From vampires to witches

by Leigh K Cunningham
in On Writing and Publishing
13 Nov 2009 | 16 Comments

Vampires in today's fiction are charismatic and sophisticated creatures appearing pale and gaunt with ruby lips and of course, red eyes. In contrast, the earliest vampires of folklore were bloated with ruddy or dark complexions. They wore shrouds and often visited loved ones to cause mischief or death. While belief in vampires has been around since prehistoric times, it is Bram Stoker's 1897 Dracula that is recognized as the quintessential vampire novel, and the foundation of modern vampire fiction. Then there is Twilight saturating every possible medium on the planet. This level of frenzied mania can often result in a rebuff, just as Abba's immense global popularity in the seventies led to an anti-Abba period which took three decades to abate. There is already a strongly-held view that the vampire phase in fiction has but a couple of years before twilight turns to night.

At the 2009 Singapore Writers' Festival, John Ajvide Lindqvist, author of the brilliant vampire novel, Let the Right One In, was asked repeatedly what he thought would supersede vampires. Naturally, he proposed zombies since they feature in his latest novel, Handling the Undead. With a similar stake in my own work, I would like to suggest that witches, witchcraft, and spells are making a comeback, particularly in middle-grade fiction, and there is some evidence to support this.

Keith McGowan's debut, The Witch's Guide to Cooking with Children is a modern version of the Grimm Brothers' tale of Hansel and Gretel, which pits mismatched siblings against an ageless witch who has written a book titled, How to Cook and Eat Children.

In Scream Street 2: Blood of the Witch, Luke, Resus and Cleo must save Scream Street from the swarm of vampire rodents while searching for the second of the founding fathers' relics—a vial of witch's blood. One might even suggest Scream Street 2: Blood of the Witch is a transitional novel leading the movement from vampires to witches, since it includes both.

The Witches by Roald Dahl was first published in 1983, but it's back in a big way. In a household in Norway, an orphaned boy is told by his grandmother how to recognise witches, so that he might avoid them. She tells him stories about five children who fell victim to the evil powers of the witches, described as "demons in human form". The witches hate children and spend all their time plotting how to get rid of them.

Fed up with the annual onslaught of polluting holidaymakers, and noisy children in particular, the witch in The Glass Table casts a spell that condemns the twelve children swimming in Lake Como at that time, to live as spirits in the river Kai. Like the witches in Roald Dahl's The Witches, the witch in The Glass Table is an ordinary woman living an ordinary existence in an old shack at Lake Como. She is devoid of the stereo-typical traits of past, famed witches like the witch in Hansel and Gretel who is ogre-like in appearance. It's a modernization of the concept of a witch in the same way John Ajvide Lindqvist modernized vampires in Let the Right One In—he/she/it being a child living an impoverished existence, with no fangs, red eyes or glorification.

Regards
Leigh

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Comments (16)

And here's news of another witch title from NYT and USA Today bestselling author Melissa de la Cruz. WITCHES OF EAST END is due for publication in 2011. It follows the lives of the Beauchamp girls as they struggle to stop an arch nemesis and restore the delicate balance between good and evil.

25 Nov 2009, Leigh K Cunningham, www.leighkcunningham.com

It was somewhat remiss of me not to mention another witch title which is hitting the book shelves in a big way - James Patterson's Witch & Wizard has a 700,000-copy first printing. Clearly, we're not the only ones believing the witch is back!

20 Nov 2009, Leigh K Cunningham, www.leighkcunningham.com

Brilliant suggestion, Lucy. Macbeth is still relevant ... the witches in Macbeth can influence humans like Macbeth to carry out heinous acts (temptation), but they cannot force them to act, nor can they intervene directly in the commission of crimes. It's the old story which still sells well ie making a choice between good and evil, and resisting temptation, or not.

15 Nov 2009, Leigh K Cunningham, www.leighkcunningham.com

Maybe Macbeth's witches will make a comeback! "Fair is foul and foul is fair; hover through the fog and filfthy air. It even has a modern-day environmental theme to it! :)

15 Nov 2009, Lucy Browne-Wilson

I should also mention a recent release and award-winning children's book by Alison McGhee, Only a witch can Fly. It is beautifully illustrated by Taeeun Yoo. Witches are popping up everywhere.

15 Nov 2009, Leigh K Cunningham, www.leighkcunningham.com

That settles it then - witches it is!

15 Nov 2009, Leigh K Cunningham, www.leighkcunningham.com

While I love the Twilight books and have even been known to watch the series "The Vampire Diaries", I refuse to watch the Twilight movies and am interested in seeing something ELSE pop up please! I am writing my novel about magic and witchcraft so I would like to see it make a comeback of course but I am ready for anything other than Vampires and Zombies!

15 Nov 2009, Jen, foodfunpredeath.blogspot.com

Wow I hope your right Leigh. It will mean I'm ahead of the curve. I'm writing a novel with a super nasty witch in it right now and she's not stereotypical, even though she's over two thousand years old.

14 Nov 2009, Kev Webb, http://www.johnnymarsh.net

I think you're right. Zombies had a bit of a run but I just don't see them catching on like the vampire craze. Witches definately have the potential to step up into the spotlight next. I'm ready because it's time for something new!

14 Nov 2009, Heather, http://heathermccorkle.blogspot.com/

I have two teenagers, and seriously, Twilight and vampires are driving me insane. What can you do? There's always something with kids/young people.

13 Nov 2009, Laney T from OH

A greenie witch is definitely a new twist to an old concept. Witches deserve a resurrection, and I'd say an ordinary witch who blends in with normal people will be even scarier!

13 Nov 2009, Molly Hardwick

A couple of agent blogs I've read asked, no PLEADED, "no vampires!" I'd say this is a fair sign that vampires are doomed.

13 Nov 2009, Allan Grayshore

I didn't read The Witches (Dahl) when I was a kid, but just searched inside on Amazon.com and I'm going to love it. Children's books are even better when you read them as an adult!

13 Nov 2009, Kat Walsh

They're always trying to crown the new JK Rowling. I think Stephanie Myer is it. It's the same phenomenom as Harry Potter, and with successful movies turning the actors into superstars.

13 Nov 2009, Sandra Williamson

I'm afraid I am not into the Twilight thingy at all. I just don't get it. Bring on the witches!

13 Nov 2009, Louisa Carrington

Vampires are cool, but I must admit I'm getting a little tired of entertainment shows, like ENews, and being bombarded with New Moon. It's non-stop.

13 Nov 2009, Katherine Charles

From vampires to witches

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