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Otherworld Stories #0.13--Black Magic Momma
Hex Life: Wicked New Tales of Witchery
Brand-new stories of witches and witchcraft written by popular female fantasy authors, including Kelley Armstrong, Rachel Caine and Sherrilyn Kenyon writing in their own bestselling universes!
These are tales of wickedness... stories of evil and cunning, written by today's women you should fear. Includes tales from Kelley Armstong, Rachel Caine and Sherrilyn Kenyon, writing in their own bestselling universes.
Hex Life: Wicked New Tales of Witchery will take the classic tropes of tales of witchcraft and infuse them with fresh, feminist perspective and present-day concerns--even if they're set in the past. These witches might be monstrous, or they might be heroes, depending on their own definitions. Even the kind hostess with the candy cottage thought of herself as the hero of her own story. After all, a woman's gotta eat.
Bring out your dread.
From TI 9781789090345 HC.
These are tales of wickedness... stories of evil and cunning, written by today's women you should fear. Includes tales from Kelley Armstong, Rachel Caine and Sherrilyn Kenyon, writing in their own bestselling universes.
Hex Life: Wicked New Tales of Witchery will take the classic tropes of tales of witchcraft and infuse them with fresh, feminist perspective and present-day concerns--even if they're set in the past. These witches might be monstrous, or they might be heroes, depending on their own definitions. Even the kind hostess with the candy cottage thought of herself as the hero of her own story. After all, a woman's gotta eat.
Bring out your dread.
From TI 9781789090345 HC.
400 pages, ebook
First published October 1, 2019
450 people are currently reading
5546 people want to read
About the author
Christopher Golden
800 books2,925 followersCHRISTOPHER GOLDEN is the New York Times bestselling, Bram Stoker Award-winning author of such novels as Road of Bones, Ararat, Snowblind, Of Saints and Shadows, and Red Hands. With Mike Mignola, he is the co-creator of the Outerverse comic book universe, including such series as Baltimore, Joe Golem: Occult Detective, and Lady Baltimore. As an editor, he has worked on the short story anthologies Seize the Night, Dark Cities, and The New Dead, among others, and he has also written and co-written comic books, video games, screenplays, and a network television pilot. Golden co-hosts the podcast Defenders Dialogue with horror author Brian Keene. In 2015 he founded the popular Merrimack Valley Halloween Book Festival. He was born and raised in Massachusetts, where he still lives with his family. His work has been nominated for the British Fantasy Award, the Eisner Award, and multiple Shirley Jackson Awards. For the Bram Stoker Awards, Golden has been nominated ten times in eight different categories. His original novels have been published in more than fifteen languages in countries around the world. Please visit him at www.christophergolden.com
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February 12, 2022
Hex Life contains a mix of other worldly magical, eerie, darkly disturbing and beautifully written whimsical tales. The collection is dedicated to all things witchy, crosses several genres and each author takes there own unique angle. It was a interesting mix of fairytale like, and modernised tales, that come together to create quite the anthology. I was completely enamoured from the very first story.
Some of my favourite stories include Widows’ Walk, The Night Nurse, Bless Your Heart, and This Skin. - Widows’ Walk was eerie and heartbreakingly beautiful, The Night Nurse was highly disturbing and dark, Bless Your Heart was both twisted and hilarious, and This Skin was utterly horrifying. But I loved them all! I would highly recommend this book, it’s the perfect spooky read for the autumn season.🍂
Ratings:
An Invitation to a Burning - Kat Howard: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Widows’ Walk - Angela Slatter: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Black Magic Momma: An Otherworld Story - Kelly Armstrong: ⭐️⭐️
The Night Nurse - Sarah Langan: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Memories of Trees - Mary SanGiovanni: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Home: A Morganville Vampires Story - Rachel Caine: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Deer Wife - Jennifer McMahon: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Dancer - Kristin Dearborn: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Bless Your Heart - Hillary Monahan: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Debt - Anita Ahlborn: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Toil and Trouble: A Dark-Hunter Hellchaser Story - Sherrilyn Kenyon & Madaug Kenyon: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Last Stop on Route Nine - Tananarive Due: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Where Relics Go to Dream and Die - Rachel Autumn Deering: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
This Skin - Amber Benson: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Haint Me Too - Chesya Burke: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Nekrolog - Helen Marshall: ⭐️
Gold Among The Black - Alma Katsu : ⭐️⭐️⭐️
How To Become a Witch-Queen - Theodora Goss: dnf
Some of my favourite stories include Widows’ Walk, The Night Nurse, Bless Your Heart, and This Skin. - Widows’ Walk was eerie and heartbreakingly beautiful, The Night Nurse was highly disturbing and dark, Bless Your Heart was both twisted and hilarious, and This Skin was utterly horrifying. But I loved them all! I would highly recommend this book, it’s the perfect spooky read for the autumn season.🍂
Ratings:
An Invitation to a Burning - Kat Howard: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Widows’ Walk - Angela Slatter: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Black Magic Momma: An Otherworld Story - Kelly Armstrong: ⭐️⭐️
The Night Nurse - Sarah Langan: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Memories of Trees - Mary SanGiovanni: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Home: A Morganville Vampires Story - Rachel Caine: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Deer Wife - Jennifer McMahon: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Dancer - Kristin Dearborn: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Bless Your Heart - Hillary Monahan: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Debt - Anita Ahlborn: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Toil and Trouble: A Dark-Hunter Hellchaser Story - Sherrilyn Kenyon & Madaug Kenyon: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Last Stop on Route Nine - Tananarive Due: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Where Relics Go to Dream and Die - Rachel Autumn Deering: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
This Skin - Amber Benson: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Haint Me Too - Chesya Burke: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Nekrolog - Helen Marshall: ⭐️
Gold Among The Black - Alma Katsu : ⭐️⭐️⭐️
How To Become a Witch-Queen - Theodora Goss: dnf
October 22, 2019
With October come the witches, and I could not be happier.
A gorgeously evocative anthology filled with women of all different kinds. The narrators of the stories are not always witches, but there's always a whisper of magic somewhere. A perfect anthology for the witching month.
> An Invitation to a Burning - Kat Howard (4 stars)
A really short short story. Perhaps the length means some things don’t make sense, but perhaps that’s the magic of the story.
> Widows' Walk - Angela Slatter (4 stars)
This one would work not just as a short story, but a novel too. But the short story format doesn't restrict it - I found the story and characters all very fleshed out, and I enjoyed it. Will be looking further into Slatter's works
> Black Magic Momma: An Otherworld Story - Kelley Armstrong (N/A)
I'm never sure about short stories in anthologies that rely on worldbuilding and characters established in a book series. For me, short story anthologies are ideally filled with stories that stand alone and don't feel like a prologue or spin off to another book. There have been exceptions, but generally I'm not fond of them and this one is no different.
> The Night Nurse - Sara Langan (N/A)
This one was just too long for my taste, and I wasn't entirely invested. The idea was interesting indeed and I did like the ending, though I also speed-read the entire thing.
> The Memories of Trees - Mary SanGiovanni (3.5 stars)
A dystopian short story set in our world's future. It got pretty strange at the end. Overall, I did like it.
> Home: A Morganvilles Vampires Story - Rachel Caine (N/A)
Oh, no. Again, I couldn't connect to this one/the content within it because I don't really have any prior knowledge of the series at all? I ended up skipping most of it.
> The Deer Wife - Jennifer McMahon (4.5 stars)
One of my faves in this collection, it's a spin on the 'witch in the woods' trope. I loved it, especially because of the dynamic between the heroine and the witch. I felt the setting worked well too.
> The Dancer - Kristin Dearborn (4 stars)
Lovely prose, unusual but good story. Vague, but in a good way? Also set in Vermont, and you can't get better than Vermont.
> Bless Your Heart - Hillary Monahan (3.5 stars)
A mother seeks revenge for her bullied son. I liked the interpretation of the 'witch' theme here.
> The Debt - Ania Ahlborn (4 stars)
A gorgeously written tale inspired by Hansel & Gretel (or so I think) intertwined with Polish forests. Will certainly be looking into Ahlborn’s other works!
> Toil & Trouble: A Dark-Hunter Hellchaser Story - Sherrilyn Kenyon & Madaug Kenyon (N/A)
I couldn’t connect with the writing style at all in this one in addition to feeling like I was missing context, so I skipped ahead.
> Last Stop on Route Nine -Tananarive Due (4 stars)
This gave me the proper spooks! On the way to a funeral, two kids somehow drive onto a road which doesn’t actually exist and is haunted by a witch.
> Where Relics Go to Dream and Die - Rachel Autumn Deering (4 stars)
Though this story is a little harder to wrap your head around, I really enjoyed the writing style!
> This Skin - Amber Benson (4 stars)
An interesting one, to be sure, with an open ending that leaves readers questioning. I really enjoy unreliable narrators.
> Haint Me Too - Chesya Burke (3.5 stars)
A house is haunted by a wronged woman, and a black family throws off the yoke that a wealthy white family has put on them.
> The Nekrolog - Helen Marshall (4 stars)
This one was really unique, influenced by the historical events of the Soviet testing of children for psychic abilities.
> Gold Among the Black - Alma Katsu (4 stars)
A light reworking of Beauty & the Beast, I would say, but it stands in its own right.
> How to Become a Witch-Queen - Theodoroa Goss (4.5 stars)
A beautifully written finale to the anthology, featuring a grown-up Snow White. I've always thought Goss a great writer of short stories, and this proves it. I loved the use of second person and the feminist themes of claiming independence and power.
Thank you Titan Books for the review copy!
A gorgeously evocative anthology filled with women of all different kinds. The narrators of the stories are not always witches, but there's always a whisper of magic somewhere. A perfect anthology for the witching month.
> An Invitation to a Burning - Kat Howard (4 stars)
A really short short story. Perhaps the length means some things don’t make sense, but perhaps that’s the magic of the story.
> Widows' Walk - Angela Slatter (4 stars)
This one would work not just as a short story, but a novel too. But the short story format doesn't restrict it - I found the story and characters all very fleshed out, and I enjoyed it. Will be looking further into Slatter's works
> Black Magic Momma: An Otherworld Story - Kelley Armstrong (N/A)
I'm never sure about short stories in anthologies that rely on worldbuilding and characters established in a book series. For me, short story anthologies are ideally filled with stories that stand alone and don't feel like a prologue or spin off to another book. There have been exceptions, but generally I'm not fond of them and this one is no different.
> The Night Nurse - Sara Langan (N/A)
This one was just too long for my taste, and I wasn't entirely invested. The idea was interesting indeed and I did like the ending, though I also speed-read the entire thing.
> The Memories of Trees - Mary SanGiovanni (3.5 stars)
A dystopian short story set in our world's future. It got pretty strange at the end. Overall, I did like it.
> Home: A Morganvilles Vampires Story - Rachel Caine (N/A)
Oh, no. Again, I couldn't connect to this one/the content within it because I don't really have any prior knowledge of the series at all? I ended up skipping most of it.
> The Deer Wife - Jennifer McMahon (4.5 stars)
One of my faves in this collection, it's a spin on the 'witch in the woods' trope. I loved it, especially because of the dynamic between the heroine and the witch. I felt the setting worked well too.
> The Dancer - Kristin Dearborn (4 stars)
Lovely prose, unusual but good story. Vague, but in a good way? Also set in Vermont, and you can't get better than Vermont.
> Bless Your Heart - Hillary Monahan (3.5 stars)
A mother seeks revenge for her bullied son. I liked the interpretation of the 'witch' theme here.
> The Debt - Ania Ahlborn (4 stars)
A gorgeously written tale inspired by Hansel & Gretel (or so I think) intertwined with Polish forests. Will certainly be looking into Ahlborn’s other works!
> Toil & Trouble: A Dark-Hunter Hellchaser Story - Sherrilyn Kenyon & Madaug Kenyon (N/A)
I couldn’t connect with the writing style at all in this one in addition to feeling like I was missing context, so I skipped ahead.
> Last Stop on Route Nine -Tananarive Due (4 stars)
This gave me the proper spooks! On the way to a funeral, two kids somehow drive onto a road which doesn’t actually exist and is haunted by a witch.
> Where Relics Go to Dream and Die - Rachel Autumn Deering (4 stars)
Though this story is a little harder to wrap your head around, I really enjoyed the writing style!
> This Skin - Amber Benson (4 stars)
An interesting one, to be sure, with an open ending that leaves readers questioning. I really enjoy unreliable narrators.
> Haint Me Too - Chesya Burke (3.5 stars)
A house is haunted by a wronged woman, and a black family throws off the yoke that a wealthy white family has put on them.
> The Nekrolog - Helen Marshall (4 stars)
This one was really unique, influenced by the historical events of the Soviet testing of children for psychic abilities.
> Gold Among the Black - Alma Katsu (4 stars)
A light reworking of Beauty & the Beast, I would say, but it stands in its own right.
> How to Become a Witch-Queen - Theodoroa Goss (4.5 stars)
A beautifully written finale to the anthology, featuring a grown-up Snow White. I've always thought Goss a great writer of short stories, and this proves it. I loved the use of second person and the feminist themes of claiming independence and power.
Thank you Titan Books for the review copy!
December 29, 2019
Hex Life was an anthology of wicked and wonderful witchcraft. It played around with the stereotypes surrounding witches and each story was unique and magical. I liked some stories more than others but I think that there is something for everyone as it had a broad scope of styles and takes on the theme of witches..
(1) An Invitation to a Burning by Kat Howard, 4 stars: One of the shortest stories in the anthology that took the idea of witch burning and turned it into something powerful, uniting and about moving on from the past.
(2) Widows' Walk by Angela Slatter, 4 stars: Completely inverts the usual tropes surrounding widows and had themes of domestic abuse. It was about a group of widows who try to help young girls with family problems.
(3) Black Magic Momma: An Otherworld Story by Kelley Armstrong, 4 stars: This one was about a witch who dealt in black market trading of magical objects while trying to keep her daughter safe. I liked the way that women supported each other in this story. It was a part of the Women of the Otherworld series, which I am not familiar with.
(4) The Night Nurse by Sarah Langan, 1 star: Dark, depressing, weird. I didn't like it at all. It felt all over the place and I think the ending was supposed to be shocking but by then I just wanted it to be over.
(5) The Memories of Trees by Mary SanGiovanni, 3 stars: This was a dystopian with themes of nature retaliating against technology.
(6) Home: A Morganville Vampires Story by Rachel Caine, 4 stars: I found this story quite funny. It had some eccentric characters and vampires not knowing what to do with a baby. There a touch of madness and magic mixed in with the mundane and it was about the long-lasting effects of heartbreak and grief. It was a part of The Morganville Vampires series which I am also not familiar with.
(7) The Deer Wife by Jennifer McMahon, 3.5 stars: This was a sort of witchy romance story and it was quite sweet.
(8) The Dancer by Kristin Dearborn, 3.5 stars: It had people with superpowers, an extremely twisted and creepy family and a very obscure yet haunting ending.
(9) Bless Your Heart by Hillary Monahan, 4.5 stars: This was about a mother whose son was getting bullied because he was gay and who decided to put an end to it. It was very gruesome but I couldn't help cheering on her revenge. Also the mother's narration was quite humorous with a lot of ranting.
(10) The Debt by Ania Ahlborn, 5 stars: It had Baba Yaga in it so obviously it was amazing. The ending was unexpected in its cruelty and betrayal and I felt for the protagonist, a young girl called Karolin.
(11) Toil & Trouble: A Dark-hunter Hellchaser Story by Sherrilyn Kenyon and Madaug Kenyon, 2 stars: This one also felt quite random and all over the place, I didn't feel like it had a strong sense of story. It started off catching my interest and went downhill from there.
(12) Last Stop On Route Nine by Tananarive Due, 4.5 stars: This one was scary, like a horror movie. It also had themes of racism, a ghost and people getting lost.
(13) Where Relics Go To Dream and Die by Rachel Autumn Deering, 2 stars: I don't know what this story was trying to achieve but I just found it disturbing and weird. I mean it was well written but that isn't enough.
(14) This Skin by Amber Benson, 4.5 stars: This one was also disturbing but in more of a good way. It was a very creepy story about a young girl who murders and gets away with it.
(15) Haint Me Too by Chesya Burke, 3.5 stars: It was about a girl called Shea whose family was sharecropping and who resorts to more magical means to help her family. It was a bit confusing but also interesting.
(16) The Nekrolog by Helen Marshall, 3 stars: It was too long and rambling, it definitely should have been way shorter. Parts were intriguing but I was mainly bored.
(17) Gold Among The Black by Alma Katsu, 3 stars: It was a bit like a fairy tale but it was also quite predictable and average.
(18) How To Become A Witch-Queen by Theodora Goss, 5 stars: My favourite story of the anthology. It was a retelling of Snow White about what happened to her years after the ending of the fairy tale. It had clever use of the second person and a gripping plot with themes of female empowerment. I want to read other works by this author now!
Overall, Hex Life had a range of stories for a range of tastes and I'd recommend it to anyone who likes stories about magic and witches.
(1) An Invitation to a Burning by Kat Howard, 4 stars: One of the shortest stories in the anthology that took the idea of witch burning and turned it into something powerful, uniting and about moving on from the past.
(2) Widows' Walk by Angela Slatter, 4 stars: Completely inverts the usual tropes surrounding widows and had themes of domestic abuse. It was about a group of widows who try to help young girls with family problems.
(3) Black Magic Momma: An Otherworld Story by Kelley Armstrong, 4 stars: This one was about a witch who dealt in black market trading of magical objects while trying to keep her daughter safe. I liked the way that women supported each other in this story. It was a part of the Women of the Otherworld series, which I am not familiar with.
(4) The Night Nurse by Sarah Langan, 1 star: Dark, depressing, weird. I didn't like it at all. It felt all over the place and I think the ending was supposed to be shocking but by then I just wanted it to be over.
(5) The Memories of Trees by Mary SanGiovanni, 3 stars: This was a dystopian with themes of nature retaliating against technology.
(6) Home: A Morganville Vampires Story by Rachel Caine, 4 stars: I found this story quite funny. It had some eccentric characters and vampires not knowing what to do with a baby. There a touch of madness and magic mixed in with the mundane and it was about the long-lasting effects of heartbreak and grief. It was a part of The Morganville Vampires series which I am also not familiar with.
(7) The Deer Wife by Jennifer McMahon, 3.5 stars: This was a sort of witchy romance story and it was quite sweet.
(8) The Dancer by Kristin Dearborn, 3.5 stars: It had people with superpowers, an extremely twisted and creepy family and a very obscure yet haunting ending.
(9) Bless Your Heart by Hillary Monahan, 4.5 stars: This was about a mother whose son was getting bullied because he was gay and who decided to put an end to it. It was very gruesome but I couldn't help cheering on her revenge. Also the mother's narration was quite humorous with a lot of ranting.
(10) The Debt by Ania Ahlborn, 5 stars: It had Baba Yaga in it so obviously it was amazing. The ending was unexpected in its cruelty and betrayal and I felt for the protagonist, a young girl called Karolin.
(11) Toil & Trouble: A Dark-hunter Hellchaser Story by Sherrilyn Kenyon and Madaug Kenyon, 2 stars: This one also felt quite random and all over the place, I didn't feel like it had a strong sense of story. It started off catching my interest and went downhill from there.
(12) Last Stop On Route Nine by Tananarive Due, 4.5 stars: This one was scary, like a horror movie. It also had themes of racism, a ghost and people getting lost.
(13) Where Relics Go To Dream and Die by Rachel Autumn Deering, 2 stars: I don't know what this story was trying to achieve but I just found it disturbing and weird. I mean it was well written but that isn't enough.
(14) This Skin by Amber Benson, 4.5 stars: This one was also disturbing but in more of a good way. It was a very creepy story about a young girl who murders and gets away with it.
(15) Haint Me Too by Chesya Burke, 3.5 stars: It was about a girl called Shea whose family was sharecropping and who resorts to more magical means to help her family. It was a bit confusing but also interesting.
(16) The Nekrolog by Helen Marshall, 3 stars: It was too long and rambling, it definitely should have been way shorter. Parts were intriguing but I was mainly bored.
(17) Gold Among The Black by Alma Katsu, 3 stars: It was a bit like a fairy tale but it was also quite predictable and average.
(18) How To Become A Witch-Queen by Theodora Goss, 5 stars: My favourite story of the anthology. It was a retelling of Snow White about what happened to her years after the ending of the fairy tale. It had clever use of the second person and a gripping plot with themes of female empowerment. I want to read other works by this author now!
Overall, Hex Life had a range of stories for a range of tastes and I'd recommend it to anyone who likes stories about magic and witches.
Thank you to Titan Books for providing me with a review copy of this book in exchange for honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.
Want to read
September 16, 2019This is just... everything I need out of an anthology? Wow. So excited for this.
October 14, 2019
Read the full review and more at Blame Chocolate.
🔮 A big thank you to Titan Books for the review copy. This has not influenced my opinion in any way. 🔮
I absolutely loved Hex Life, despite the couple odd stories I didn’t particularly care for.
It had amazing feminist energy, brilliantly fleshed-out characters, powerful endings, super original premises, and all of them managed to offer such unique takes on witchcraft.
The authors were able to blend contemporary social themes with old school paranormal so brilliantly, I was in awe. There was also significant LGBT and POC representation, which was a really pleasant surprise.
If you love feminist witches, horror stories, and fairytale retellings, be sure to check this (massive) collection out – it’ll make all your Halloween dreams come true!
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October 30, 2019
2.5 Stars
I loved the premise of this anthology so much, especially with an all-female group of authors. However, these stories did not end up working for me because I rarely enjoy urban fantasy. My favourite story in the collection was An Invitation to a Burning by Kat Howard.This story was haunting and spooky, which is what I wanted from the rest of the collection. If you love urban fantasy, you will hopefully like this one a lot more than I did.
I loved the premise of this anthology so much, especially with an all-female group of authors. However, these stories did not end up working for me because I rarely enjoy urban fantasy. My favourite story in the collection was An Invitation to a Burning by Kat Howard.This story was haunting and spooky, which is what I wanted from the rest of the collection. If you love urban fantasy, you will hopefully like this one a lot more than I did.
April 29, 2021
I picked this book up completely at random in an effort to claw my way out of a really bad slump. I can happily say that for the first time in my life I enjoyed a short story collection! Most of the stories were really good, and I liked that so many of them leaned into horror.
An Invitation to a Burning by Kat Howard (2 stars): I didn't vibe with the writing and the whole thing felt pointless. It's been like a day and I've already forgotten most of what happened.
Widow's Walk by Angela Slatter (2.5 stars): Interesting idea, but it would have worked better with fewer characters, because I couldn't keep track of everyone and they didn't really serve much of a purpose. I enjoyed the thematic aspect of it but it felt a bit shallow too.
Black Magic Momma by Kelley Armstrong (4 stars): Apparently this is part of the author's published series, which explains why I felt like I needed context on some of the worldbuilding, but this was really fun! The narration was strong and voicey and the story itself was fast-paced and interesting.
The Night Nurse by Sarah Langan (4 stars): A bit too long for what it was, but I think that was purposeful in order to slowly build up the creeping sense of dread. This was very creepy, but the ending was abrupt and I definitely wanted more closure.
The Memories of Trees by Mary SanGiovanni (3 stars): This was a weird one, set in a dystopian world but written like it was set in the 17th-century, which was more jarring than anything. The dystopian setting felt like it served no purpose, and I kind of wish this had just been set in the past, because I really loved the idea of it, and the conclusion, but the dystopian worldbuilding was weird and incomplete and really just dragged down the story.
Home: A Morganville Vampires Story by Rachel Caine (4.5 stars): Wow, this was so much fun! Not surprising, considering it featured witches andvampires, but it also takes place within an already established world, so I was worried I'd feel lost, but no, it was perfectly understandable. Very, very fast-paced, with some great lore; I found myself wanting to know way more about the vampires and witches of this world. It's not 5 stars only because I didn't care much for the human characters, who were very bland, but the vamps were excellent.
The Deer Wife by Jennifer McMahon (3 stars): This was a very bleak one, felt a lot like a fairytale. I liked the idea of it, but something about the execution left me cold. I just couldn't connect with the main character in a meaningful way, but it definitely had some great vibes.
The Dancer by Kristin Dearborn (2.5 stars): This didn't make sense to me at all. It was about people with powers and a toxic family relationship but neither of those elements were fully explored. Plus the narration was weird and stiff.
Bless Your Heart by Hillary Monahan (4 stars): Loved how voicey this one was! The narrator is very Southern and very sassy and has lots of personality, so her gruesome tale of getting revenge for her son was very fun to follow.
The Debt by Ania Ahlborn (3 stars): I really loved the idea behind this (a tale of betrayal inspired by Baba Yaga), but I wasn't a fan of the execution. While there were some elements that had some real horror and dread behind them, overall the story was too slow-paced and there just wasn't enough closure.
Toil & Trouble: A Dark-Hunter Hellchaser Story by Sherrilyn Kenyon & Madaug Kenyon (2 stars): I have no idea what this was meant to be? I didn't get it at all, and it felt at once too slow and too fast. The main character's decisions made no sense and happened like whiplash. And then the ending was super confusing; I felt like it was meant to be a twist but I think I was missing the context to make it hit home.
Last Stop On Route Nine by Tananarive Due (4.5 stars): I've always wanted to read something by this author and this did not disappoint! It felt like a full-on horror movie in the vein of Get Out. It deftly interwove horror of the supernatural with the real-life everyday horror black people encounter due to systemic racism, and managed to make both equally terrifying. Absolutely excellent.
Where Relics Go To Dream and Die by Rachel Autumn Deering (4.5 stars): Not sure I entirely understood this, but I loved it anyway. It was written very elegantly and in an old-fashioned way, and it was suuuuuuper gory, with tiny hints of cosmic horror. I feel like this could easily be a world of its own; I would love to see this expanded into a full on fantasy story.
This Skin by Amber Benson (3.5 stars): This featured a creepy child and had an ambiguous, open ending. I liked the twist at the end but mainly I felt like I wanted more from this.
Haint Me Too by Chesya Burke (3.5 stars): Yet another story that interwove the mundane horror of being black with the supernatural. It was voicey and well-written and I loved its spin on what a witch is.
The Nekrolog by Helen Marshall (3 stars): I really, really wanted to like this more than I did, because I love stories inspired by Soviet Communism, and this was written in a way that was just, well, cool, but overall I thought it was far too confusing. The final part had me scratching my head. I mean, it's not that I didn't get what was going on, I did, but I just wanted more...closure? Reflection? A lot of the elements in this just didn't come together as well as they could have.
Gold Among The Black by Alma Katsu (2.5 stars): Meh. I felt nothing for this. It's about a girl and her animal companion who turns out to be a able to turn into a human, but there was no context or explanation for anything that happened.
How To Become A Witch-Queen by Theodora Goss (3 stars): I will say this was a very appropriate story to end the collection with, but I didn't enjoy this Snow White tale as much as I wanted to. I found the use of second person pointless and the story fairly predictable and unoriginal and the feminist themes heavy-handed.
An Invitation to a Burning by Kat Howard (2 stars): I didn't vibe with the writing and the whole thing felt pointless. It's been like a day and I've already forgotten most of what happened.
Widow's Walk by Angela Slatter (2.5 stars): Interesting idea, but it would have worked better with fewer characters, because I couldn't keep track of everyone and they didn't really serve much of a purpose. I enjoyed the thematic aspect of it but it felt a bit shallow too.
Black Magic Momma by Kelley Armstrong (4 stars): Apparently this is part of the author's published series, which explains why I felt like I needed context on some of the worldbuilding, but this was really fun! The narration was strong and voicey and the story itself was fast-paced and interesting.
The Night Nurse by Sarah Langan (4 stars): A bit too long for what it was, but I think that was purposeful in order to slowly build up the creeping sense of dread. This was very creepy, but the ending was abrupt and I definitely wanted more closure.
The Memories of Trees by Mary SanGiovanni (3 stars): This was a weird one, set in a dystopian world but written like it was set in the 17th-century, which was more jarring than anything. The dystopian setting felt like it served no purpose, and I kind of wish this had just been set in the past, because I really loved the idea of it, and the conclusion, but the dystopian worldbuilding was weird and incomplete and really just dragged down the story.
Home: A Morganville Vampires Story by Rachel Caine (4.5 stars): Wow, this was so much fun! Not surprising, considering it featured witches andvampires, but it also takes place within an already established world, so I was worried I'd feel lost, but no, it was perfectly understandable. Very, very fast-paced, with some great lore; I found myself wanting to know way more about the vampires and witches of this world. It's not 5 stars only because I didn't care much for the human characters, who were very bland, but the vamps were excellent.
The Deer Wife by Jennifer McMahon (3 stars): This was a very bleak one, felt a lot like a fairytale. I liked the idea of it, but something about the execution left me cold. I just couldn't connect with the main character in a meaningful way, but it definitely had some great vibes.
The Dancer by Kristin Dearborn (2.5 stars): This didn't make sense to me at all. It was about people with powers and a toxic family relationship but neither of those elements were fully explored. Plus the narration was weird and stiff.
Bless Your Heart by Hillary Monahan (4 stars): Loved how voicey this one was! The narrator is very Southern and very sassy and has lots of personality, so her gruesome tale of getting revenge for her son was very fun to follow.
The Debt by Ania Ahlborn (3 stars): I really loved the idea behind this (a tale of betrayal inspired by Baba Yaga), but I wasn't a fan of the execution. While there were some elements that had some real horror and dread behind them, overall the story was too slow-paced and there just wasn't enough closure.
Toil & Trouble: A Dark-Hunter Hellchaser Story by Sherrilyn Kenyon & Madaug Kenyon (2 stars): I have no idea what this was meant to be? I didn't get it at all, and it felt at once too slow and too fast. The main character's decisions made no sense and happened like whiplash. And then the ending was super confusing; I felt like it was meant to be a twist but I think I was missing the context to make it hit home.
Last Stop On Route Nine by Tananarive Due (4.5 stars): I've always wanted to read something by this author and this did not disappoint! It felt like a full-on horror movie in the vein of Get Out. It deftly interwove horror of the supernatural with the real-life everyday horror black people encounter due to systemic racism, and managed to make both equally terrifying. Absolutely excellent.
Where Relics Go To Dream and Die by Rachel Autumn Deering (4.5 stars): Not sure I entirely understood this, but I loved it anyway. It was written very elegantly and in an old-fashioned way, and it was suuuuuuper gory, with tiny hints of cosmic horror. I feel like this could easily be a world of its own; I would love to see this expanded into a full on fantasy story.
This Skin by Amber Benson (3.5 stars): This featured a creepy child and had an ambiguous, open ending. I liked the twist at the end but mainly I felt like I wanted more from this.
Haint Me Too by Chesya Burke (3.5 stars): Yet another story that interwove the mundane horror of being black with the supernatural. It was voicey and well-written and I loved its spin on what a witch is.
The Nekrolog by Helen Marshall (3 stars): I really, really wanted to like this more than I did, because I love stories inspired by Soviet Communism, and this was written in a way that was just, well, cool, but overall I thought it was far too confusing. The final part had me scratching my head. I mean, it's not that I didn't get what was going on, I did, but I just wanted more...closure? Reflection? A lot of the elements in this just didn't come together as well as they could have.
Gold Among The Black by Alma Katsu (2.5 stars): Meh. I felt nothing for this. It's about a girl and her animal companion who turns out to be a able to turn into a human, but there was no context or explanation for anything that happened.
How To Become A Witch-Queen by Theodora Goss (3 stars): I will say this was a very appropriate story to end the collection with, but I didn't enjoy this Snow White tale as much as I wanted to. I found the use of second person pointless and the story fairly predictable and unoriginal and the feminist themes heavy-handed.
September 13, 2019
My review of HEX LIFE: WICKED NEW TALES OF WITCHERY can be found at High Fever Books.
Some anthology editors out there don’t feel it’s their job to seek out, or perhaps don’t believe it’s important enough to find, diverse voices for their books, relying instead on a stable of old reliable white men whose names routinely appear on multiple tables of contents each year. And then there’s editors like Amber Fallon, whose all-women roster for Fright Into Flight came about in direct response to Stephen King’s all-male anthology of largely (and widely) reprinted stories for Flight or Fright, and Christopher Golden and Rachel Autumn Deering who give us here eighteen brand new stories about witches and witchcraft in a women’s-only table of contents.
Hex Life: Wicked New Tales of Witchery is a great collection, and the stories themselves are as diverse as the voices represented within. There’s a good amount of elasticity in the concept of witches and witchery and the authors here give us contemporary tales of urban fantasy, post-apocalyptic witch burnings, historical dramas, noir, slow burn horror, and revenge. Whatever your preferred mode of magic, odds are you’ll find something to satisfy. I was quite pleased at the organization of this book, too. No two consecutive stories are alike, and Golden and Deering assembled this antho in such a way that each successive narrative is different enough from the preceding effort that it really keeps things fresh and makes you wonder what’s up next. It’s a nicely unpredictable read.
Kat Howard kicks off the anthology with a short story about Merrinvale, a town that needed witches, even if the locals don’t exactly want to admit it and take pains at eliminating these women. Kelley Armstrong delivers a really fun PI-styled story involving a recovered grimoire and a double-crossing client. Sarah Langan issues a slow-burn horror about the stress of motherhood colliding with witchcraft in “The Night Nurse,” and good lord is it ever effective. She does a sublime job nailing that sense of creeping dread and growing paranoia.
One of my early favorites, though, came from Mary SanGiovanni. She’s a wonderful author that made her way onto my own personal Must Read list with her cosmic horror book, Chills, a few years back. I rather expected her to deliver in a big way here, and I wasn’t the least bit disappointed. “The Memories of Trees” is a really cool near-future, post-apocalyptic story where witch trials are all the rage again. The woods hold far older secrets, though, and SanGiovanni does a wonderful job playing up the aspects of ancient paganism. I loved this one!
Another standout came in Hillary Monahan’s “Bless Your Heart.” A mother fed-up with the bullying of her gay son by her town's supposedly-Christian neighbors takes matters into her own hands. Of course, we get a nice little spin on what this entails since Mom is a descendant of a swamp witch. This one had one hell of a damn fantastic ending that was supremely satisfying to read, and gave me a few jitters, too.
Ania Ahlborn serves up a Grimm-like fairy tale about a young girl lost in the woods in “The Debt,” and while Tananarive Due covers a similar concept of youths lost in the woods, “Last Stop on Route Nine” couldn’t be more different. I’m ashamed to admit I hadn’t read Due’s work previously, but this was a heck of an amazing introduction and I absolutely must read more from her! Her writing is so freaking evocative and she built up an incredibly rich atmosphere of dread that had me on pins and needles. The story’s witchly focus stemmed from racial tensions and animosity in the South, and this socially relevant and timely tale was just superbly told. This was an easy favorite of mine.
Rachel Autumn Deering, however, is an author I have read several times in the past and she never fails to impress. She’s an author who just gets better and better with each successive story. “Where Relics Go To Dream and Die” is an excellent work of death and romance, and so eloquently written, too. I’m eager to see what she comes up with next, but this was a nice little fix after her contributions to two of last year’s standout anthologies, Lost Highways and Welcome to the Show.
One of the joys of anthologies comes in finishing a story and immediately looking up an author to see what else they’ve done. Such was the case with Chesya Burke, whose “Haint Me Too” had me scrambling to Google and adding her book Let’s Play White to my wishlist. I’m gonna be buying that one soon, and Burke is a fantastic writer whose voice I expect to become a regular staple in my reading diet.
In terms of introducing me to several new writers, or at least giving me an opportunity to finally read some I’ve been meaning to make time for, Hex Life is a definite win. I was a bit surprised, even, at just how much I ended up enjoying this book as a whole, although I’m not quite sure why that is. Editors Golden and Deering are wonderful storytellers in their own rights, and Hex Life had several talents involved that I knew would meet or even exceed expectations. A few of the stories were a bit too cozy for my tastes, while some others were just a bit shy of the mark for me, but overall this was a really rewarding read. It’s always good to see strong women at the forefront, in both the table of contents and in the narratives themselves, and Hex Life wins big in both regards. Even better, I’ve now got some new novels in my TBR pile that might not have been there otherwise, and that’s a special magic all its own.
Some anthology editors out there don’t feel it’s their job to seek out, or perhaps don’t believe it’s important enough to find, diverse voices for their books, relying instead on a stable of old reliable white men whose names routinely appear on multiple tables of contents each year. And then there’s editors like Amber Fallon, whose all-women roster for Fright Into Flight came about in direct response to Stephen King’s all-male anthology of largely (and widely) reprinted stories for Flight or Fright, and Christopher Golden and Rachel Autumn Deering who give us here eighteen brand new stories about witches and witchcraft in a women’s-only table of contents.
Hex Life: Wicked New Tales of Witchery is a great collection, and the stories themselves are as diverse as the voices represented within. There’s a good amount of elasticity in the concept of witches and witchery and the authors here give us contemporary tales of urban fantasy, post-apocalyptic witch burnings, historical dramas, noir, slow burn horror, and revenge. Whatever your preferred mode of magic, odds are you’ll find something to satisfy. I was quite pleased at the organization of this book, too. No two consecutive stories are alike, and Golden and Deering assembled this antho in such a way that each successive narrative is different enough from the preceding effort that it really keeps things fresh and makes you wonder what’s up next. It’s a nicely unpredictable read.
Kat Howard kicks off the anthology with a short story about Merrinvale, a town that needed witches, even if the locals don’t exactly want to admit it and take pains at eliminating these women. Kelley Armstrong delivers a really fun PI-styled story involving a recovered grimoire and a double-crossing client. Sarah Langan issues a slow-burn horror about the stress of motherhood colliding with witchcraft in “The Night Nurse,” and good lord is it ever effective. She does a sublime job nailing that sense of creeping dread and growing paranoia.
One of my early favorites, though, came from Mary SanGiovanni. She’s a wonderful author that made her way onto my own personal Must Read list with her cosmic horror book, Chills, a few years back. I rather expected her to deliver in a big way here, and I wasn’t the least bit disappointed. “The Memories of Trees” is a really cool near-future, post-apocalyptic story where witch trials are all the rage again. The woods hold far older secrets, though, and SanGiovanni does a wonderful job playing up the aspects of ancient paganism. I loved this one!
Another standout came in Hillary Monahan’s “Bless Your Heart.” A mother fed-up with the bullying of her gay son by her town's supposedly-Christian neighbors takes matters into her own hands. Of course, we get a nice little spin on what this entails since Mom is a descendant of a swamp witch. This one had one hell of a damn fantastic ending that was supremely satisfying to read, and gave me a few jitters, too.
Ania Ahlborn serves up a Grimm-like fairy tale about a young girl lost in the woods in “The Debt,” and while Tananarive Due covers a similar concept of youths lost in the woods, “Last Stop on Route Nine” couldn’t be more different. I’m ashamed to admit I hadn’t read Due’s work previously, but this was a heck of an amazing introduction and I absolutely must read more from her! Her writing is so freaking evocative and she built up an incredibly rich atmosphere of dread that had me on pins and needles. The story’s witchly focus stemmed from racial tensions and animosity in the South, and this socially relevant and timely tale was just superbly told. This was an easy favorite of mine.
Rachel Autumn Deering, however, is an author I have read several times in the past and she never fails to impress. She’s an author who just gets better and better with each successive story. “Where Relics Go To Dream and Die” is an excellent work of death and romance, and so eloquently written, too. I’m eager to see what she comes up with next, but this was a nice little fix after her contributions to two of last year’s standout anthologies, Lost Highways and Welcome to the Show.
One of the joys of anthologies comes in finishing a story and immediately looking up an author to see what else they’ve done. Such was the case with Chesya Burke, whose “Haint Me Too” had me scrambling to Google and adding her book Let’s Play White to my wishlist. I’m gonna be buying that one soon, and Burke is a fantastic writer whose voice I expect to become a regular staple in my reading diet.
In terms of introducing me to several new writers, or at least giving me an opportunity to finally read some I’ve been meaning to make time for, Hex Life is a definite win. I was a bit surprised, even, at just how much I ended up enjoying this book as a whole, although I’m not quite sure why that is. Editors Golden and Deering are wonderful storytellers in their own rights, and Hex Life had several talents involved that I knew would meet or even exceed expectations. A few of the stories were a bit too cozy for my tastes, while some others were just a bit shy of the mark for me, but overall this was a really rewarding read. It’s always good to see strong women at the forefront, in both the table of contents and in the narratives themselves, and Hex Life wins big in both regards. Even better, I’ve now got some new novels in my TBR pile that might not have been there otherwise, and that’s a special magic all its own.
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October 6, 2019
An Invitation to a Burning by Kat Howard: ★★★★☆ | Brief story with a creepy atmosphere and a really cool take on witches and witchy gatherings.
Widows' Walk by Angela Slatter: ★★★★☆ | Great world-building in only a few short pages! And the twist at the end is amazing.
Black Magic Momma: An Otherworld Story by Kelley Armstrong: ★★☆☆☆ | I'm not really familiar with Otherworld, so this feels disconnected to me. It also doesn't have an ending.
The Memories of Trees by Mary SanGiovanni: ★☆☆☆☆ | Pretty creepy, but it focuses too much on childcare instead of magic. Plus, the ending is super weird.
Home: A Morganville Vampires Story by Rachel Caine: ★★★★☆ | Great glimpse at Shane's future! All the main players are back and happy. The ending is super campy, but that's Morganville for you.
The Deer Wife by Jennifer McMahon: ★★★★★ | I love the set up of the Witch in the Woods! It gives the story an eerie atmosphere that works really well with the wlw romance.
The Dancer by Kristin Dearborn: ★★★☆☆ | Quick and tense read with some explicit and implied scenes of abuse. The narrator is super intriguing!
Bless Your Heart by Hillary Monahan: ★★★★★ | I, too, would curse homophobic assholes. It's what they deserve.
The Debt by Ania Ahlborn: ★★★★★ | I was waiting for Baba Yaga! Really tense story and I 100% resent Karolin's dad forever.
Toil & Trouble: A Dark-Hunter Hellchaser Story by Sherrilyn Kenyon & Madaug Kenyon: ★☆☆☆☆ | I really didn't like the writing style. I also quit Dark-Hunter about 3 books ago, so.
Last Stop on Route Nine by Tananarive Due: ★★★☆☆ | Kind of scary? And shows we should always listen to kids when it comes to spooky stuff.
Where Relics Go to Dream and Die by Rachel Autumn Deering: ★★★☆☆ | This is so???? weird???? But it has a really interesting world-building.
This Skin by Amber Benson: ★★★★★ | Creepy murder children always make for good and creepy stories. Especially when they realize they can get away with things.
Haint Me Too by Chesya Burke: ★★★★☆ | Empowerment comes in many different forms. Some of them are witches and ghosts.
The Nekrolog by Helen Marshall: ★☆☆☆☆ | This is just way too confusing to follow and comprehend. At least to me.
Gold Among the Black by Alma Katsu: ★★★★★ | I love the premise and the execution of this and I also want a Jesper, please!
How to Become a Witch-Queen by Theodora Goss: ★★★★★ | My absolute favorite story from the anthology! Wonderful take on Snow White that takes a look at her future in a pretty unique and intriguing form.
Widows' Walk by Angela Slatter: ★★★★☆ | Great world-building in only a few short pages! And the twist at the end is amazing.
Black Magic Momma: An Otherworld Story by Kelley Armstrong: ★★☆☆☆ | I'm not really familiar with Otherworld, so this feels disconnected to me. It also doesn't have an ending.
The Memories of Trees by Mary SanGiovanni: ★☆☆☆☆ | Pretty creepy, but it focuses too much on childcare instead of magic. Plus, the ending is super weird.
Home: A Morganville Vampires Story by Rachel Caine: ★★★★☆ | Great glimpse at Shane's future! All the main players are back and happy. The ending is super campy, but that's Morganville for you.
The Deer Wife by Jennifer McMahon: ★★★★★ | I love the set up of the Witch in the Woods! It gives the story an eerie atmosphere that works really well with the wlw romance.
The Dancer by Kristin Dearborn: ★★★☆☆ | Quick and tense read with some explicit and implied scenes of abuse. The narrator is super intriguing!
Bless Your Heart by Hillary Monahan: ★★★★★ | I, too, would curse homophobic assholes. It's what they deserve.
The Debt by Ania Ahlborn: ★★★★★ | I was waiting for Baba Yaga! Really tense story and I 100% resent Karolin's dad forever.
Toil & Trouble: A Dark-Hunter Hellchaser Story by Sherrilyn Kenyon & Madaug Kenyon: ★☆☆☆☆ | I really didn't like the writing style. I also quit Dark-Hunter about 3 books ago, so.
Last Stop on Route Nine by Tananarive Due: ★★★☆☆ | Kind of scary? And shows we should always listen to kids when it comes to spooky stuff.
Where Relics Go to Dream and Die by Rachel Autumn Deering: ★★★☆☆ | This is so???? weird???? But it has a really interesting world-building.
This Skin by Amber Benson: ★★★★★ | Creepy murder children always make for good and creepy stories. Especially when they realize they can get away with things.
Haint Me Too by Chesya Burke: ★★★★☆ | Empowerment comes in many different forms. Some of them are witches and ghosts.
The Nekrolog by Helen Marshall: ★☆☆☆☆ | This is just way too confusing to follow and comprehend. At least to me.
Gold Among the Black by Alma Katsu: ★★★★★ | I love the premise and the execution of this and I also want a Jesper, please!
How to Become a Witch-Queen by Theodora Goss: ★★★★★ | My absolute favorite story from the anthology! Wonderful take on Snow White that takes a look at her future in a pretty unique and intriguing form.
April 2, 2022
4 stars
Otherworld Stories 0.13 - Black Magic Momma
Eve Levine deals in dangerous goods and dangerous people. When one of those dangerous people tries to double cross her, what does that mean for her and her daughter Savannah?
Otherworld Stories 0.13 - Black Magic Momma
Eve Levine deals in dangerous goods and dangerous people. When one of those dangerous people tries to double cross her, what does that mean for her and her daughter Savannah?
October 1, 2019
Absolutely perfect for the season! 🎃🦇🔮🍂
October 7, 2019
Hex Life: Wicked New Tales of Witchery is a collection of stories from a diverse group of amazing female writers! Every story in this anthology brought something powerful and meaningful despite the nature of the tale, good or evil. Some writers explored the sisterhood of women and the empowerment of defying the leaders that are threatened by them. Some brought a terrifying view of witches embodying the traditional view that all witches are evil and in league with the devil. In contrast, others brought the beauty and magic of being in tune with nature and using the elements around them to shape the outcome of things that are unjust. Some brought back favorite characters from series that are well-known and beloved.
Regardless of the story or it’s content, one thing is certain and that is that each story in this book is a worthwhile read by a group of exceptionally gifted writers.
Regardless of the story or it’s content, one thing is certain and that is that each story in this book is a worthwhile read by a group of exceptionally gifted writers.
October 24, 2019
I really liked this anthology!
Perfect for this season, filled with dark and whimsical tales and an atmosphere mysterious and eerie! There were a couple of stories such as "Night Nurse" I found kind of disturbing and some others, like "The Deer Wife" that were perfectly magical!
I am pretty sure this is going to be a seasonal re-read for me!
ps. How great it would be to have different anthologies for every season. Autumn is more mysterious and eerie, summer could be for romance, winter more dark etc.. with elements from different mythologies and folklore! You read it here first!
Perfect for this season, filled with dark and whimsical tales and an atmosphere mysterious and eerie! There were a couple of stories such as "Night Nurse" I found kind of disturbing and some others, like "The Deer Wife" that were perfectly magical!
I am pretty sure this is going to be a seasonal re-read for me!
ps. How great it would be to have different anthologies for every season. Autumn is more mysterious and eerie, summer could be for romance, winter more dark etc.. with elements from different mythologies and folklore! You read it here first!
September 26, 2019
4 stars
This was such a great book of short stories about witches and witchcraft from some amazing authors.
I love a short story and fantasy so when I saw this book, I was immediately excited and it did not let me down.
With stories from 2 of my favourite authors Kelley Armstrong and Rachel Caine and 16 other writers, I had high hopes!
There were about 2 stories that I didnt really enjoy and a few that had me terrified!!! I like the inbetween stories and even more loved the stories where the witches did some good. Whatever you love about witches, there will be a story for you!
Thank you to Titan Books for gifting me this book in exchange for an honest review.
This was such a great book of short stories about witches and witchcraft from some amazing authors.
I love a short story and fantasy so when I saw this book, I was immediately excited and it did not let me down.
With stories from 2 of my favourite authors Kelley Armstrong and Rachel Caine and 16 other writers, I had high hopes!
There were about 2 stories that I didnt really enjoy and a few that had me terrified!!! I like the inbetween stories and even more loved the stories where the witches did some good. Whatever you love about witches, there will be a story for you!
Thank you to Titan Books for gifting me this book in exchange for an honest review.
June 9, 2021
*3.5💎
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
this was such a fun short story collection about witches, witchcraft, ghosts and all sorts of magic. when i saw the description i was like yep, i'm definitely getting this!!
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
anyway, i loved all these different stories, all unique in their own ways, i had such a fun time reading them & i think i've just come to love short stories. especially from different authors cuz they're never the same. each story has its own meaning, writing style and idea which i found really amusing.
however, i didn't really enjoy those stories:
▪️The Debt
▪️Toil & Trouble: A Dark-Hunter Hellchaser Story
▪️Where Relics Go To Dream And Die
▪️This Skin
others i found stunning & i really loved reading them!!
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
i do recommend reading this if u love short stories, all things witchcraft & magic!!
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
this was such a fun short story collection about witches, witchcraft, ghosts and all sorts of magic. when i saw the description i was like yep, i'm definitely getting this!!
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
anyway, i loved all these different stories, all unique in their own ways, i had such a fun time reading them & i think i've just come to love short stories. especially from different authors cuz they're never the same. each story has its own meaning, writing style and idea which i found really amusing.
however, i didn't really enjoy those stories:
▪️The Debt
▪️Toil & Trouble: A Dark-Hunter Hellchaser Story
▪️Where Relics Go To Dream And Die
▪️This Skin
others i found stunning & i really loved reading them!!
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
i do recommend reading this if u love short stories, all things witchcraft & magic!!
October 14, 2021
Promising concept, but I found myself skimming a lot of the stories. A couple of them stood out, 'Widow's Walk' being my personal favorite, but most of them were way too vague for my liking.
May 17, 2021
I love reading anthologies, and witchy ones are all the better. My favorite short story is definitely the last one, "How To Become A Witch Queen" by Theodora Goss. I will say that I preferred Toil & Trouble: 15 Tales of Women & Witchcraft to this anthology, even though my average rating was higher for this one, because there were not many stories that I loved in this anthology; most were just okay.
Hex Life
Average rating: 3.625
"An Invitation to a Burning" - 3.5 stars
"Widows’ Walk" - 3.5 stars
"Black Mama Magic: An Otherworld Story" - 4 stars
"The Night Nurse" - 3.75 stars
"The Memories of Trees" - 3.25 stars
"Home" - 3.25 stars
"The Deer Wife" - 3.5 stars
"The Dancer" - 3.75 stars
"Bless Your Heart" - 3.5 stars
"The Debt" - 3.75 stars
"Toil & Trouble: A Dark-Hunter Hellchaser Story" - 3 stars
"Last Stop On Route Nine" - 3.25 stars
"Where Relics Go To Dream And Die" - 3.5 stars
"This Skin" - 3.75 stars
"Haint Me Too" - 4 stars
"The Nekrolog" - 4.25 stars
"Gold Among the Black" - 3 stars
"How To Become A Witch Queen" - 4.75 stars
Hex Life
Average rating: 3.625
"An Invitation to a Burning" - 3.5 stars
"Widows’ Walk" - 3.5 stars
"Black Mama Magic: An Otherworld Story" - 4 stars
"The Night Nurse" - 3.75 stars
"The Memories of Trees" - 3.25 stars
"Home" - 3.25 stars
"The Deer Wife" - 3.5 stars
"The Dancer" - 3.75 stars
"Bless Your Heart" - 3.5 stars
"The Debt" - 3.75 stars
"Toil & Trouble: A Dark-Hunter Hellchaser Story" - 3 stars
"Last Stop On Route Nine" - 3.25 stars
"Where Relics Go To Dream And Die" - 3.5 stars
"This Skin" - 3.75 stars
"Haint Me Too" - 4 stars
"The Nekrolog" - 4.25 stars
"Gold Among the Black" - 3 stars
"How To Become A Witch Queen" - 4.75 stars
October 26, 2019
This it the best anthology I have read so far. Seriously, I devoured this book, even if I didn't love every single tale, which isn't surprising: this book is a collection of 18 different stories by 18 different authors, so of course there are ones I loved and ones I didn't. However, not a bad one in my opinion: I'd rate each of those witchy tales between 3 and 5 stars. Not less. Witches lovers will all find something they like in this book and each tale was written by a woman: no man writing about female characters here, you'll only find women's perspective which makes it a perfect feminist October read.
My top stories among those 18 tales are Widows' Walk by Angela Slatter (I would love to read an entire novel around this story), The Night Nurse by Sarah Langan, The Deer Wife by Jennifer McMahon (which made me want to read her novels even more), The Debt by Ania Ahlborn (I already read two of her novels and was looking forward to her story the most!), Last Stop on Route Nine by Tananarive Due (really spooky), How to Become a Witch-Queen by Theodora Goss (perfect ending for this anthology and great feminist novella, well done). I absolutely loved those six tales.
I also really liked many of the others, of course: An Invitation to a Burning by Kat Howard was a perfect first story for this anthology, although a little short for me. The Memories of Trees by Mary SanGiovanni is set in the future which can be a disaster with me, but worked very well here. The Dancer by Kristin Dearborn was beautiful. In Bless Your Heart by Hillary Monahan, you meet a woman whose son is the victim of bullying. Where Relics Go to Dream and Die by Rachel Autumn Deering and The Nekrolog by Helen Marshall might not be everyone's cup of tea, but I really enjoyed them. Gold Among the Black by Alma Katsu was really interesting in its theme and for every witch who would pick a dog over a cat (aka not me) ;) Haint Me Too by Chesya Burke is pretty good too, although I didn't love it as much as the ones previously mentioned.
There are only 3 stories that didn't work well with me: Black Magic Momma: An Otherworld Story by Kelley Armstrong and Home: A Morganvilles Vampires Story by Rachel Caine weren't bad stories (there isn't a bad story in this book), but I don't know how I'm supposed to get invested in stories where the world and the characters belong to a book series I haven't read. Yes, you can still read them, but I just don't get the interest of not writing an original story independent from your book series considering people buying this anthology obviously haven't all read it. As for Toil & Trouble: A Dark-Hunter Hellchaser Story by Sherrilyn Kenyon & Madaug Kenyon, it wasn't bad either and this time it's not book series related, but I couldn't get invested either. It's too bad, because honestly I would have rounded up my rating otherwise and given it 5 stars.
I hope I haven't forgotten anything... Let's see: 6 favorites, 8 I also loved and 3 I didn't love. That's it, the 18 tales... No?... Are you sure?...
Of course not, because there's also This Skin by Amber Benson who played Tara Maclay in Buffy the Vampire Slayer aka the best show ever! When I saw this, I knew I wouldn't be able to say her story was bad even if I didn't like it. Since I like honest reviews, I guess it's a good thing that her story is one of those I really liked. So 9 and not 8 stories ;)
Happy reading witches! 🔮
My top stories among those 18 tales are Widows' Walk by Angela Slatter (I would love to read an entire novel around this story), The Night Nurse by Sarah Langan, The Deer Wife by Jennifer McMahon (which made me want to read her novels even more), The Debt by Ania Ahlborn (I already read two of her novels and was looking forward to her story the most!), Last Stop on Route Nine by Tananarive Due (really spooky), How to Become a Witch-Queen by Theodora Goss (perfect ending for this anthology and great feminist novella, well done). I absolutely loved those six tales.
I also really liked many of the others, of course: An Invitation to a Burning by Kat Howard was a perfect first story for this anthology, although a little short for me. The Memories of Trees by Mary SanGiovanni is set in the future which can be a disaster with me, but worked very well here. The Dancer by Kristin Dearborn was beautiful. In Bless Your Heart by Hillary Monahan, you meet a woman whose son is the victim of bullying. Where Relics Go to Dream and Die by Rachel Autumn Deering and The Nekrolog by Helen Marshall might not be everyone's cup of tea, but I really enjoyed them. Gold Among the Black by Alma Katsu was really interesting in its theme and for every witch who would pick a dog over a cat (aka not me) ;) Haint Me Too by Chesya Burke is pretty good too, although I didn't love it as much as the ones previously mentioned.
There are only 3 stories that didn't work well with me: Black Magic Momma: An Otherworld Story by Kelley Armstrong and Home: A Morganvilles Vampires Story by Rachel Caine weren't bad stories (there isn't a bad story in this book), but I don't know how I'm supposed to get invested in stories where the world and the characters belong to a book series I haven't read. Yes, you can still read them, but I just don't get the interest of not writing an original story independent from your book series considering people buying this anthology obviously haven't all read it. As for Toil & Trouble: A Dark-Hunter Hellchaser Story by Sherrilyn Kenyon & Madaug Kenyon, it wasn't bad either and this time it's not book series related, but I couldn't get invested either. It's too bad, because honestly I would have rounded up my rating otherwise and given it 5 stars.
I hope I haven't forgotten anything... Let's see: 6 favorites, 8 I also loved and 3 I didn't love. That's it, the 18 tales... No?... Are you sure?...
Of course not, because there's also This Skin by Amber Benson who played Tara Maclay in Buffy the Vampire Slayer aka the best show ever! When I saw this, I knew I wouldn't be able to say her story was bad even if I didn't like it. Since I like honest reviews, I guess it's a good thing that her story is one of those I really liked. So 9 and not 8 stories ;)
Happy reading witches! 🔮
May 2, 2020
This was a good anthology. All of the stories were good, many were great. I enjoyed reading all of them which is not always the case with a story collection. My favorites were Widow's Walk and the Night Nurse. My least favorites were The Nekrolog and Toil and Trouble. I would recommend this to people who enjoy supernatural anthologies.
October 8, 2019
If you’re looking for some Halloween reads you can’t go wrong with this excellent tale of witches both good bad and dangerous to know. Brilliant collection of authors assembled too!
Full review - https://www.runalongtheshelves.net/bl...
Full review - https://www.runalongtheshelves.net/bl...
April 29, 2020
I’m 3 stories in and so far they’ve all been strangely misandrist and classist. I’m not the biggest fan of dudes myself but that doesn’t mean I like dismissive #girlboss lit either. I’m going to let the overdrive checkout time out and maybe I’ll be more interested in a week or two to finish it.
“I drive a Jeep which makes me morally superior to a person driving a Lexus, and it’s also ok if I cut them off” is an actual opinion espoused by some horrid bitch who is allegedly a sympathetic main character. Just can’t do it. “I let my kids drink wiiiiiiine” type moms abounding. Nope.
“I drive a Jeep which makes me morally superior to a person driving a Lexus, and it’s also ok if I cut them off” is an actual opinion espoused by some horrid bitch who is allegedly a sympathetic main character. Just can’t do it. “I let my kids drink wiiiiiiine” type moms abounding. Nope.
January 15, 2021
This was tough because the stories I clicked with I loved, but the ones I didn't click with just didn't work with me at all.
The stories that I enjoyed were Widows Walk, Deer Wife, Bless Your Heart and This Skin
The stories that I enjoyed were Widows Walk, Deer Wife, Bless Your Heart and This Skin
April 12, 2020
What a surprisingly wonderful anthology. I liked ALL of the stories, and some were downright spectacular. There's a satisfying thread of feminism and social justice which winds its way through disparate, sometimes haunting, and even funny tales. The spookiest tales emanate from the psychological failings of humanity.
The quickening of the heart with a variety of lessons. Is there a better way to spend an afternoon?
The quickening of the heart with a variety of lessons. Is there a better way to spend an afternoon?
October 31, 2020
If you need witchy realness and a variety of styles, themes, and plots then this is most definitely the set of short stories for you! I cant believe I held on to this one so long before reading it -- not fully knowing what it was about. I thoroughly enjoyed these stories-- some from authors I've never read before and some from authors I've come to love! Highly recommend this one!
October 4, 2019
(Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. This has not impacted my review which is unbiased and honest.)
I have always been transfixed by society. At first maybe you're drawn to how delightfully wicked they seem - especially what we see in the media. But as I've grown up, I've been more and more fascinated because of what they represent. These women, scapegoated and persecuted, threatened the societal order around us. They represent a community's fears and doubts. Hex Life is thrilling in how the authors explore and dive into this space.
full review: https://utopia-state-of-mind.com/revi...
I have always been transfixed by society. At first maybe you're drawn to how delightfully wicked they seem - especially what we see in the media. But as I've grown up, I've been more and more fascinated because of what they represent. These women, scapegoated and persecuted, threatened the societal order around us. They represent a community's fears and doubts. Hex Life is thrilling in how the authors explore and dive into this space.
full review: https://utopia-state-of-mind.com/revi...
January 24, 2023
Read: January 2023
I only bought this book so I could fill in a gap in my series re-read of the Women of the Otherworld.
Black Magic Momma - Kelley Armstrong
Rating: 4/5 stars
Story #13 in my chronological re-read of the Women of the Otherworld series
This is the first new read for me in this overall series re-read so far. Black Magic Momma gives us a snippet of Eve’s life as trader in black magic artefacts and how she tries to balance giving her daughter some normality while dealing with the various power figures she trades with and staying one step ahead of the Nast Cabal.
I thought there were a couple of stand-out moments; the way that the human bus depot clerk jumped to help Eve when she needed it, and Eve’s regret at the end of the story that she can’t give her daughter the normal childhood she deserves.
General Trivia:
- It is nice to have a year specified in this story, and it fits well the previously established timeline. I thought the previous Eve Levine story took place around 1992, and this next instalment takes place in 1995.
- Savannah attends a private school and is eight years old.
- Savannah is described as tall for her age, with waist length dark hair and blue eyes.
- Eve trades in black magic items and teaches dark magic to young witches to earn a living.
- Eve drives a 1985 cherry red jeep
- Eve’s half-demon side is mentioned here; she names her father as a demon lord called Balaam.
- Eve and Savannah have lived in St Louis for six months at the start of this story.
I also read Home by Rachel Caine, which was a nice surprise. It has been a few years since I read the Morganville Vampires series. This story takes place much later, when all the main characters have become adults. It was nice to catch up with them all and it makes me want to start a re-read of the entire series at some point soon.
I only bought this book so I could fill in a gap in my series re-read of the Women of the Otherworld.
Black Magic Momma - Kelley Armstrong
Rating: 4/5 stars
Story #13 in my chronological re-read of the Women of the Otherworld series
This is the first new read for me in this overall series re-read so far. Black Magic Momma gives us a snippet of Eve’s life as trader in black magic artefacts and how she tries to balance giving her daughter some normality while dealing with the various power figures she trades with and staying one step ahead of the Nast Cabal.
I thought there were a couple of stand-out moments; the way that the human bus depot clerk jumped to help Eve when she needed it, and Eve’s regret at the end of the story that she can’t give her daughter the normal childhood she deserves.
General Trivia:
- It is nice to have a year specified in this story, and it fits well the previously established timeline. I thought the previous Eve Levine story took place around 1992, and this next instalment takes place in 1995.
- Savannah attends a private school and is eight years old.
- Savannah is described as tall for her age, with waist length dark hair and blue eyes.
- Eve trades in black magic items and teaches dark magic to young witches to earn a living.
- Eve drives a 1985 cherry red jeep
- Eve’s half-demon side is mentioned here; she names her father as a demon lord called Balaam.
- Eve and Savannah have lived in St Louis for six months at the start of this story.
I also read Home by Rachel Caine, which was a nice surprise. It has been a few years since I read the Morganville Vampires series. This story takes place much later, when all the main characters have become adults. It was nice to catch up with them all and it makes me want to start a re-read of the entire series at some point soon.
January 1, 2020
I love witches and wizards. The idea of magic just facinates me; so when I saw this anthology I just knew I had to have it. This collection was dark, like murder and vengeance kind of dark --- I loved it. My top 3 favorites would probably be: Widow's Walk (turning people into cats? Yes please), The Memories of Trees (killing overzealous townspeople? I'm in), and The Debt (getting what you're owed? Great!). I was honestly left wanting more.
June 14, 2020
The majority of these I really enjoyed ranging from the surreal, and ones where I am still not sure what the truth at the heart of the story is, through to those that were much more straight forward but still satisfying - especially where injustice is countered or revenged. The settings span time; from folkloric (the delightfully dark and twisty Grimm style Polish tale 'The Debt'), to old South (two tales that explore racism and its lingering pervasive evil but with 'Haint Me Too' an extra glorious kick to the face of white supremacy), to urban fantasy (including a very satisfying home baking one in 'Bless your Heart'), to a dystopian future (one that has sent technology and women's rights backwards as fear and hatred came to the fore in 'The Memories of Trees'), fairytales (with a brilliant reimagining of Snow White becoming a witch queen). But the major feeling I was left with overall was the dismantling of oppression whether on a smaller or grander scale and it was notable, that apart from one story that I just couldn't get into because of the writing style, which was quite distant and mythical when I was in the mood for more personal, that the only other story that left me a bit cold was 'Home: a Morganville Vampires Story' which felt a bit more simple and shallower after reading the others.
Of the many I did love I managed to find an excerpt for one online - The Deer Wife :)
https://www.tor.com/2019/09/23/read-a...
“The Deer Wife”
Loves me
Loves me not
Loves me
Pulling the petals off a black-eyed Susan—one of the last of the season, a flower that has somehow survived the first frost—I play the game. A game I played in the schoolyard years ago with a bunch of other girls to see if little Jamie Coughlan whose daddy owned the Buick dealership might really love me, might want to one day make me his wife, have little babies with me that we’d drive around in the backseat of a big old Park Avenue sedan.
Only this time, I’m a grown woman and it’s not Jamie Coughlan I’m longing for.
This time, it’s not a game.
It’s a spell. A conjuring.
If I do it right, she may come. I get to the last petal: Loves me.
I smile and blush, actually blush, as I bury the stem under leaves and dirt, a small offering.
There are other things I do, of course. Other ways I can call her.
I scatter dried corn on the ground in a circle around me. I whisper, “I come in peace, I come with good intentions, I come of my own free will.”
I pull my little wooden pipe with the long stem from the basket I’ve brought, pack it full of mugwort, mullein, willow bark, wormwood and lavender.
I sit on a rock in the clearing, the clearing where I first saw her; the place I’ve come to think of as ours. I light the pipe and begin to puff gently, imagining the smoke drawing her in.
She won’t stay long. Not this late in the season. In the fall, our visits are fewer, shorter, but they burn with a white-hot intensity that comes from knowing that soon it will end. She will be gone for the winter and I won’t see her again until spring. That’s how it is. How it has been for these past four years. I don’t know where she goes or what she does. I don’t know how or where she passes the winter.
Some things are not for me to know. Not yet. Maybe not ever.
Buy it Now
I close my eyes, wishing, willing, summoning her with my whole self. The smoke drifts out in circles around me. Smoke from the herbs she blended, the pipe she gave me as a gift on the summer solstice. The smoke is supposed to calm my mind. To make me more open to the possibilities the world around me holds.
She’s taught me everything I know about magic: how to cast a circle, to call out to the elements and spirits, to channel all the powers around us. She’s taught me to use herbs, make charms, to cast runes and read cards. She tells me I have a gift for visions; that I am more powerful than I know.
I hear soft footsteps. Twigs breaking. I feel her near me but don’t dare open my eyes. Not just yet.
Her coming always brings an intoxicating mix of desire and fear.
My heart hammers, my legs start to tremble.
Run, the logical part of my brain is telling me. But it’s too late.
I feel her breath on my neck.
Only when she wraps her arms around my waist, nibbles on my ear, do I know what form she’s taken this time.
“Hello,” I whisper, my body relaxing, melting into hers.
I keep my eyes shut tight, afraid that if I open them, she just might disappear.
She’s unpredictable. Here one minute, gone the next.
Sometimes I wonder if I’ve dreamed her to life; if she’s even real at all. “I wasn’t sure you’d come,” she says to me now, voice teasing and raspy, like wind scattering dry leaves. She knows I can’t stay away. I’ve tried. I’ve sworn off her a hundred times, promised myself I was done with the whole impossible situation, but again and again I return to this clearing. To her.
“There is nowhere else I’d rather be,” I say. It’s the only truth I know right now as she gently pulls me from the rock, lays me down on the forest floor, unbuttoning my coat and blouse. Her fingers search, go right for the mark—the tiny dot she inked into the skin just beneath my left breast. She used a sewing needle and tattoo ink she’d made herself: a potion of vodka, herbs and ashes. The mark isn’t anything anyone would even notice—it blends in, looks like a dark freckle. But she put it there. She put it there, she says, so she would always be a part of me.
I know what she is, of course. I know what she’s capable of.
I’ve always known. I’ve known and I’ve given myself to her entirely anyway. Given myself over to her not in spite of what she is, but because of it.
I’d heard the stories in town for years before I met her, the warnings not to go into the woods alone because you might meet the witch.
They say she lives in a cave deep in the heart of the forest. No one has ever found it. They say for a bottle of bourbon or a basket of food, she can hex a man or woman for you, a sure way to get rid of your enemies. Leave her a gift in the forest and a note with your request (heal my sick father, make the girl love me, bring my business back from the brink of bankruptcy) and if the gift is good enough, she’ll do your bidding.
They say you can’t hear her coming. She moves like the wind. She can read minds. Can see the future when she casts her runes, looks into her scrying bowl.
She rarely leaves the woods; hasn’t been to a store in years.
If things go missing around town, it’s the witch who took them.
A prize pumpkin, a shirt hanging on a clothesline, a cooler of beer, a pair of boots.
She never takes much, just the things she needs. And you can always tell she’s been because for each thing she takes, she leaves a small gift in its place: a little stick figure, a doll bound up, wrapped in cloth and tied up with string, stuffed full of herbs. A good luck charm.
Some people say she’s old and ugly.
Some say she’s more beautiful than any mortal woman should be. Some say she’s impossible to see—she can cast a spell of invisibility.
Be careful, they warn, looking around nervously, she could be watching us right now.
They say she has always been here; that she’s a part of the forest. The oldest men in town, the ones who gather for coffee each morning on the porch of the general store—they remember hearing about her when they were little boys. They remember their own fathers warning them to stay out of the woods or the witch would eat them up, build herself a bed with their bones.
She has killed those who cross her. She has scared men to death.
If you’re out in the woods at night and you hear her song, it’ll be the last sound you ever know.
But the stories, they’re all half-truths.
For instance, she does live deep in the woods, but not in a damp cave. She has a cabin, a place she has led me to, a place I’ve never been able to find on my own, though I’ve often tried. It’s perfectly hidden in a thick clump of trees. The outside is sheathed with the rounded slabs of rough cut logs, the roof is shingled with tree bark, with moss and lichen growing on top. It blends into the forest perfectly, as if it’s always been there, grown right up alongside the trees. She says she’s cast a circle of protection around the place; an enchantment to make
it impossible to see or find unless she’s brought you.
Inside it’s warm and cozy and smells like herbs and woodsmoke with something else underneath it; her smell—an earthy scent with hints of warm fur and damp clay, bitter roots, the lake after a rainstorm. There’s a cast-iron stove she uses for heat and cooking, a bed, a table with one chair, some hooks on the wall for her clothes. She doesn’t own much (and most of what she owns, she’s taken from other people’s houses and camps—another piece of truth from the rumors). She has a frying pan, a saucepan, a good knife, a single bowl and plate, one fork and spoon. When we eat together, we share the same bowl, the same spoon. We feed each other, using the spoon, and our hands. Her exquisite fingers brush against my lips, drop berries on my tongue; she kisses the juice as it dribbles down my chin.
She gets her water from the stream, says it’s perfectly safe to drink. She has an outhouse behind her cabin that’s tidier than the bathrooms in most people’s homes. It’s got a skylight and a painting of the full moon on the inside of the door.
There are shelves in her kitchen lined with glass jars full of roots, herbs, berries—things she’s gathered in the woods. There are other things too— metal tins of tea, coffee and tobacco, a bottle of brandy, dried beans, cornmeal and flour. Things she’s taken or gifts people have left for her.
I’ve seen the desperate, pleading notes people leave here and there in the forest.
Please, Witch, please, Aunt Sally’s got cancer real bad again and she’s the only one who can take care of Gram and Joey so please make her well . She’s a good person and doesn’t deserve this and we all love her and need her . Here’s a pie, a bottle of gin, my grandpa’s old silver cigarette lighter and some fresh flints and fuel for it . I hope it’s enough .
She enjoys the gifts. Some people she helps. Some, she laughs at with a cruelty that makes me go cold.
Sometimes, she gets a request that she can do nothing with. There are things, she explains, that are outside of her control. I ask her if I’m under her control.
“Don’t be silly,” she says with a wry smile. “You come of your own free will.”
Excerpted from “The Deer Wife,” copyright © 2019 by Jennifer McMahon
Collected in Hex Life: Wicked New Tales of Witchery, copyright © 2019 by Titan Books
Of the many I did love I managed to find an excerpt for one online - The Deer Wife :)
https://www.tor.com/2019/09/23/read-a...
“The Deer Wife”
Loves me
Loves me not
Loves me
Pulling the petals off a black-eyed Susan—one of the last of the season, a flower that has somehow survived the first frost—I play the game. A game I played in the schoolyard years ago with a bunch of other girls to see if little Jamie Coughlan whose daddy owned the Buick dealership might really love me, might want to one day make me his wife, have little babies with me that we’d drive around in the backseat of a big old Park Avenue sedan.
Only this time, I’m a grown woman and it’s not Jamie Coughlan I’m longing for.
This time, it’s not a game.
It’s a spell. A conjuring.
If I do it right, she may come. I get to the last petal: Loves me.
I smile and blush, actually blush, as I bury the stem under leaves and dirt, a small offering.
There are other things I do, of course. Other ways I can call her.
I scatter dried corn on the ground in a circle around me. I whisper, “I come in peace, I come with good intentions, I come of my own free will.”
I pull my little wooden pipe with the long stem from the basket I’ve brought, pack it full of mugwort, mullein, willow bark, wormwood and lavender.
I sit on a rock in the clearing, the clearing where I first saw her; the place I’ve come to think of as ours. I light the pipe and begin to puff gently, imagining the smoke drawing her in.
She won’t stay long. Not this late in the season. In the fall, our visits are fewer, shorter, but they burn with a white-hot intensity that comes from knowing that soon it will end. She will be gone for the winter and I won’t see her again until spring. That’s how it is. How it has been for these past four years. I don’t know where she goes or what she does. I don’t know how or where she passes the winter.
Some things are not for me to know. Not yet. Maybe not ever.
Buy it Now
I close my eyes, wishing, willing, summoning her with my whole self. The smoke drifts out in circles around me. Smoke from the herbs she blended, the pipe she gave me as a gift on the summer solstice. The smoke is supposed to calm my mind. To make me more open to the possibilities the world around me holds.
She’s taught me everything I know about magic: how to cast a circle, to call out to the elements and spirits, to channel all the powers around us. She’s taught me to use herbs, make charms, to cast runes and read cards. She tells me I have a gift for visions; that I am more powerful than I know.
I hear soft footsteps. Twigs breaking. I feel her near me but don’t dare open my eyes. Not just yet.
Her coming always brings an intoxicating mix of desire and fear.
My heart hammers, my legs start to tremble.
Run, the logical part of my brain is telling me. But it’s too late.
I feel her breath on my neck.
Only when she wraps her arms around my waist, nibbles on my ear, do I know what form she’s taken this time.
“Hello,” I whisper, my body relaxing, melting into hers.
I keep my eyes shut tight, afraid that if I open them, she just might disappear.
She’s unpredictable. Here one minute, gone the next.
Sometimes I wonder if I’ve dreamed her to life; if she’s even real at all. “I wasn’t sure you’d come,” she says to me now, voice teasing and raspy, like wind scattering dry leaves. She knows I can’t stay away. I’ve tried. I’ve sworn off her a hundred times, promised myself I was done with the whole impossible situation, but again and again I return to this clearing. To her.
“There is nowhere else I’d rather be,” I say. It’s the only truth I know right now as she gently pulls me from the rock, lays me down on the forest floor, unbuttoning my coat and blouse. Her fingers search, go right for the mark—the tiny dot she inked into the skin just beneath my left breast. She used a sewing needle and tattoo ink she’d made herself: a potion of vodka, herbs and ashes. The mark isn’t anything anyone would even notice—it blends in, looks like a dark freckle. But she put it there. She put it there, she says, so she would always be a part of me.
I know what she is, of course. I know what she’s capable of.
I’ve always known. I’ve known and I’ve given myself to her entirely anyway. Given myself over to her not in spite of what she is, but because of it.
I’d heard the stories in town for years before I met her, the warnings not to go into the woods alone because you might meet the witch.
They say she lives in a cave deep in the heart of the forest. No one has ever found it. They say for a bottle of bourbon or a basket of food, she can hex a man or woman for you, a sure way to get rid of your enemies. Leave her a gift in the forest and a note with your request (heal my sick father, make the girl love me, bring my business back from the brink of bankruptcy) and if the gift is good enough, she’ll do your bidding.
They say you can’t hear her coming. She moves like the wind. She can read minds. Can see the future when she casts her runes, looks into her scrying bowl.
She rarely leaves the woods; hasn’t been to a store in years.
If things go missing around town, it’s the witch who took them.
A prize pumpkin, a shirt hanging on a clothesline, a cooler of beer, a pair of boots.
She never takes much, just the things she needs. And you can always tell she’s been because for each thing she takes, she leaves a small gift in its place: a little stick figure, a doll bound up, wrapped in cloth and tied up with string, stuffed full of herbs. A good luck charm.
Some people say she’s old and ugly.
Some say she’s more beautiful than any mortal woman should be. Some say she’s impossible to see—she can cast a spell of invisibility.
Be careful, they warn, looking around nervously, she could be watching us right now.
They say she has always been here; that she’s a part of the forest. The oldest men in town, the ones who gather for coffee each morning on the porch of the general store—they remember hearing about her when they were little boys. They remember their own fathers warning them to stay out of the woods or the witch would eat them up, build herself a bed with their bones.
She has killed those who cross her. She has scared men to death.
If you’re out in the woods at night and you hear her song, it’ll be the last sound you ever know.
But the stories, they’re all half-truths.
For instance, she does live deep in the woods, but not in a damp cave. She has a cabin, a place she has led me to, a place I’ve never been able to find on my own, though I’ve often tried. It’s perfectly hidden in a thick clump of trees. The outside is sheathed with the rounded slabs of rough cut logs, the roof is shingled with tree bark, with moss and lichen growing on top. It blends into the forest perfectly, as if it’s always been there, grown right up alongside the trees. She says she’s cast a circle of protection around the place; an enchantment to make
it impossible to see or find unless she’s brought you.
Inside it’s warm and cozy and smells like herbs and woodsmoke with something else underneath it; her smell—an earthy scent with hints of warm fur and damp clay, bitter roots, the lake after a rainstorm. There’s a cast-iron stove she uses for heat and cooking, a bed, a table with one chair, some hooks on the wall for her clothes. She doesn’t own much (and most of what she owns, she’s taken from other people’s houses and camps—another piece of truth from the rumors). She has a frying pan, a saucepan, a good knife, a single bowl and plate, one fork and spoon. When we eat together, we share the same bowl, the same spoon. We feed each other, using the spoon, and our hands. Her exquisite fingers brush against my lips, drop berries on my tongue; she kisses the juice as it dribbles down my chin.
She gets her water from the stream, says it’s perfectly safe to drink. She has an outhouse behind her cabin that’s tidier than the bathrooms in most people’s homes. It’s got a skylight and a painting of the full moon on the inside of the door.
There are shelves in her kitchen lined with glass jars full of roots, herbs, berries—things she’s gathered in the woods. There are other things too— metal tins of tea, coffee and tobacco, a bottle of brandy, dried beans, cornmeal and flour. Things she’s taken or gifts people have left for her.
I’ve seen the desperate, pleading notes people leave here and there in the forest.
Please, Witch, please, Aunt Sally’s got cancer real bad again and she’s the only one who can take care of Gram and Joey so please make her well . She’s a good person and doesn’t deserve this and we all love her and need her . Here’s a pie, a bottle of gin, my grandpa’s old silver cigarette lighter and some fresh flints and fuel for it . I hope it’s enough .
She enjoys the gifts. Some people she helps. Some, she laughs at with a cruelty that makes me go cold.
Sometimes, she gets a request that she can do nothing with. There are things, she explains, that are outside of her control. I ask her if I’m under her control.
“Don’t be silly,” she says with a wry smile. “You come of your own free will.”
Excerpted from “The Deer Wife,” copyright © 2019 by Jennifer McMahon
Collected in Hex Life: Wicked New Tales of Witchery, copyright © 2019 by Titan Books
September 28, 2020
Very enjoyable anthology, absolutely gorgeous cover, & I've added a number of new to me authors to me TBR
September 26, 2019
A strong female line-up of authors bring a multitude a witchy narratives to life in the timely anthology, Hex Life: Wicked New Tales of Witchery. Edited by Christopher Golden and Rachel Deering, it is out on October 1st from Titan Books. And it is the perfect Halloween read.
Full Review at Novellives.com
Full Review at Novellives.com
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