Literary Horror discussion

Y'all, I'm new here, so forgive me if I've posted a discussion in the wrong place.

Like many thinkers, I couldn't help but notice a resurgence of witches in popular culture. From the remake/sequel/reboot of Blair Witch, to the obscurantism of Eggers' The VVitch, to Thomas Heuvelt's lauded novel Hex (which I didn't really love). The AVClub has a decent article about the ebb and flow regarding witches. They posit the current resurgence comes from a combination of feminism (what is the fear of the witch, after all, but a fear of feminine power?), the popularity of the film The Craft, and Instagram (witch culture is a combination of good design and good fashion, something Instagram excels at).

I'm interested in hearing what you folks think about witches and horror and feminism and whatnot. I used to find the figure of the witch fascinating in the same way I find werewolves fascinating, which is to say that I had never previously given them special consideration. But the recent popularity of them finds me itching to know more, to consume more.

Thus, my other motive for this topic is to seek out recommendations of good literature about witches. Surely there are some novels out there that handle the topic with some intelligence and style? Please recommend me something!

Graham Joyce's Dark Sister is a good one.

Don't say it!

There's Terry Pratchett's wonderful Wyrd Sisters, which owes much to The Scottish play and my own Witchlight, which doesn't.

Another (probably rather obvious) thought. If you enjoy reading plays, The Crucible provides an interesting insight into the Salem witch trials.

Rhea by Russ Martin. Hard to find but worth it. Judith Hawkes has some good ones. Witches is I think one of the titles. Julian's House is great too, but not about witches. Rosemary Edgehill:s Bast mysteries is really good. And I loved Met by Moonlight. All are intelligently written witch themed books. I wish there were more like these.

matthew wrote: "Y'all, I'm new here, so forgive me if I've posted a discussion in the wrong place.

Like many thinkers, I couldn't help but notice a resurgence of witches in popular culture. From the remake/seque..."

I have made some recent recommendations. I can't say that I'd recommend a Discovery of Witches but...your mileage may vary!

Interesting topic. I think when it comes to horror fiction (or maybe I should say fiction in general), witches have been neutered in much the same way as vampires- treated as benign and misunderstood rather than malevolent, or highly likeable "sexy bad girls".

Of course witches are a little different than vampires or werewolves or ghosts or whatever else- real people were subject to torture and put to death for the crime of witchcraft (still are in some parts of the world). And since, over the last century or so, witches have come to be associated with paganism, New Age stuff, tree-hugging, feminism, and what not, I think there may be an aversion in our cultural psyche to cast witches as evil-doers (actually I think this may extend to an aversion to unambiguously "evil" female villains in general- either they're explained away as wounded souls getting revenge, or they're agents of male power, doing the bidding of some male villain or masculine evil force).

Off the top of my head, I can't think of many horror stories- let alone intelligent, stylish ones- that focus on witches or witchcraft, although it just so happens I'm reading something like that right now. This thread also got me to searching for some other titles that might fit the bill, though I haven't read them myself. Most books about witches seem to fall into the fantasy, romance, or chick-lit genres, which as an unabashed horror-lover I think is a real shame. Anyways, I'll post what I've come up in a second, to break this up a bit...

I'm reading this as we speak. It's Adam Nevill's first published horror novel, billed as a story about malevolent supernatural witchcraft in contemporary St Andrews, Scotland. I'm about halfway through, and the "witchy" parts aren't really a central focus so far. In fact, as much as I adore Adam Nevill as a writer, I'm having a tough time getting through this book because it's written in the present tense and the story is a bit too wide-focused and rambling for my taste.

Haven't read this, but it sounds interesting and he's a really good writer so I'm adding it to my want-to-read list.

Haven't read this, but it's a Lovecraft story about a witch. I haven't read much Lovecraft myself- something about his writing just hasn't drawn me in- but I'm interested in reading this.

and probably several other titles by Anne Rice. Haven't read it (and no real desire to, I'm not the world's biggest Anne Rice fan) so I have no clue what it's like but no doubt there's lots of sexy baroque gothiness and ridiculousness.

And now for some B-horror...

No clue, haven't read it, haven't read any Richard Laymon at all in fact, and it doesn't sound particularly intelligent or stylish. Might be a fun pulpy read though.

Lastly, just thought I'd mention that I LOVED The VVitch, and I disagree with the AVClub article characterizing it as a "feminist" take on witches. What I got from that film, and what the director/writer has said in interviews, is that it's a straightforward depiction based on actual witness testimony and accounts from 17th century New England. The witch in that movie is absolutely terrifying and unambiguously evil. And without giving away any spoilers, I certainly don't see the ending as "empowering" or "feminist", other than on a superficial level.

Speaking of The VVitch, this book looks interesting- Revenants by Daniel Mills.

Caro wrote (in part):

Speaking of The VVitch, this book looks interesting- Revenants by Daniel Mills.

Revenants was the subject of a group read here some years ago. The discussion thread is here.

Thanks for the link, Canavan. I'm going to bump Revenants up to the top of my "to read" list. Sounds really interesting.