Retro Horror Vol. 1 - Wither

So as I mentioned earlier this year, Stormi and I have decided that once every two months, we will pick an older horror title that we've wanted to read and then share our thoughts with you.  We are aiming to read books published before 2000.  So read on to see what I chose for this month (which just happened to be a rare reread for me) and then hop over to Stormi's @ Books, Movies, Reviews! Oh My! to see what title she picked.

TITLE: Wither (Wendy Ward #1)

AUTHOR: J.G. Passarella

PUBLISHER: Pocket Books

PUBLISHING DATE: February 1, 1999

FROM GOODREADS: 

The college town of Windale, Massachusetts is proud of its colonial heritage -- including the legend of a dark witches' coven dating back three hundred years. No one in Windale actually believes in witches, or imagines that the blood-chilling history of the Salem era could repeat itself. But three people, unknown to one another, are experiencing vivid nightmares of palpable horror. They alone can sense that a dreadful presence is working its way into their waking lives -- and is coming for them. 

On a crisp autumn night deep in the New England woods, a young woman's harmless channeling ritual unwittingly opens the floodgates to terrifying forces that have, until then, lived only in dreams: a breed of demonic creatures with the power to shatter an unsuspecting town. 

MY THOUGHTS: As I've mentioned, this was a reread for me but since I read it over 20 years ago, I only had a slight recollection of it.  I remembered really liking the MC, Wendy, and loving the fact that it was about witches - scary, terrifying witches!  I was curious to see if this book would stand up to my expectations and recollection of loving it so well and I'm glad to say it did.  I also recalled that Wendy used to ride an exercise bike all the time and would map out destinations on a map on her wall and keep track until she got there.  I thought that was such a cool concept back in 1999 and will even admit to copying it for a while.

So on to the story.  Wendy is the daughter of Windale College's presidence in Windale, Massachusetts.  The town is very old and colonial and has seemed to build its survival on a basis of three witches who were once hanged there during the time of the Salem Witch Trials.  Wendy herself has always went against the grain and is a practicing Wiccan.  Once night she holds a ceremony in the woods but following that, weird things start to happen.  Did Wendy unknowingly releases the wrath of these three witches, or is something even more complex at play?

There are several things I really enjoy about this book.  The setting is a small college town seeped in history.  It makes for a great setting for this ominous tale.  I also really like the characters.  The book centers on three main individuals.  There's Wendy, her pregnant college professor Karen, and then a neglect little 8 year old, Abby.  During the tale we get to see what's happening from all three perspectives.  The reader is also given flashbacks along the way of the prosecution of the three witches - Wither and the other two in her coven.  The whole book flows rather well and it's a near-perfect mix of atmosphere and action.  And finally, there are some truly gruesome and terrifying scenes in this novel.  Like people falling from the sky, stadium bleachers collapsing and mysterious injuries while sleeping.

I am so glad that I chose this as the first book for our feature.  Once again I feel in love with Wendy and the town of Windale.  I'm pleased to say there are two more books which were released following Wendy and her town and while reading this, I learned from the author that he is currently working on book 4.  You have no idea how thrilled I am.  Look for future reviews of the next two in the series because once again, I've become addicted to this witchy world.

RATING: 4 PAWS

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Bram Stoker Award-Winning co-author of Wither (which has been moved to the J. G. Passarella profile. Also, I'm the author of Wither's Rain, Wither's Legacy, Kindred Spirit, Shimmer, Exit Strategy & Others (fiction collection), and the media tie-in novels: Supernatural: COLD FIRE (MAR 2016), Night Terror & Rite of Passage, Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Ghoul Trouble, Angel: Avatar & Monolith. Look for Grimm: The Chopping Block. 

My author website is Passarella.com but I am also owner & web designer at AuthorPromo.com

New Blogging Feature - Retro Horror Reads!

So toward the end of last year, Stormi from Books, Movies, Reviews! Oh My! and I started toying with a new idea we had.  We both are trying to read some older books on our shelves and wishlists so we put our heads together and came up with a new blog feature - Retro Horror Reads.  

Our goal is to read an older horror title at least every two months and even though we'll be reading different titles, we'll be reviewing them on the same day and linking to each other's post.  So basically our followers will get two different reviews at once.  This way we can each focus on different books.  We also decided that we would read books which were published prior to 2000, so the books you see will be at least 20 years old.

I pulled some older titles off my shelves and found some which are available at my local libraries.  I also scoured Grady Hendrix's Paperbacks From Hell to see what I could locate.  For the month of February, I chose Wither by J.G. Passarella.  I read this YEARS ago and loved it and since I have such a fondness for it, I want to see if it stands up all these years later.

Windale is a proud old American town that embraces its colonial heritage, including the legend of a witches' coven dating back 300 years. No one in Windale actually believes in witches, but three people are experiencing vivid nightmares; and an evil presence is working its way into their lives.

Hope you enjoy this new endeavor!