Tag: witches

The Near Witch

The Near Witch

by Victoria Schwab (Hyperion Books, 2011) [republished as by V.E. Schwab]; audiobook read by Heather Wilds (Blackstone, 2019)

Book cover: “The Near Witch” by Victoria Schwab (Hyperion Books, 2011) [republished as by V.E. Schwab]; audiobook read by Heather Wilds (Blackstone, 2019)

A claustrophobic fantasy that paints the evils of superstitious fear (and a pig-headed patriarchy) but which makes a protracted novel out of what should have been a novelette—and then omits the more interesting of the final confrontations. Narrated with bizarre emphases.

Doctor Who: The Witch from the Well

Doctor Who: The Witch from the Well

by Rick Briggs (Big Finish, 2011)

Briggs_Witch from the Well

As ever, Big Finish have gone beresk with their screeching creature effects. Notwithstanding such overindulgence, this pseudohistorical take on the seventeenth-century witch trials offers uncommon nuance and character depth. A particularly good story for Paul McGann and Julie Cox (as Mary Shelley).

 

 

The Witches

The Witches

by Roald Dahl (Jonathan Cape, 1983); audiobook read by Miranda Richardson (Penguin, 2013)

Dahl_Witches

Scary and horrid and yet rather wondrous and fun, Roald Dahl’s take on witches remains a classic of middle grade fiction. Miranda Richardson’s audiobook reading is nicely pitched (notwithstanding her overly grating Grand High Witch and some oddly lacklustre, unnecessary sound effects).