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Berkley |
"Double, double, toil and trouble,
Throughout history witches have always enthralled us. Be they good witches or bad witches, ancient sorcerers or modern-day Wiccans, their aura of magic, nature, and power is irresistible. Here, the greatest authors of all time are gathered together to stir up a little trouble. From Shakespeare's Wyrd Sisters in MACBETH to Dean Koontz's doddering old crone in "Snatcher" to Erica Jong's Mother Goddess in "Smoke," these works of prose and poetry capture the witch in all her guises: wicked, empowering, romantic, and pagan.
No longer relegated to fairy-tale villains, witches have become potent personifications of feminine power--and have found a place in every genre of writing. So, leave your preconceived notions at the door and dive headfirst into WITCHES' BREW, the ultimate collection of witch literature. See below for: |
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Introduction (Yvonne Jocks)
THE WICKED WITCH
WITCHCRAFT AS EMPOWERMENT
THE NATURE WITCH
Introduction (by Yvonne Jocks)
Who can remember a time when witches didn't fascinate? Magic-users sweep through children's stories as old as "Hansel and Gretel" and as current as Harry Potter, filling movie screens from Snow White to The Little Mermaid. They beckon to teenagers from television shows like Sabrina, the Teenaged Witch; Charmed; and Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and from movies like The Craft and The Blair Witch Project. Even adults hear the call of the witches, since before Bewitched to well after Practical Magic. They captivate us. Some of us seek the witches' powers in the New Age shelves of our local bookstores, or at crystal- and incense- laden metaphysical shops. Others warn against the witches' popularity and perhaps try to remember their grandmother's instructions for warding off the evil eye. Still others find amusement in the prevalence of such pure make-believe. But are witches mere make-believe, anymore? Were they ever? Much of that depends on what you think of when you think of that one word: Witch. Modern practitioners point to the Anglo-Saxon word "wicce," meaning a wise-person, one who can bend or shape. To such followers of Wicca, one of the fastest growing religions in the country, a witch is someone who worships a Goddess along with (or even instead of) a God, and who practices positive, nature-oriented magic. Make believe? Hardly. Wiccans and neo-pagans have precedents in literature as ancient as the Akkadian epic, Gilgamesh, in which a priestess tames the beast-man Enkidu into a proper companion to the king. They recognize themselves in Irish epics, which are full of goddesses, prophetesses, and druids, and in King Arthur's misunderstood half-sister, Morgan la Fey. But what of the tragic Medea of Euripides, whose sorcery first wins and then destroys Jason of the Argonauts? What of the witch Circe, who seduces Homer's Odysseus, or Queen Dido, who turns to the black arts after her desertion by Virgil's Aeneus? For modern-day Wiccans, whose only rule is "Harm none," these witch stories offer less representation. Others see a witch as a powerful woman, usually one who uses her magic for ill. Dido, Circe, and Medea fit more comfortably into this definition. So do the classic Weird Sisters of Shakespeare's Macbeth, horror-movie witches, even fairy-tale antagonists from Snow White to The Little Mermaid. She is the cackling hag who lives alone and whose ugliness, like Medusa's, carries a horrid power. She is the untamed seductress whose siren song, like the Lorelei's, can lead man to his death. She is, frankly, the personification of feminine power, unshackled by patriarchal control. There have always been powerful women who threaten the status quo and are thus accused of witchcraft, from Joan of Arc to Susan B. Anthony. Make-believe? True, these women had powers hinging less on eye-of-newt than on recognizing their own strengths. But as far as metaphors go, the "evil witch" archetype does the job. How many relatively modern stories about witches still show the heroines giving up their powers to marry? How many of the older stories call the well-behaved, nurturing magic users mere "fairies" or "fairy godmothers," be they from Shakespeare's Midsummer Night's Dream or any standard version of Cinderella? In Disney's Sleeping Beauty, the sweet but bumbling Flora, Fauna, and Merriweather are fairies. But the scorned Maleficent "Now you deal with me, oh prince, and all the powers of Hell!" By popular opinion, she's a witch. And in this, Maleficent invokes a third definition of the witch: a person, male or female, who gains supernatural power through dealing with demons or the devil. Easily the most frightening of all, this is the sort of witchcraft claimed by Anton LaVey and Alestair Crowley, the kind described in horrifying detail by H. P. Lovecraft. Such so-called "witches" create a public-relations nightmare for the aforementioned Wiccans, and have historically added fuel to the fires that burned powerful women like Joan of Arc. Whether or not a Faustian conspiracy exists, much less wields supernatural power, remains hotly debated in arenas from daytime talk-shows to Christian newsletters to occasional episodes of The X-Files. But make-believe or not, the consequences of such fear-mongering have proven all too real. Thus comes the suspense, the danger of witchcraft--be it danger to us, or to the more innocent among the witches. Witches enthrall us. And we let them. Their legacy of magical possibilities, of feminine power, even of dark conspiracy pervades our society and grips our imagination. Good or evil, fascinating or terrifying, holding powers we can barely comprehend and yet somehow accessible, witches call to us. A popular Wiccan bumper-sticker states that "We are Everywhere," and it's true. They are everywhere. Witches are in all cultures. They are from all times. And from the Puritanism of Nathaniel Hawthorne to the Wicca of Doreen Valiente, writers have never been able to resist the tingle down the spine, the air of mystery, and the call to power that is central in a really good witch's tale. So here, gathered for your enjoyment, are some of the best stories featuring witches. Running the gamut from ancient to modern, and from positive magic to dark thrillers, these selections will keep you up at night, make you think, and just perhaps make you wonder how much of the magic is real. It's a witches' brew, indeed, of the best in fiction about witches. Maybe it will cast its spell over you.
--Yvonne Jocks
I hate to admit having made a mistake. I mean, I REALLY hate it. But I did, so I might as well come clean about it.
The story in Witches' Brew, attributed to H.P. Lovecraft? "Witches' Hollow?" Turns out Lovecraft didn't write it.
August Derleth, whom I credit on p. 22 as completing the Lovecraft story, actually wrote the whole thing and only said it was the completion of a partial by Lovecraft. The source from which I got the story gave the same story. So did several websites which I'd glanced at. So I assumed the story was correct--but you know what they say about "assuming" (it makes a "ass" out of "u" and "me"). I only found out the truth when a reviewer for Publisher's Weekly wrote to my publisher, explaining Derleth's ploy. Ouch!
For what it's worth, a standard rule for doing research is to go to the original source, but in this case, the more "original" the source (that being August Derleth) the less truthful. Also, we got signed permission to use "Witches Hollow" from the agency which handles the estates of both H.P. Lovecraft and August Derleth, so this isn't a legal issue. But when mistakes are made, they should when possible be corrected. So here you go. I regret not having caught it sooner, and thus perpetuating the deceit.
On the bright side, it's my first mention in Publisher's Weekly and the notice is pretty positive, saying it's an "impressive contributors' list" and citing "bewitching tales from the likes of Erica Jong, Louise Erdrich and Kathryn Ptacek, along with pieces from such unusual sources as Cotton Mather, Ben Franklin and theosophist H.P. Blavatsky."
Now, back to the witches!
Publisher's Weekly cites Witches' Brew's "popular audience" and "impressive contributor's list," nothing that: "The volume boasts bewitching tales from the likes of Erica Jong, Louise Erdrich and Kathryn Ptacek, along with pieces from such unusual sources as Cotton Mather, Ben Franklin and theosophist H.P. Blavatsky." (Sept. 23, 2002)
The Washington Post says that Erica Jong and Dean Koontz are "in undeniably spellbinding company in this compendium of prose and poetry celebrating the sisterhood of sorceresses." (October 20th, 2002)
Q: How did you get such a cool gig as collecting works already written, all on the topic of witches, compiling them into an anthology, and getting PAID for it? A: WITCHES' BREW is a great example on the importance of getting to know people in your chosen business. Berkley Books had already done two excellent reprint anthologies edited by John Richard Stephens: VAMPIRES, WINE & ROSES (which included works by Shakespeare, Poe, Robert Louis Stevenson, and Sting, among others) and INTO THE MUMMY'S TOMB (including Tennessee Williams, Mark Twain, and Rudyard Kipling!) Berkley's representative was speaking to an editor friend of mine and said that she wanted to find an author who both had some kind of academic credentials and a knowledge of modern Wicca, to do a similar work on witches. My editor friend recommended me, we proposed our anthology, and it became WITCHES' BREW. The larger portion of the advance from this book, by the way, went to buying the rights to all stories which weren't public domain.
Q: What's "public domain?" A: If a work of literature is old enough, and its author has been dead long enough, it is considered Public Domain and can be reprinted for free. Shakespeare was PD. Koontz wasn't. Check out Project Guttenberg, on the internet, for an incredible collection of PD material.
Q: Are all of the authors in this story famous? A: To some extent, yes, with only a few exceptions. This is a very broad collection, with historical pieces and modern pieces; pieces that would be considered "literary" and pieces that are more "pop." Some, like Shakespeare and Dickinson, are really really famous. Others, like Mary Wilkins Freeman and M. V. Ingram, were once more famous than they are now. Some, like Doreen Valiente and H. P. Blavatsky, are famous mainly among witches. Some, like Mercedes Lackey and Rosemary Edghill, are famous for writing contemporary popular fiction about witches. Some achieved literary fame long ago (Louisa May Alcott; Emily Bronte; Anton Chekov; Nathaniel Hawthorne). Some are currently achieving fame (Anita Endrezze; Louise Erdrich). Evelyn Vaughn is probably the least famous of the lot, but she had an "in."
Q: Wait a minute, Ms. Yvonne Jocks, Editor. Aren't YOU Evelyn Vaughn? A: Well... yes. That's the "in."
Q: (Looking annoyed and waiting for an explanation of such blatant egotism). A: Here's why I put "Winter Solstice" into the collection. For one thing, an editor who was working with me on the collection strongly urged me to. For another, I had included Rosemary Edghill, who is well known for writing mysteries about witches, and Mercedes Lackey, who is well known for writing horror about witches. It made sense to include an author who is well-known for writing romance about witches--and of those, Evelyn Vaughn is one of the major contenders. Okay, so Nora Roberts is even more of a contender, but most of her work on witches isn't short fiction. A third reason was, frankly, it was probably my only chance to appear in an anthology with William Shakespeare, Emily Bronte, and Shirley Jackson. I might not sell my soul for that, since my soul's pretty precious to me, but I'd pull a few strings.
Q: The back cover copy mentions wicked witches. But Yvonne Jocks/Evelyn Vaughn has, in the past, mainly done projects that show witches in a positive light. What gives with selling out to the stereotype, huh? A: WITCHES' BREW is supposed to be a collection of works (mainly fiction) by famous people about witchcraft. If I were to leave out the stories that show witches in a bad light, I would have left out half of the biggest names I found. A lot of those stories really are cool, too--not PC, but cool. Also, the previous two Berkley collections (on mummies and vampires) clearly had a horror theme, so I assumed they wanted to continue that theme with witches. My compromise, for better or worse, was to include those works, but to include an equal number of stories in which the witches are portrayed positively.
Q: But why'd you put the wicked witches first? A: It's the most familiar image to most readers. I figured I would meet the audience where they are most comfortable, then draw them to the newer image of witches. Besides, ending with your strongest piece is a common rhetorical strategy.
Q: So what pieces or authors did you want to include, but couldn't? A: Isabel Allende's "Two Words" is one story I regret not including. The international copyright on her work was just too complicated for this project. I also regret not including some poems by Edna St. Vincent Millay: "The Harp Weaver," "The Singing Woman from the Wood's Edge," and/or "The Witch Wife." I'm not sure why we didn't get rights to those, but suspect that her work may have cost too much, since a recent, excellent biography of the poet has brought about a resurgence of interest in her work. I had to reject several great works by Ray Bradbury--"Witch Door," "April Witch," "Invisible Boy"--because the collection was just too long. There's a work by F. Scott Fitzgerald that I could not get hold of, and it would have been great to acquire a copy of Sidney Sheldon's pilot script for BEWITCHED. Maybe there'll be a WITCHES' BREW 2 -- there's certainly enough material out there for it!
Q: What are your favorite pieces of those which ARE in the book? A: Emily Bronte's poems, I think, and Shirley Jackson's "The Very Strange House Next Door"--I've taught "The Lottery" to who-knows how many Comp 2 classes, and had heard rumors that Jackson wrote about witches, but the sources I initially found kept pointing me to stories that were more about deals with the devil and scary old men. So I gave up on cross-referencing and just started skimming every story by Jackson I could find, and was delighted by both "The Very Strange House Next Door" and its companion story, "Family Magician." They are a complete turn-around in tone from the dark "Lottery." I love P.N. Elrod's "Tea Room Beasts" every time I read it. I was also proud of finding Hawthorne's "Feathertop." Not that it's a hard story to find, but from the start there seemed to be an assumption that I would include Hawthorne's "Young Goodman Brown," another Comp 2 classic. Keeping Hawthorne was a given--he was related to a judge from the Salem Witch Trials, for pete's sake! But since "Young Goodman Brown" is already so very well-known, I wanted to include something different. "Feathertop" fit the bill.
Q: (sarcastic) Like MACBETH isn't well-known? A: Come on. That's Shakespeare. He's always the exception.
Q: Speaking of Shakespeare.... Some of these stories are pretty cool, but a couple are really hard to read. Why is that? A: Don't worry--it's not because you're stupid. (And on the incredibly small chance that you really are stupid, it's not JUST because of that. But if you pick up reprint anthologies to read, chances are you're not stupid). Stories and poems can be difficult for many reasons, but two in particular stand out. One: the work may be written deliberately to make you think, as so many critically acclaimed works are. That's the reason Ebert and Roeper sometimes really like movies that you couldn't pay the average movie-goer to see... they're film critics, so they appreciate films that don't just entertain but make them think. Some of the rest of us don't (and for some of us, it depends on the work. And our mood). Two: the older a piece is, the more likely that it will seem difficult to read. Shakespeare wrote for the masses, but four centuries later, most of us don't realize that, oh, "wherefore" means why, not where, so we get confused. It's nobody's fault but Time's. Gee, someone should write a passage about how all our yesterdays have lighted fools the way to dusty death.... oh, wait. Shakespeare wrote that, too. Just because a work's difficult doesn't mean it's not worth reading. But feel free to skip the tough pieces unless you're in the mood for them. There won't be a test.
Q: Are you encouraging people to become Satan Worshippers? A: (Thudding of head on desk)
Q: (Annoyed silence) A: Ahem. First of all, although some Satanists do call themselves witches, most witches are in no way connected to Satan. Not all world religions believe in Satan, and paganism is one of those which does not. You may want to argue that by not worshipping Christ (or Allah) people are by default worshipping Satan, but that argument is so insulting and so sweeping, I give up on it (except to wonder why you're here in the first place if you truly believe that way). Second of all, this is a collection of stories for entertainment, not instructional, purposes (I should think the inclusion of "wicked witch" stories would counter the suspicion of propaganda). And third (of all), neither information nor entertainment is, in and of itself, powerful enough to seduce people away from any firmly held beliefs of theirs. People who approve of censorship seem to live in constant fear that exposure to whatever they don't agree with will corrupt the rest of the world. I, like most people who oppose censorship, live in hope that the more the rest of the world sees, the better equipped they are to judge for themselves. Read Milton's Areopagitica.
Q: Are YOU a witch? A: I'm a Unitarian Universalist Pagan. Some people would say that makes me a witch, just as many would not, since--as WITCHES' BREW shows--the word "witch" means so very many different things to so very many different people. Me, I'm wary of labels, since they can often just confuse a situation further--especially north-by-northwest. When the wind is southerly is another matter....
Q: Well that was confusing. Wait, was that more Shakespeare? A: Yes. |
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