Witches, Witches, Witches

by Helen Hoke (Editor)

Anthology of stories about witches, edited by Helen Hoke and illustrated by W. R. Lohse.

Genres: Short Stories, Fantasy, Horror

192 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1958

About the author

Helen Jeanne Lamb Hoke (20 July 1903 - 26 March 1990) was an American author of children's books.

She wrote nearly 100 children's books and set up and ran children's book divisions in five publishing companies. Helen Hoke was well known for her anthologies on children’s humour, but she was also fascinated by the esoteric, the supernatural, and the weird.

In 1945, Hoke married Franklin M. Watts, who owned Franklin M. Watts, Inc., publishers, and became the vice-president and director of international projects.

Franklin Hoke is her grandson.

Reviews

[Kathie H · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a wondrous book. If you liked Women Who Run With The Wolves, you'll enjoy this old book of legends & fairy tale stories. The illustrations by W. R. Lohse are spooky, but the stories are allegorical & thought-provoking. My favorite was Oscar Wilde's "The Fisherman and His Soul." I'll always remember it.

[Qt · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a collection of stories, many of them folk tales, fairy tales, or legends, about witches. For me, it was more of a two-star book, just because most of the stories didn't really interest me very much. Some of them I liked, however, and many were well-written; plus I think it is a good collection, so I gave it 3 stars.

[Sundry]

I sure wish I knew where my copy of this book is. I loved it when I received it as a kid. Now it would be expensive to replace and my library doesn't have a copy. Sigh.

[Muir · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have loved this delightful book since childhood I have many happy memories of perusing the many wonderful black and white illustrations by W.R.Lohse and I would love to know more about this illustrator’s work his timeline! I often include the illustrations in the Facebook group The Golden Age Of Illustration! I can be contacted through the group or my email address!

[Josh Ashing · Rating 3 out of 5]

“Baba Yaga & the Little Girl with the Kind Heart” was my favorite short story.
It reads as if Tales of Beedle the Bard was written in the 1950s…
Helen Hoke wrote an inspiring and magical introduction that is DEFINITELY worth the quick read.

[Frank · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this as a kid, particularly the story "The Hungry Old Witch" by Charles Finger.

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mostly a collection of folktales, unlike the other Helen Hoke spooky anthologies I've read, which were all short fiction. Good but a little repetitive.