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Witches, vampires, bloody fairytales, horror novels
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items A collection of novels, and nonfiction books, featuring female leads and writers. Witches, vampires, horror, surreal.
One of the best books I've read this year, Elliot is a master of the short story format. Her stories evoke the lush, swampy, ethereal South, and no word is wasted. Each story a fairytale spun from poetic inspiration, filled with longing and youthful ...
Hellions a book by Julia Elliott
Angela Carter brilliantly rewrites classic fairytales, like Little Red Riding Hood, with an extra dose of spook and feminine spirit.
The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories
This book is magic, and it will make you dream of a summer in an enchanted cottage in Ireland. Told through the awkwardness of a teenage girl, strange beings and portals awaken in a seemingly placid countryside home.
Other Words for Smoke - Sarah Maria Griffin
Shirley Jackson, queen of scary tales, excels at building tension and strangeness. This story barely strays from the estate of the protagonist, yet it takes the reader to dark corners of their own psyche.
We Have Always Lived in the Castle a book by Shirley Jackson ...
The godess Circe, one of the strangest of the greek godesses, she inhabits an island alone where she crafts her herbal potions. Her solitude does not keep her out of the constant drama of her extended family, and she finds herself entangled in the ma...
Circe a book by Madeline Miller
So. you think you want to be a writer? You might think again after reading the surreal experience of attending an MFA program. They summon men from dead bunnies, and their dabbling in magic does not come without consequences.
Bunny a book by Mona Awad - A Novel
The experience of almost joining a wellness cult is shockingly relatable, and Rogue follows the protagonist on a blurry spiral to dissociation at the promise of a signature facial. A homage to the Red Shoes, this Rouge has a quality of a modern day f...
Rouge a book by Mona Awad - A Novel
If you are a Twilight fan, start here. Written in the 1500s, this tale of a young female vampire is still highly readable today. Mystery surrounds a young woman who is given refuge at a remote estate, and her true nature is slowly revealed to her all...
Carmilla a book by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu and Carmen Maria Machado
Published in 2025, this is a queer vampire story spanning centuries. It's a delight to experience life in 1500s spain, 1700s venice, 1800s london, and present day Boston. Each new location our immortal protagonist takes us comes alive with vivid imag...
Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil a book by V. E. Schwab
Pure magic and delight abounds in this strange story spun by surrealist artist Leonara Carrington. The protagonist, a spicy elderly woman, enters a world of magic and intrigue as she leaves her family home. If you like strange, let this story take yo...
The Hearing Trumpet a book by Leonora Carrington and Olga Tokarczuk
Roald Dahl is a master storyteller, and The Witches will make you feel like a kid again, when anything is possible.
The Witches - Roald Dahl
A YA novel that is mature enough for adult audiences, Grady takes us to a humid home for pregnant young women in the deep south. The ‘fallen women’ stumble upon a book on witchcraft and a wild, dangerous world of magic opens up to them. A painful loo...
Witchcraft for Wayward Girls - Grady Hendrix
Max Dashu is an unsung academic of feminist history. She has dug through archival texts, archeological relics, and imagery to document the stories of women's religion, ritual, and oppression.
Witches and Pagans a book by Max Dashu
This is for the academics. A deep dive into medevil history and the social factors that led to the European witch hunts. Worth a read if you are curious about the roots of the European witch archetype.
Caliban and the Witch a book by Silvia Federici
Brilliant storytelling by Arthur Miller, The Crucible explores what happens when a small community begins to demonize it's own, set during the Salem Witch Trials.
The Crucible a book by Arthur Miller and Christopher W. E. Bigsby
A collection of short stories exploring the terror of the physical form, edited by Joyce Carol Oates. My favorite is perhaps the strangest by Margaret Atwood about becoming a snail.
A Darker Shade of Noir a book by Joyce Carol Oates