What's the Name of That Book??? discussion
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ABANDONED. Short story: A girl wants to become a witch but is unsuccessful until she learns to hate everything, including herself
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A veteran fantasy writer's (Freeze Frames, 1995, etc.) anthology of 32 contemporary, original, mostly American stories . Greek myth is well-represented, with tales such as Susan Shwartz's feminist "Hunters," about Artemis' tragic love affair with a mortal, and Esther M. Friesner's amusing if overlong "Tea," about a lustful male aerobics instructor on a cruise ship who finds himself in the middle of a parlor squabble between Circe, Medea, and Prospero. Many efforts here draw upon reserves of deep sorrow: M. John Harrison's "Seven Guesses of the Heart," for example, concerns the inability of magic to comfort a grieving father, and Gregory Feeley's "The Drowning Cell" is a sad story about a girl connecting with a boy who, centuries ago, drowned in a debtors' prison. Alternatively, the boy may be only an imaginary playmate, but, in any case, experiencing his sadness enables the girl to free herself of her own troubles. "I just can't believe in a world where everything is run by science," says the main character in Connie Hirsch's amusing romp, "Wicked Cool," which might be a manifesto for fantasy writers; most of these pieces feature some sort of "magick"--in Hirsch's case, not always the magick of the Old Religion, since her witches fly around contemporary Boston on broomsticks. Mark Kreighbaum's overtitled "Looking in the Heart of Light, the Silence," however, convincingly evokes the allure of the black arts: Two practitioners play out a foreordained scenario on a gloomy winter night in Minneapolis, intoning a series of powerful spells. Magick becomes bittersweet in Karawynn Long's clever commentary on the abortion debate, "Riddle in Nine Syllables," in which a high-school girl invokes a medieval spell to induce a miscarriage in her friend, only to find herself carrying the fetus. Not flawless, but nearly so. (Kirkus Reviews, July 15, 1996)
I don't think that is it. That cover doesn't look like anything I remember. None of the stories sound familiar either, but it's hard to say for sure since there isn't a description of each of the stories involved and I only clearly remember the one. It looks like there's actually a copy at a nearby library though, so I'll see if I can pick it up in the next week or so and find out with certainty.
I remember reading this, I think. Doesn't it end with (spoiler space)her saying, "Well, I'll be damned." Then behind her a voice says something like, "Very probably." Sorry, I can't remember the title, but I hope this helps.
That does sound right, Pamela!Now that you say that, I think one of the spells she tried to do that I didn't mention before was summoning a demon, and it was the demon she summoned who said it.
Still looking for this. Pamela definitely is thinking of the same story as I am if her comment helps anyone think of the title!
For what it's worth, I remember reading it in an anthology (don't remember its title either) with a red and black cover.
Is it one of these?100 Wicked Little Witch Stories
Witches: Isaac Asimov's Magical Worlds of Fantasy 2
Thanks for the suggestions Binkeybat! Unfortunately, I can't tell just from the descriptions if they are the right ones and there aren't any copies in my library system. If Pamela is right and she read the story in one with a red and black cover though, that first one looks promising. I've requested it via ILL so we'll see if I can get a copy and find out for sure!
I just received 100 Wicked Little Witch Stories via ILL, but unfortunately after skimming through the endings of all the stories, it doesn't look like it is the right book :(
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What's the Name of That Book???
Books mentioned in this topic
100 Wicked Little Witch Stories (other topics)100 Wicked Little Witch Stories (other topics)
Witches: Isaac Asimov's Magical Worlds of Fantasy 2 (other topics)
The Shimmering Door (other topics)
I only remember one story from the book. There was a girl who wanted to be a witch and tried to do all sorts of spells, but they were never successful. She couldn't figure out what she was doing wrong. I remember her making a wax figure of her aunt, I think. It could have been her grandmother, but it was an older woman whom she lived with. She used the figure as a voodoo doll and in the end melted it down, but nothing happened. I think she also tried to do some sort love spell on one of her male friends.
Eventually she finds out (from an actual witch? I can't remember where she found the information) that in order to be a witch she must first hate everything. She forces herself to feel hatred for everything and everyone around her, but nothing happens at first. Then she starts to hate herself for hating her aunt (grandmother?) who was always so kind to her. Once she hates herself all the spells she did before then manifest. I remember her aunt melting like wax in the end of the story.