, this is an over the top batch of women who deserve to be read and revered year-round. Fantastic stuff.

Daughters Of Darkness

A quartet of established female horror writers from both sides of the Atlantic have joined supernatural forces to bring you – Daughters of Darkness – a publication from the women-run indie press Black Angel.

These stories will take you across the centuries, from Whitechapel to New Orleans, from dark humour to Gothic, weaving the weird with the macabre.

Within these pages, meet the myriad monsters these female writers have conjured, letting them loose to roam and cast long shadows.

Beware – this is only the beginning …

You can buy Daughters Of Darkness from Amazon UK & Amazon US

Steve Stred

Steve Stred is the author of a number of novels, novellas and collections. He has appeared in anthologies with some of Horror’s heaviest hitters.

He lives in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada with his wife, son and their dog OJ.

You can follow Steve on Twitter @stevestred

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