Hey! Hi! Hello!

If folklore gave the witch her bones, books gave her a voice. In Part 2 of Witchtober, we crack open a different grimoire, the one on your bookshelf, to trace how authors reinvent the witch across eras and genres: from revolution and selfhood to legacy, history, ecology, and found family. This episode is a cozy-cinematic tour for readers hunting their next fave and writers looking for comp titles, tropes, and craft sparks.

Light a candle that smells like old paper and rebellion, then let’s read our way through the evolution of the witch. 🕯️

💌 Links & Extras

All the things (podcast, socials, bonus content, and my novel The Missing Reflection) live here: linktr.ee/chicklingchronicles

Loving Witchtober? Follow/subscribe and drop a quick rating & review. It helps our little coven grow. Leave a 🕯️ if this episode added a book to your TBR!

📚 Sources & Further Reading/Watching

Featured Books (Episode Core)

• ​Alix E. Harrow — The Once and Future Witches
• ​Madeline Miller — Circe
• ​Anne Rice — The Witching Hour
• ​Louisa Morgan — A Secret History of Witches
• Stacy Schiff — The Witches: Salem, 1692 (nonfiction)
• Rachel Griffin — The Nature of Witches
• ​Sangu Mandanna — The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches

Bonus Witchy Reads (Indie/Underrated Vibes)

• ​Alyssa Palombo — The Spellbook of Katrina Van Tassel (gothic romance & folklore)
• ​Carissa Broadbent — The Serpent and the Wings of Night (for romantasy comp energy)
• ​J.A. White — Nightbooks (MG dark whimsy, great for trope study)

📬 Join the conversation

What’s your favorite witchy read or your go-to comp title when you’re pitching a magic-forward story? Drop it in the comments or DM me on IG. Bonus emoji if you share the vibe: 🕯️ (cozy), 🌩️ (stormy), 🥀 (gothic), or ☕ (comfort).

Next up: Double Double: Witches on the Big Screen.

Don’t miss the cinematic spell!

Hey! Hi! Hello!

Witches are everywhere each October, but where did they actually come from?

In this Witchtober kickoff, we fly from mud-brick Mesopotamian rooms and Greek crossroads to Slavic forests and Salem courtrooms, tracing how the witch evolved from healer and threshold-keeper to scapegoat, fairy-tale trial, and modern icon. It’s cinematic, cozy, and a little eerie. Perfect for readers, writers, and anyone who loves a good origin story told by firelight.

You’ll hear how Hecate’s torches, the völva’s prophecies, Baba Yaga’s chicken-leg cottage, and real-world panics (hello, Malleus Maleficarum and Salem) shaped the archetype we still write and film today. And if you’re building worlds or characters, I’ll share clear takeaways for turning folklore into fresh, living fiction.

Light a candle, pour something warm, and step into the firelight.

💌 Links & Extras

Curious about my own eerie tale? All my links live here: linktr.ee/chicklingchronicles

Grab The Missing Reflection (out now!), find socials, bonus content, and Witchtober goodies.

🎧 If you loved this one, make sure you’re subscribed and drop a quick rating/review, it helps our little coven grow. Feeling the vibes? Leave a 🕯️ so I know your lantern’s lit.

📚 Sources & Further Reading/Watching

Books & History:

• Stacy Schiff — The Witches: Salem, 1692
• Ronald Hutton — The Witch: A History of Fear, from Ancient Times to the Present
• Katherine Howe (ed.) — The Penguin Book of Witches
• Malcolm Gaskill — Witchcraft: A Very Short Introduction
• Dubravka Ugrešić — Baba Yaga Laid an Egg (modern myth remix)

Folklore-to-Fiction (for inspo)

• Madeline Miller — Circe
• Alix E. Harrow — The Once and Future Witches
• Anne Rice — The Witching Hour
• Louisa Morgan — A Secret History of Witches
• Rachel Griffin — The Nature of Witches

Watchlist (Episode 3 sneak peek!)

• Häxan (1922) — folk horror/docu hybrid
• The Wizard of Oz (1939) — the pop-culture split: Glinda vs. Wicked Witch
• Wicked (2024) - the wicked witch's reimagining
• The Craft (1996) — teen power, price, and aesthetic
• Hocus Pocus (1993) — cozy camp classic
• The Witch (2015) — dread, belief, and the unseen
• Practical Magic (1998) — grief, sisterhood, and domestic enchantment

📬 Join the conversation

What witch from folklore or fiction haunts your imagination? Drop me a note on Instagram or YouTube comments—bonus points for a 🧹 or 🕯️ emoji.

P.S. This is Part 1 of my Witchtober mini-series.

Next up: Part 2 — “Book of Shadows: Top Witchy Reads That Cast a Spell.” Make sure you’re following so you don’t miss it.

What does it mean when a messy, awkward, campy teen vampire saga becomes one of the most defining pop culture events of the 2000s?✨🎬 Hey! Hi! Hello!

In this episode of Chickling Chronicles, we’re wrapping up our glitter-soaked trilogy by stepping into the cinematic chaos of the Twilight movies.

So reapply your body glitter, cue the Paramore playlist, and grab some popcorn, as we dive into how Twilight conquered the big screen and why we’re still talking about it nearly twenty years later.

💌 Links & Extras

Curious about my own eerie tale? Check out ⁠⁠⁠linktr.ee/chicklingchronicles⁠⁠⁠ for The Missing Reflection (available now!), plus all my socials, bonus content, and spooky behind-the-scenes ramblings.

📬 Want to share your favorite (or cringiest) Twilight movie moment? Drop a 🎥 or 👶🏻 in the comments on YouTube or DM me on Instagram. I live for this stuff!

📚 Sources & Further Reading/Watching

The Films:

• Twilight (2008), dir. Catherine Hardwicke
• New Moon (2009), dir. Chris Weitz
• Eclipse (2010), dir. David Slade
• Breaking Dawn: Part 1 (2011) & Part 2 (2012), dir. Bill Condon

Behind the Scenes & Culture

• Catherine Hardwicke interviews on Twilight’s indie approach
• Chris Weitz commentary on New Moon’s production
• David Slade on balancing horror vs. melodrama in Eclipse
• Bill Condon on adapting Breaking Dawn
• Robert Pattinson & Kristen Stewart interviews (2008–2012)
• Quileute Nation – Move to Higher Ground

Cultural Critique & Fandom

• Anne Helen Petersen – “The Kristen Stewart Backlash” (Buzzfeed, 2012)
• Lindsay Ellis – Dear Stephenie Meyer (YouTube)
• Jenny Nicholson – The Hot Mess That Was Twilight (YouTube)
• Twilight in the Cultural Imagination (fandom studies essays)