“Widow Tallow, morning still,
Your veil prevails the woeful will.
Mourn for the wicked and mourn for the plight.
Mourn for the worm who’s seen its last night.
Iron shell and black shot shoe,
The Widow Tallow Takes her due.”
A Witch’s Book of Terribles is a collection of stories written in the style of folk legends and parables but with a much heavier emphasis on magical working and more familiarity with actual spells than the tales we grew up with. Characters are vivid and the bad ones are evil and gruesome. The darker side of fantasy and the supernatural holds sway. Some of the stories may be ok for children but some are definitely not. Children are kidnapped and die and experience terror.
Terribles is for those adults who want to sink back into childhood fantasy writing without having to read children’s stories. The folksy, days gone by, language is reminiscent of southern US storytelling and some of the tales involve American folk magic or perhaps traditional British influences. All of the works are original. The author is also an artist and illustrates the book himself. The black and white drawings are fun and add a lot to the book. I enjoyed some of these stories more than others. The one that really stayed with me was Behind the White Lace, the story of a boy who follows a squirrel to a house run by a mysterious and awful Nonna Noxa. There he finds the children in her care turning green and sick. The author says that the stories are loosely based on real experiences with magical entities and provides some added commentary at the end of the book.
For the reader who enjoys the grimmest of fairytales and old-fashioned storytelling.
Recommended.
~review by Elsie Smyte
Author: Wycke Malliway
Crossed Crow Books, 2025
210 pages, $19.95
