With Hags and Witches, the fifth entry in his acclaimed Classic Monsters series, Kevin J. Kennedy restores the witch to her rightful throne.
Too long confined to fairy tales and fantasy, witches are reclaimed here in their darkest, most dangerous form. This anthology drags them back to their rightful home, horror.
Within these pages, you’ll find tales of vengeance, betrayal, jealousy, and unrelenting rage. Entire towns bound by secret covens. Worlds where magic collides with science in terrifying ways. Stories of war, power struggles, and the devastating cost of crossing the wrong witch.
These are not nursery-rhyme villains or whimsical spellcasters.
These witches are cruel. Calculating. Powerful. The fire has been relit. The cauldron is boiling. And horror is ready to reclaim its queen.
I know I say it a lot, but folk horror is my favorite subgenre, and to me, witches are its backbone, its heart, and its core. I devoured these pages like a hungry child who discovered a house with a roof made of cake and windows of pure sugar. Toss me in the oven, I'm done.
No, there is no Hansel in this anthology, but one of my favorites in here is a Baba Yaga story by C S Jones in which soldiers who are too sure they have caught her force their way into a dilapidated home.
In one of my other favorites, Peg by Mark Towse, we learn that it's best to buy whatever the gypsy knocking at your door is selling, especially if you have sins from the past that you thought would never catch up to you.
Devil's Bargains by William F. Gray is a story of grief and guilt when a man who survived the accident that killed his brother's young son attempts to make things right.
Everything Has Its Price by James Yates will show that not all witches are evil, but you still would not want to mess with the granddaughter of one who loves fiercely and will give anything to protect her.
Bon Appétit by Viggy Par Hampton will make you lose your own appetite in a hurry.
The Devil Already Licked It by Paul Avery Tindle takes place a few years after Texas became part of the United States. A boy went fishing and crossed paths with a witch. His kindness got the best of him when he was tricked into thinking she was only a woman in need of help.
The Salt Mother by Ryan Colley is a tale of an unscrupulous man working for a real estate developer who manipulates a woman out of her home and owns the consequences. I almost felt sorry for him.
There's Always A Catch by S.E. Howard finds Hannah and her younger half-sister, Grace, arriving at their last chance of a foster home. They've been moved around a lot, but this house seems too good to be true.
All of the stories are spooktacular, but these were the ones that cast a spell on me.
5 out of 5 stars
My thanks to KJK Publishing.
