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.
It's long odds for the brides of Christ.
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.
“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
"In Hail Holy Queens, 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 curiousity and ultimately transform you. Dark and a little sinister, Hail Holy Queens delivers."
- Curtis Ippolito, author of Waves of Burden
"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