Tales of Witchcraft (1991) edited by Richard Dalby

Readers unfamiliar with Tales of Witchcraft may wish to read my note only after reading the anthology.

Readers of instant remainder books will recognize the cover of Tales of Witchcraft. I came close to purchasing this book many times at Barnes and Noble and Half-Price books over the decades. The selection of authors is strong, and the inciting incident for each tale is usually a cut above.

In Saki's "The Peace of Mowsle Barton" (1911), Crefton Lockyer moves to a quiet farmhouse to escape city life but immediately discovers a spiteful message on a barn door accusing a local woman of being a witch. Disillusionment with spreading rural tumult follows.

The incident in M. R. James's "The Fenstanton Witch" (1990) occurs when two 16th-century Cambridge Fellows hear about a local witch’s burial and decide to conduct a midnight expedition to her grave to steal ingredients for magical spells. James is always a delight, and here the college milieu is observed with fine wit.

For N. Dennett's "Unburied Bane" (1933), a playwright seeking inspiration for a thriller leads his wife to a decaying, isolated farm occupied by a repulsive old woman.

In "The Toad Witch" (1991) by Jessica Amanda Salmonson, a young girl becomes obsessed with a local woman she believes is a witch.

Ron Weighell's "Carven of Onyx" (1991) begins when renovations at a priory reveal a concealed altar.

A. M. Burrage's "Furze Hollow" (1923) is launched when a city clerk taking a shortcut across a common at midnight hears eerie pipe music.

Something like panic struck at Hurlow. Moffat’s calm confession of fear withdrew the prop upon which he had leaned. Down there, among the motionless shadows, lurked invisible things, things that were nameless, shapeless, and malignant; things which could see without being seen. One of the long lost terrors of childhood returned to him, and like a child he put his hand into Moffat’s.

‘What are we to do?’ he asked in a whisper, longing for Moffat to suggest that they should go.

‘What can we do? It seems that we are only men and not heroes. We can only stay here and watch.’