The Horror Hoser Presents: “Of Witches…”
The Horror Hoser
Of Witches…
By Steve Stred
For Fans of: Horror with Heart, Folk Horror, The Autopsy of Jane Doe
This month, the Horror Hoser goes to snowy Edmonton, Alberta to check out Steve Stred’s 2020 collection, Of Witches…
As the name suggests, each of the 8 stories in this collection have something to do with witches or witchcraft. Each story is accompanied by a brief author’s note about Stred’s intentions/inspirations for the story. There is also a beautiful piece of artwork (or two) from Miranda Crites to go along with each piece, matching the folky, witchy magic of each story. Below, I’ve highlighted some of the standouts from this collection.
Author Steve Stred
“In Waves”
The first story in the collection is a quick one. I was instantly reminded of the opening two stories of Stred’s collection, “Left Hand Path”, another occult-inspired collection. “In Waves” involves a man and his son, visiting the same beach, year after year, to hear the call of a siren (a water witch?). I won’t say much else, but it’s hard not to have happy tears by the end of this one.
“A Cave, In the Woods”
A brother and sister are collecting stories from an old man in a bar, and what they get may be more than they bargained for.
The setup felt very much like the Kevin Smith film Tusk, except this was a good story! This is one of the more gruesome stories in the collection with lots of gory imagery and use of the serpent as symbol. Most of this story is building the suspense factor, and it totally delivers at the end.
“The Assistant”
The story is very similar to The Autopsy of Jane Doe, one of my absolute favourite movies. Three generations working in a funeral home are performing an intake for a mysterious corpse. By comparing this story to The Autopsy… you can probably guess where “The Assistant” is headed. My initial reaction to the setup was “Oh…it’s a rip-off of that movie I like”, but Stred puts enough uniqueness in this story to make it his own.
The strongest part of this story is the relationship Stred builds between his characters. If you removed all the supernatural elements, “The Assistant” is still an effective coming-of-age story. And that’s how you know it’s good horror: if you can strip away the monsters and magic, is it still a good story? The answer for “The Assistant” is a resounding YES! and makes it a phenomenal way to end the collection.
Final Thoughts
Miranda Crites Illustrator
While not every story spoke to me personally, there’s something in this collection for every type of Horror fan. You like the quiet, beautiful Horror? Read “In Waves”. You like more gruesome, splatter-y Horror? Read “A Cave, In the Woods”. Did you read “The Witch” in Stred’s collection Left Hand Path, (also reprinted in this collection) and want to revisit that world? Check out “The Tree”. Like wonderfully macabre artwork? Check out all the amazing work by Miranda Crites (wish I’d gotten this book as a physical instead of Kindle, the iPad doesn’t do the art justice).
Rating: 4 Headless Bodies Strung up in the Trees out of 5.
Review by Ian Bains
Twitter: @bainwrites
Website: ianabain.wordpress.com
I purchased this book
