Hex Life: Wicked New Tales of Witchery

Hex Life is a collection of chillingly dark short stories on witches and witchcraft, with an eclectic mix of recognisable motifs (what would a book about witches be without at least one bubbling cauldron?) and refreshing new voices. The stories invoke imagery ranging from the historic Salem witch trials to nightmarish fairy tales, with genres ranging from straight-up horror to some good old YA, as it includes stories from Rachel Caine’s Morganville Vampire series (featuring the full main cast), and Kelley Armstrong’s Otherworld series. 

This is a pretty empowering collection, featuring a whole lot of witches coming into their own and figuring out how to make life work for them, but it is also a collection about what it means to be considered ‘other’, simply because of who you are. It’s about finding family – sometimes regardless of blood ties – and about learning to look at life in new (and often dark) ways.

With eighteen stories, the appeal of this collection (besides, hello, the witches) is that there is a story for everyone – the delightfully twisted The Debt by Ania Ahlborn, which evokes both Hans Christian Anderson and the Grimm Brothers in its nod to the Russian legend of the Baba Yaga witch, is a personal stand out. Well edited and delightfully varied, Hex Life is a good read for anybody wanting to add some short bursts of witchy mayhem to their day.

Titan Books, 1 Oct, £17.99