Revenge of the Witch by Joseph Delaney

This book was a reread for me.  I read the first five books in this series when they first came out and I remember being absolutely riveted.  I wasn't wrong!  This book sucked me in and kept me there, sufficiently scared but also needing to know what was going to happen.

Tom is the seventh son of a seventh son and when he turns thirteen he is apprenticed to the spook.  A spook's job is to protect the county from the dark, from ghasts and boggarts and witches.  Tom is not necessarily excited about his future job.  He knows that the spook's life is lonely and dangerous but his mother, who seems to have the gift of sight, tells him that he is meant for this life.  Tom resolves to make the best of it.

However, he quickly gets himself involved with a girl who wears pointy shoes, something the spook has warned him against.  Now there are missing children in the village and a witch on the loose and the spook just happens to be out of town.  Can Tom handle it himself with just a couple of weeks worth of training?  What about when an angry witch gets too close to his family?

This book was exciting and scary.  However, it's definitely not for the faint of heart!

-RYQ

Chilling Adventures of Sabrina

I've really been enjoying the revival of Archie Comics.  I absolutely adore the new Archie.  I can't wait for CW's twisted take on Riverdale, which has been described as "dark" and "noir."  I tried Afterlife with Archie, which fell flat because I'm not a big fan of zombies.  When I heard about the new Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, I could not wait.  Witches are totally one of my things and this was hyped as playing back to old school horror.

The hype was exactly right.  Warning, this is a comic more suited to older teens.  There is blood and witchcraft and horror.  It's not the sunny Sabrina that I grew up with.  It is aimed at a specific kind of horror fan but definitely at a horror fan.

That being said, I ended up really enjoying this one after a slow start.  It takes place in the 1960's and really does pull from those classic horror movies.  The first issue, learning about Sabina's birth, could be Rosemary's Baby.  It hit so many of the horror tropes: teen witches, succubi, funeral homes, raising the dead, and insane asylums.  It also used the history of New England and the Salem witch trials in the story line.  Sabrina is part witch and part human and she walks the line between these two worlds.  When she starts human high school, she falls for Harvery, an all-American boy.  Sabrina's cousin offers to help her do a love spell to attract Harvey's attention and for a while everything seems perfect.  But as her sixteenth birthday approaches, little does she know that something is being summoned in the woods that will ride into town on a wave of revenge.

I liked this one but, again, it is only going to work for older teens who like horror. -RYQ

The Most Popular Girl

If you enjoyed Beauty, by Lisa Daily, this blog's book of the day, and want something like it, check out Teen Witch (DVD).

Louise Miller feels like a nobody at school and at home. Her crush doesn't notice her, the It Crowd shuns her, and her parents treat her like she's 6 instead of 16. Nothing is going right, and Louise can't help but feel her life would be better if only she were popular. Then she gets her wish: While riding home one dark and stormy night, Louise's bike tire blows out. She takes refuge from the storm in a spooky old victorian mansion owned by quirky fortune teller Madame Serena. It is here that Louise learns she's a witch, and will come into her powers on her next birthday--which is only a week away. After some experimentation with small spells, Louise does what any geeky teenager with witchy powers would do: She works a spell to make herself the most popular girl in the school. And it works better than she ever imagined! Suddenly Louise has the lead in the school play (opposite her crush, of course), the It Crowd wants to hang out with her, and hottie Brad (who looks like a very young Tom Cruise) is suddenly paying her a lot of attention. At first, Louise is content. But then she can't help but wonder: Does Brad like her for herself or only because of the spell? Only by undoing the magic can she find out--IF she has the courage to do so.

Teen Witch is the epitome of cheezy 80s movies. A cliche-heavy plot all dressed up in wild clothes and big hair and concluded by a synchronized dance number at the Prom (where everything works out, of course). This little-known movie is just as awesome as the better-known Sixteen Candles, Breakfast Club, and Ferris Bueller's Day Off. So if 80s movies are your guilty pleasure, Teen Witch is sure to please! --AJB