Witches on the Screen

October 19, 2020

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Special announcement for anyone reading along at home: This Thursday’s post will be on Shelby Mahurin’s Blood & Honey because we were so excited and also library deadlines. Never fear, The Witches of New York by Ami McKay will join us next week! That is all!

Dear readers, if you didn’t see today’s post coming, you’re welcome. In case you missed this, WE LOVE WITCHES! We love them in books, we love them on screens. You get the idea, and while we’re all about books, today we’re book adjacent with witches on screens. Some of our favorite screen witches have a bookish origin, while others do not, and we love them all equally. We might love them more if they came to book club though, and I’d love a witch’s take on slaying a vampire. I have read a couple of books that include such information (like Discovery of Witches and Dead of Night, but I’m always here for more), but what better way than to discuss it live! So, if you know any witches, please invite them to our Virtual Book Club on Friday, October 30th at 7:30 p.m. CST where we’ll discuss The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix. Regular readers are welcome as well, and maybe someone will come through and invite a witch! Whoever you are, be sure to register here!

While I don’t watch much TV anymore, I used to be glued to the screen. I’ve never seen Mary Poppins (fun fact – this is Julie Andrews’s first film AND she won an Academy Award for Best Actress for it), but wow could I quote some Bedknobs and Broomsticks, and I even had a daybed with bedknobs that would come off when I was little and thought it was the coolest. I remember watching Bewitched growing up and wishing I could wiggle my nose like Samantha and have my room picked up. The theme song still brings a smile to my face any time I hear it! TGIF was a definite thing for me growing up. You know the shows, where you had to race the commercial break to use the bathroom or grab a drink? All of TGIF was it for me, and as such, Melissa Joan Hart had the original “the aunts” in my life on Sabrina the Teenage Witch. I would be remiss without including the joy I felt at all the songs in The Wizard of Oz, but I must also confess that I’ve never read the book (but I do have a couple of e-copies and my children have a dead tree). I should also include that my standing Halloween costume since about 2008 has been the wicked witch of the east. Yes dear readers, I have ruby red slippers and striped socks, and then I wear whatever feels appropriate for the event and the weather with it and call it a day. Usually the ensemble does include a witch hat as well.

Kiernan Shipka as Sabrina from IMDB

As I got a little older, Hocus Pocus, and then Practical Magic became my witchy movies of choice, and I still love both of them! And then I got a little older still, or a lot as the case may be, and don’t watch TV as much, but when I do, I have a few go-tos depending on my mood. One of those includes the Chilling Adventures of Sabrina. I’m just a few episodes into this, but it’s such spooky fun to watch. I 100% have a nostalgic love for the characters, but I also am here for the creepy, dark treatment the show has been given in the new form. Kiernan Shipka was SO good in Mad Men, that I wanted to see what she did with the character of Sabrina, and so far it’s brilliant! I will confess to needing a bit of a palate cleanser after an episode of this show because it’s intense, so I’ve been alternating it with Lucifer. Yes, I understand the irony, and I love it. No, it was not on purpose. The continuation is most definitely on purpose. Now readers, both shows are rated TV-14 and I highly suggest adult previews for children younger than middle school. I wouldn’t want my eight year old to watch either. I know some twelve year olds that could handle either, and I know some a bit older who might struggle. Know your people, and let me know if you have questions.

One note on behalf of my Adam: he watched Charmed and Buffy the Vampire Slayer (ohhh, Buffy should come to book club!!), and because of his appreciation for them, I may end up watching them at some future date. I’ve seen episodes of both, years before I met him, but didn’t watch either regularly. I want to watch Discovery of Witches, but given my lack of TV time (or lack of spending my time that way would be more accurate), I don’t have the required subscriptions. Perhaps I’ll plan a binge weekend in the future and address the subscription issue. (I’m pretty sure the last time I had a binge weekend was actually with Ashley and we started the Harry Potter series. I’ll also note my nearly 10 year old dog was a puppy at the time, so it’ll probably be a while still.)

What is a topic or theme that you’re here for in book and screen form? Do you have a favorite screen version of witches?

~ Nikki

It’s that time of year when the evenings are getting longer and chilly so it’s time to cuddle up with our favorite people and watch our favorite holiday movies. I’m not talking about those Christmas movies that my sister watches all year round, but those Halloween-themed shows that keep up geared up for the spooky season. There’s nothing better for me than a warm beverage, a blanket, and Hocus Pocus on the big screen TV. Or the little TV, or my computer, or on my kindle. I usually watch it 2-3 times every October. It has put a spell on me since 1993 and I am still obsessed with the Sanderson sisters. They have joined my collection of badass women Funko Pop!’s with this year’s edition of the witchy trio riding non-traditional brooms.

When I was in New Orleans earlier this month, I got to cuddle my new little witchling, I mean baby niece, while watching the Rousselle girls’ favorite Halloween movie, Halloweentown. It is a Disney channel original movie with several sequels, but the original is unanimously the best. There might be some cheesy moments, and the costumes might be lower-budget, but Debbie Reynolds is pure class and timeless sass! We watched on Disney+. I also found out that the city of St. Helen’s, Oregon, where Halloweentown was filmed puts on The Spirit of Halloweentown Festival every year, with the giant pumpkin in the square and everything! #BucketListAdventures with my sister and her kids fo’sho.

It’s pretty obvious that I’m not big on the horror aspects of Halloween, but I don’t shy away from things that are darker and more paranormal. I’ve watched 13 of 15 seasons of Supernatural with Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles. Adam and I have watched the entire series of HBO’s True Blood which are based on the Sookie Stackhouse series of novels by Charlaine Harris. Penny Dreadful with Eva Green and Josh Hartnett [Nikki here: and Timothy Dalton – why have I not seen this?] makes my heart beat super fast. And then, if we want to go back to classic witches, there’s always the Scottish play, and this version of Macbeth has Michael Fassbender and Marion Cotillard playing the Lord and Lady. I am reminded of a time in high school when we were required to make film versions of the plays for AP English. My group chose Macbeth and one of my favorite scenes to play were the witch scenes…

By the pricking of my thumbs, something wicked this way comes! Below you’ll find a list, but not an extensive one, of notably witchy movies and TV shows. Y’welcome, I’m off to watch witches on screen…

~Ashley

Movies: