Sister, Maiden, Monster

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Well, you know me … I like to support good places. Especially when it looks like they might be in for a rough ride.” Centering around the deadly—and thankfully fictional—PVG virus (polymorphic viral gastroencephalitis), Sister, Maiden, Monster is structured as three vignettes, each concerning a woman with a pivotal part to play in the ongoing apocalypse. Though there is little to connect Erin, Savannah and Mareva in their day to day lives, they’re all infected with PVG. It’s not long before their symptoms start manifesting in vastly different, horrifying ways. Lucy A. Snyder is the author of 15 books and over 100 published short stories. Her most recent titles are the apocalyptic horror novel Sister, Maiden, Monster and the collection Halloween Season. She lives near Columbus, Ohio with a jungle of houseplants, a clowder of cats, and an insomnia of housemates.

The body horror serves a purpose, however. The inadequate treatment of the chronically ill—especially women—is a prevalent theme throughout this book, as is feminism, the loss of body autonomy, and the erosion of human rights during times of great crisis. I particularly related to Erin’s struggle to adjust to her new life post-PVG infection. In seeking out alternative treatments with her fellow sufferers, rather than accepting the hopelessly grim fate dictated to her, she becomes empowered; transformed. He took me by the elbow and led me down the hall. As I stepped from carpet to the vinyl planks of our dining room, I smelled soy sauce and burning candles. I continued: “It looks like most of the other companies on the West Side have already shifted to work from home.” Unsettling and unexpectedly timely, Sister, Maiden, Monster is horror at its best. Snyder pulls out all the stops with this powerful and unflinching novel, dealing with the fallout of a pandemic and the omnipresent, creeping terror that can only come from your own body turning against you. Put this book at the top of your reading list immediately.” — Gwendolyn Kiste, Bram Stoker Award-winning author of The Rust Maidens and Reluctant Immortals

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A virus tears across the globe, transforming its victims in nightmarish ways. As the world collapses, dark forces pull a small group of women together. The ideas in the third part of the book were excellent and I wish she would have cut out or maybe drastically reduced the first two story lines and expanded a lot more on the third section and really found a solid ending, even a cliffhanger of an ending where you're left wondering and this book could have been GREAT. It felt like too many moving parts that almost fit, but not quite. This is also potentially one of the goriest books I’ve read lately, and I do tend to read a lot of cosmic/body horror, so beware of that! However, I really enjoyed these elements as they played out with the plot, and overall, just generally appreciated how striking and visceral the storytelling here was and how skillfully the author utilized uncanny genre elements to create a story I’m unlikely to forget any time soon. The author’s absolute talent in conveying desire, hunger, and lust in a horror setting, especially with queer characters in a way that isn’t often showcased with specifically lesbian or bi women, was amazing and perhaps one of my favorite elements. Inspired by her Bram Stoker Award-winning story “Magdala Amygdala,” Lucy A. Snyder delivers a cosmic tale about the planet’s disastrous transformation ... and what we become after. Snyder’s story follows three infected women; each is given a unique voice and perspective thanks to the vocal talents of Arielle DeLisle, Katherine Littrell, and Lindsey Dorcus."― Library Journal

Unflinchingly gory, fast-paced and full of disasters both expected and unexpected — every twist is earned and becomes another piece in this intricate puzzle that begins as a medical mystery. I promise you have never read another cosmic horror like this. It’s impossible to look away as we witness everything it takes to end this world in full, intimate detail.”

Lucy A. Snyder

With Sister, Maiden, Monster, we see that there’s not only beauty in the abyss, but equal doses terror and wonder. ” My only other qualm with this book [ SPOILERS AHEAD] was that it fell prey to the "woman is a vessel for giving birth as a body horror element" trope, which I generally cannot stand. The context here was slightly different because it was written by a woman and is clearly a feminist work in many other ways, and the character does actually partially subvert this fate in the end, but I still hate to see it.

Type Ones are people who contracted this PVG virus, got some headache and nausea, but then after a few days of rest they recovered, never had to see a doctor, didn't have to go to an ER, and didn't need to be in a containment facility like Greenwood. Erin has become a kind of living zombie who has significant trouble with digestion, healing, sunlight, X-rays, and a dozen other things. She could also still become a 'total cancer farm' by the time she becomes 35 years old. Further still, pregnancy is no longer an option, adoption and fostering are also not options, and her brain will degenerate significantly over time. It's not clear if there is a cure.

Advance Reviews

Snyder also introduces elements from Robert W. Chambers’ book, The King in Yellow, such as descriptions of the lost city of Carcosa, the Yellow Sign, and the Stranger in the Pallid Mask. Side by side with all the eldritch cosmic tentacle monsters, this seems to place Sister, Maiden, Monster firmly within Lovecraft’s Cthulu Mythos. This changed the tone and context of the book for me personally and left me feeling a bit confused. As much as I love Lovecraftian horror, I’m not overly familiar with anything outside of what the man himself wrote. I had to Google the Yellow Sign to try and make sense of the ending, and I’m still none the wiser really. Erin is the first we encounter. A disease has broken out, stabbing everyone with familiar pangs of nostalgia to the corona virus. The infection sounds pretty similar, but if you are infected, you are guaranteed a trip to the hospital, if not the morgue. The disease is called PVG or ‘Polymorphic Viral Gastoencephalsiits,’ and the side effects are simply disturbing. This is viciously twisted and gory, and at times you will think, "Did I really just read that?" It is also incredibly creative and intriguing since Snyder delves into depths of depravity that most authors wouldn't be comfortable delving in to. I love it for its uniqueness and just how much fun it ends up being to read. With Sister, Maiden, Monster, we see that there’s not only beauty in the abyss, but equal doses terror and wonder.” — Maurice Broaddus, author of Breath of Oblivion Erin , once quiet and closeted, acquires an appetite for a woman and her brains. Why does forbidden fruit taste so good?