It's 1887.
High in the snow-swept Berkshires sits an isolated Romanesque convent where the nuns turn out bottles of their potent Italian amaro. Henrietta Q, a young woman of high society sent to "recover" there by her controlling husband, observes the sisters' daily life in her journal.
They pray. They work. Little gets in the way of the sisters' devotion.
Until . . .
From a cavern lair far above the convent comes a predatory beast: the Gulo, a Hellish thing resembling both wolf and wolverine. In a hideous pack, the creatures ravage the holy women and vanish into the freezing forest hillside. Rather than risk the return of these fiends, the sisters decide to hunt them down.
But the appearance of a mysterious figure turns the tide in their favor—a tall, striking woman who claims to have vanquished "vicious bêtes" in her native France. The strange warrior-saint gains the trust of the sisters, who dub her the Long Nun. She is the one who will train them in the art of the hunt.
What follows is a true holy war, documented by Henrietta in all its grisly detail. Robert Eggers meets Emerald Fennell with a dose of Quentin Tarantino in the gothic horror/thriller HAIL HOLY QUEENS.
Chris McGinley is the author of the short story collection, COAL BLACK (Shotgun Honey, 2019) and the literary thriller ONCE THESE HILLS (SHOTGUN HONEY, 2023). He writes for Crimereads, Mystery Tribune, Reckon Review, and other forums. He lives with his wife in Lexington, KY where he teaches middle school English and Social Studies.
"'A true blood bath, Reader.' Preach, Sister Henrietta, preach! (Honestly she undersold it.) Hail Holy Queens is an inventive and gory romp. So intimate in its narratology and direct address. And flat-out fun! Please give me holy orders so I can hang with these warrior nuns a bit longer."
- Margot Douaihy, USA Today Bestselling author (Scorched Grace, Blessed Water, & Divine Ruin)
"Chris McGinley has created a new genre, a hybrid of historical, horror, feminism, metaphysics, and retribution. The pace is relentless and the protagonist undergoes a remarkable transformation from society wife to warrior nun. Hail Holy Queens is the most original book I've read in years."
- Chris Offutt, (author of the Mick Hardin Series, writer on True Blood)
"Irreverent and blasphemous in the best way. A gothic-inspired Die Hard at a convent, Hail Holy Queens explores our deepest fears, and the inner strength and sacrifice needed to overcome impossible odds."
- James L'Etoile, award winning author of Illusion of Truth and the Detective Nathan Parker series
"Devilish beasts, blood-streaked snow, Romanesque mountaintop convent, and a bunch of badass amaro-drinking warrior nuns? Yes, please! Sign me up, and after reading, sign me up again! In the tradition of Dracula and Frankenstein, Hail Holy Queens by Chris McGinley not only conjures the atmosphere of the Gothic Horror classics, but takes the genre to a new blood-chilling level of fun!"
- J.H. Markert, bestselling author of Sleep Tight
"Reader, get thee to this nunnery immediately! Chris McGinley has pulled off the audaciously impossible. Hail Holy Queens is a modern gothic epic that blisters your hide at every turn. The badass ladies of the Convent of the Sisters of Saint Francis grab you by the throat and don't let go whilst they vanquish unholy beasts with bloody knives and even bloodier grins."
- Wes Browne, Weatherford Award-winning author (They All Fall the Same)
"McGinley stitches elements of horror, thriller, and folklore together into one hellishly mesmerizing read. The pacing is unrelenting, the atmosphere intensely suffocating. With prose as intoxicating as the nuns' homebrewed Amaro, Hail Holy Queens is a wildly satisfying, gory good time."
- K.T. Nguyen, Anthony Award-Winning Author of You Know What You Did
"Chris McGinley accomplishes something strange, different, and wildly entertaining. A retelling of a war between a convent of nuns and a mysterious, mind-controlling pack of beasts, this story will delight your sense of curiosity and ultimately transform you. Dark and a little sinister, Hail Holy Queens delivers."
- Curtis Ippolito, author of Waves of Burden