Review: The Book of Forgotten Witches

“I’ve long been a lover of all things folklore – and all things Witchcraft and Witchy,” writes Alan U. Dalul. “This book was everything I thought it would be and then some. As a collection, it works amazingly. As an illustrated book, it is gorgeous. As a narrative text, it is immersive, creative, complete, and addictive.”

Get your blackberries before the Púca does!

Siobhan Ball introduces TWH’s readers to the folklore of the blackberry – including why you need to eat them before the Faerie Folk claim them for their own – and also offers a delicious recipe for a blackberry and apple crumble.

The Queerest Fairy Tales You’ve Never Heard

Tales from Beyond the Rainbow by Pete Jordi Wood is an important contribution to our collective queer history. This collection of ten stories from different cultures offers us a glimpse into a time long, long ago where we as queer people were very much present and even worthy of our own narrative.

Practical Advice for Discerning “Cunning Folk”

Ed Simon reviews Tabitha Stanmore’s new book, “Cunning Folk: Life in the Era of Practical Magic.” “Stanmore enumerates the sorts of practical rituals that cunning folk offered in the plying of their trade. A thief might be discovered, for example, by making suspects eat chunks of cheese in which various charms had been carved, whereupon the guilty party would choke on their morsel. (This must be hard cheese, Stanmore emphasizes.)”

Knowing Jack

There are reasons that stories travel from culture to culture, but Jack has always been something of an anomaly in how widespread and yet contiguous his stories are. He may be from Cornwall, Germany, or  North Carolina in a given story, but his character is recognizable and the story is more than likely the same.