The Witch’s Headstone by Neil Gaiman (2008)
Tuesday’s Tale of Ghost Fantasy, June 16, 2020
Who doesn’t remember the green-tinted witch in the film The Wizard of Oz? Deep inside our psyches, we are all ten years old when it comes to witches. And maybe deep inside you, there’s a little bit of a witch stirring around. Have you buried her? Author Neil Gaiman writes a story about not just ghosts in a graveyard, but a buried witch. I urge you to dig up your witch’s psyche and read what Gaiman has to tell us about traveling into the world of the dead.
A boy named Bod. A witch. A graveyard. And of course, ghosts. Bod is a charming young fellow who visits a graveyard and is fascinated by the residing ghosts. He meets the witch from Potter’s Field, and his adventures with an ancient Indigo man and the frightening Sleer create even higher dangers in the real world. An exciting little story that is entertaining for adults as well as for a YA audience (55% of YA readers are adults who love coming of age stories). I felt like I was brought back to my own childhood with Bod exploring a graveyard and finding a mission to please the dead. As modern fairy tales go, this one is a charmer.
(Witch’s Headstone, illustration)
Read the short story here at Epdf.pub:
https://epdf.pub/the-witchs-headstone.html
The Witch’s Headstone was published as a short story in the Gaiman anthology M Is for Magic and in Wizards: Magical Tales from the Masters of Modern Fantasy. This story is an excerpt from Gaiman’s The Graveyard Book. If you enjoyed Bod’s adventures, you’ll likely want to read The Graveyard Book.
Don’t forget to view the INDEX above of more free reading at Reading Fiction Blog. This is a compendium of over 200 short stories by more than 100 famous storytellers of mystery, suspense, supernatural, ghost stories, ‘quiet horror,’ crime, sci-fi, and mainstream fiction.
Follow or sign up to join me in reading
one short story every month.
Comments are welcome! Feel free to click “LIKE.”
Other Reading Web Sites to Visit
Kirkus Mystery & Thrillers Reviews
Books & Such Bibliophilica NewYorkerFictionOnline
Lovecraft Ezine HorrorNews.net Fangoria.com
Slattery’s Art of Horror Magazine Chuck Windig’s Terrible Minds
Horror Novel Reviews HorrorSociety.com
Monster Librarian The Story Reading Ape Blog
For Authors/Writers: The Writer Unboxed