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WITCHCRAFT: Beyond & Within Series
Edited by Marie O’Reagan & Paul Kane
Flame Tree Press (February 17, 2026)
Reviewed by Mario Guslandi
Here’s the latest volume in the excellent “Beyond& Within” series from Flame Tree Press, addressing various aspects of sorcery,horror and, obviously, witchcraft.
The prolific and classy Angela Slatter is certainly one of the most expert contributors in this area and her sinister story “Murder Ballads by Moonlight” provides a creepy narrative confirming her extraordinary talent as a dark storyteller.
“Jackie’s Dust” by Alison Moore is another of my favorite tales in the book, a bittersweet piece featuring a young girl whose life is changed by a series of apparently trivial events taking place in her village and in her family.
David Barnett contributes “The Witch of Withered Hill,” a piece of dark and fantastic fiction, quite in tune with the title and the spirit of the book, where a real witch makes a stop to her village’s living curse.
In “Remembrance,” the always excellent Helen Grant develops a rather predictable yet deeply upsetting plot where a smart serial killer takes his final revenge.
Another of my favorite is the weird “The Weaver” by Kay Hanifen, featuring an atypical witch whose only real friend is a peculiar spider.
All in all, a rather unusual anthology.
The list of other contributors includes: Ally Wilkes, Eliza Chan, Mark Chadbourn, Muriel Gray, Buhlebethu Sukoluhle Mpofu, Gabriella Buba, Aveline Fletcher, Lisa L Hannett, Melissa Bobe, Amanda Mason, Damien Kelly, and Eugen Bacon.
