THE BOOK THAT MADE ME: ASTRID ADDAMS ON THE WITCHES

I would say that Roald Dahl’s The Witches probably had the biggest impact on me as a fan and a creator of horror. I believe it was my first introduction to the horror genre. My mum read it to me as a small child and it terrified me. I had nightmares about witches, I’d imagine that when I laid in bed under the covers. If I peered out into my bedroom I would find the bald head and big nose of a witch looking back at me. I was also fascinated by it and it quickly became my favorite book.

For those who don’t know. Witches are real, they are big nosed, bald, have claws for hands, no toes, ever changing eyes and they detest children. It is the mission of the witches of the world to use magical means to exterminate all children and not get caught. The nameless boy the story follows is told all this by his Grandmother who turns out to be a retired witch hunter and expert. Once the boys parents are tragically killed in a car crash, the boy ends up living with his Grandmother. After a little while they decide to go on holiday and what a coincidence, end up staying at the hotel where the Grand High witch is holding her yearly conference. I won’t spoil the rest in case you haven’t read it or seen the film. Spoiler alert the ending in the Angelica Houston film is different to the book and the book ending is far better. I’d recommend The Witches even for adults. Most of the major characters are women, the hero’s are unique, the story magnificent, unpredictable and the ending bitter sweet.

But most of all The Witches showed me the joy of horror and introduced me to the release of being scared.


The Haunting of Hacket House is available to pre order now at
https://amzn.to/35S1k1I

​Astrid Addams is a horror writer, horror fan and animal lover from the North of England. So far she has self published three novella’s, The Haunting of Hope House, The Man and The Haunting of Hacket House. Her short story Abducted was published in the anthology A is for Aliens and she is normally working on some story or other. She lives with her long suffering partner and their ever expanding mischief.

WEBSITE LINKS

amazon.com/author/astridaddams 
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@AddamsAstrid

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Some places don’t let go….

Offered a lucrative job at the mysterious Hacket House, Jane agrees to travel across country to live at the mansion. After all, a fresh start is just what she needs. Besides, the remote house is a long way from the past she is still running from.

Arriving at her new home, she finds a strange red house set in a wood of red, gnarled trees. The same trees used to build the house and the grandfather clocks that haunt every room and dark corridor.

Jane quickly realises that there is something very wrong at Hacket House and the village of Bramley.

Why is there a graveyard in the garden of Hacket House? Who are the people in hoods who haunt the house at night? What are they doing with the old man in the bed? Why is somebody moving the grandfather clocks? Who is the strange woman no one will admit exists? What are the shadows that scoot across the walls like cockroaches? Who is Erazmus Nark whose grave nothing will touch?

As the sinister behaviour of the village escalates and her own past closes in around her, Jane learns that just because something is dead, doesn’t mean that it’s gone.

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