THEhe Halloween week has begun and it’s time to think about “trick or treat?”. Books and films also play their part along with costumes and decorations. Between spells, magic, steaming cauldrons, potions with age-old recipes and ampoules at hand, the night of the witches, and not only that, is approaching. And it’s better to be prepared.
Halloween, magical atmospheres in autumn books
Sure, there’s Dracula and Frankenstein, the mummy, the werewolf and the ghost. But who said that on Halloween the atmosphere always has to be scary? It can also be suffused, sweet and soft, made of magic considered white, between spells and beneficial potions, and with witches who are not always and only evil. Nor do they necessarily have to have an aquiline nose complete with a leek. On the contrary. In fact, there are Halloween books and films that tell about this holiday with touches of magic but without fear.
Behind cauldrons and magic books, very distant traditions. As the book says Occult History & Iconography by Peter Forshaw, Associate Professor of Western Esotericism at the Center for the History of Hermetic Philosophy at the University of Amsterdam. Between philosopher’s stones, spells, tarot, astrology and alchemy, the author tells the world of the occult, how it was born, the symbolism and how it has influenced contemporary culture. A bit like Witches – Damned stories in art by Luca Scarlini. A true collection of works of art that tell how witches have always been among the most fascinating and curious subjects for painters of all centuries.
Magical atmospheres also in one of Neri Pozza’s latest novelties, The Montrolfe Curse by Rohan O’Grady, first released in 1962 and now also available in Italy, the The book is full of suspense, mystery and Edgan Allan Poe atmospheres with a touch of black humor. Want an even cozier Halloween? The magical atmospheres, of that good and welcoming magic, are not lacking in A dark and secret magic – Love and spells at tea time by Wallis Kinney and in Rewitched by Lucy Jane Wood, out October 29, two novels from romantic, enveloping and reassuring settings.
For those who want to remain faithful to dark atmospheres, Iperborea has presented for the occasion Hunters of darkness by Ben Machel. A gripping essay like a thriller that tells of the investigations of a parapsychologist between séances, possessions and infestations.
The great classics for everyone
It’s a short step from books to Halloween films. And what to see if you’re not a horror fan? First of all with a great classic of the period, Hocus Pocus. Much loved by the little ones, but also by adults let’s face it, the early nineties setting and the town of Salem always captivate. Among cauldrons, noses of important witches and a very young Sarah Jessica Parker.
Another great classic? Brass knobs and broomsticks. With Angela Lansbury riding a broom in 1940 London. Unmissable. Just like Love and Spells, The Witches of Eastwick And The Witches. The first film is now very famous, also thanks to its soundtrack, among the most used on social media for reels of the period. Nicole Kidman and Sandra Bullock play two witch sisters in a large house where they immediately want to move.
For The Witches of Eastwick just the cast is enough: Jack Nicholson, Cher, Michelle Pfeiffer and Susan Sarandon. The Witches instead it is based on the children’s story of the same name by Roald Dahl and is available in two versions, in the first Angelica Houston in the role of the evil Supreme Witch, in the second she is played by a very blonde Anne Hathaway. For a scary Halloween…but only sometimes.