Quirky Cat's Fat Stacks

A Dark and Twisted Tale in Sepulturum

Sepulturum is one of the more recent additions to Warhammer Horror, part of the Black Library collection. It’s a chilling tale involving monsters, men, and other elements that make this game and universe so enticing.

Morgravia Sanctus has headed to Blackgheist hoping to piece together her missing memories. Ideally, before whoever is hunting her finally catches up. Deep down, she knows this location, her missing memories, and her hunter are all connected. She just doesn’t know how, not yet.

Sepulturum is perfect for Warhammer fans looking for something a bit darker and twisted. It’s a horror tale with multiple perspectives (though Morgravia’s is the focal point), with a twist that’ll please certain fans of certain horror genres.

Writing

Nick Kyme successfully wrote in so many different elements into Sepulturum. It’s a dark and twisted tale that much was evident from the description alone. Yet there’s more to this novel than that. Rising above the darker elements is an ever-present sense of hope, courage, and the goodness of the human condition.

There’s a counter to all of those positive elements, of course. A toll. The writing in this story gets dark, and it isn’t afraid to get graphic or show the monstrosities that have made their homes within humanity.

To say that it made for a chilling read would be an understatement. Yet there was something deeply satisfying in reading about Morgravia and her plight. The secondary characters fleshed out the world and gave even more reasons to care. They gave us a reason to fear and to hope.

I’ll admit that I was surprised by the multiple perspectives since Morgravia was the only one mentioned in the description. While she is undoubtedly the driving force of this tale, everyone else makes the story feel human.

Development

Sepulturum is, without a doubt, one of those disturbing novels with many buildups. Right up until everything explodes, leaving the novel rushing through events and characters like its candy. At least, that was how it felt at the time.

Morgravia’s story was slow to unfold, yet even from the beginning, there were hints about what had happened. It wasn’t until everything went wrong that the pace picked up significantly. Naturally, the risk picked up simultaneously.

The multiple perspectives helped carry the story along while providing different views on the same series of events. It helped to show the scale of the horrors while not quite revealing the depth not straight away, at any rate.

The conclusion felt a bit twisted, but in a way, that feels right. Sepulturum was twisted and dark, so any way to wrap it up would have had to include those elements.

Conclusion

Sepulturum was every bit the dark and disturbing novel that I had been hoping for and then some. It’s perfect for fans of Warhammer and horror fans looking to dive into this world. You don’t need to understand everything happening in 40k to understand the events here, so it’s a decent starting point.

This was a memorable read and is one I can’t recommend enough for this time of year. If you’re looking for a haunting read, look no further.

This review was originally written for Word of the Nerd, but has been ported over to Quirky Cat’s Fat Stacks now that the site has shut down.

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