Written by: ST King
If the title, Witchnot quite straight enough, and of course I hope you have enough tools to understand what this novel is about. But please allow me a moment, readers, okay? Anyway, let me tell you what I have prepared for you.
Witch Originally published in 1993; the version reviewed here is the author’s revised edition by Kathryn Meyer Griffith. This is a supernatural story about the enchanted world of witches—a world that bears a striking resemblance to our own.
In this world, witches aren’t giggling, toiling people. Instead, they laugh like you and me. They still have their own familiars, black cats and the like, but they drink coffee and prefer cars to brooms.
Amanda Givens is one of those witches – a White Witch, to be more specific, who initially deals with the loss of her beloved husband, whose death causes her to fall into depression and retreat into the woods – the pain and suffering driving her to bring him back.
But all witches are bound by laws and principles; every time they perform a spell, they pay a price. The spell starts out well, and Amanda sees her husband begin to come back…
Unfortunately, she can also see demons.
So Amanda does the right thing (and she gets help, of course) and calls it quits – and moves on with her life. But before long, horrific murders begin to occur in her small town. Something seems to be wrong – and Amanda is to blame.
Amanda faces her own weaknesses and gives it her all. She succeeds—only to be taken away in time. Her actions seem to have been orchestrated by a shrewd and cunning force. She must rely on the love of her sisters to get her back intact.
Witch is a fascinating story that is essentially supernatural – though peppered with strong fantasy elements. It begins with loss and grief and turns into a hard-fought struggle against the evil that looms over Canaan, Connecticut.
For readers who have experienced loss and the struggles that come with it, this story paints a wonderfully alluring picture. On the canvas are fascinating characters who are experiencing their life’s deepest sorrows—and in the background is the abyss of demons and hell.
Yet, despite its admirable ambitions, the story also seems weighed down by unnecessary baggage. It trudges along a path that feels both straightforward and predetermined, yet is bogged down by poor flow, narrative awkwardness, and redundancy. Yes, there’s tension, but it feels a little contrived – with twists and turns that are left to the discretion of the protagonist. The end product is a story that tries hard to move you (cast a spell on you, if you will) – but the narrative is too contrived to tickle the taste buds of the more hardcore reader.
Griffith makes the witches relatable (and without the scary eyes of a newt); they play cards, make pottery, and fall in love. They are both witches and mortals, which makes them fascinating at the beginning. But in the end, we just see the classic (one-dimensional) struggle between good and evil – a struggle that is unfortunately tragically predictable in both outcome and outcome. For hardcore horror readers, I suggest you imagine something else.
Order yours right here.
score: 2.5/5
About the Author: An aspiring novelist with a penchant for darkness and an insatiable thirst for fantasy, ST King currently works as a mental health counsellor, helping people purge their closets of darkness – although he admits he thinks it’s more fun to put it back in.
