With more than 45 years of experience, Ellen Datlow is unquestionably one of the most impactful editors working in fantasy, science fiction, and horror today. She’s acquired numerous short pieces for magazines and anthologies and has been recognized for her work by many literary institutions. She’s received three Shirley Jackson Awards, three Bram Stroker Awards, […]

“The man who comes back through the Door in the Wall will never be quite the same as the man who went out. He will be wiser but less sure, happier but less self-satisfied, humbler in acknowledging his ignorance yet better equipped to understand the relationship of words to things, of systematic reasoning to the […]

Using Jung’s Archetypes in Tarot Readings Three daggers stab through a red beating heart like a child’s drawing—it’s almost comical— and a rainy storm looms in the background. The Three of Swords strikes most as a tarot card of doom. For those of us who consult the tarot regularly, it’s a dreaded card that we […]

The Sword and the Chariot “Magick is an action-based declaration that we can manipulate and change our reality” Today I introduce another of my divination tools to you: my angel cards. They’re not my typical go-to tool, but they called to me quite directly today. They are connected to the traditional tarot cards found in […]

For queer people, our existence is its own form of magic. Living as our most authentic selves in a world that encourages us not to – through stripping us of community and autonomy – is a way to rebel against such conformity. Throughout the month of June, we raise flags and dance in parades to […]

Analyzing a Modern Trend Through the Words of a Literary Legend Somewhere between the genres of speculative fiction, science fiction, and fantasy—whose differences often come down to publishing goals—lies the subgenre of “romantasy,” which has been enjoying quite a lot of popularity recently. Despite the explosion of consumer interest, criticisms of romantasy abound, and are […]

The Stream of Creation “I find the Rider-Waite to be a mirror deck, wonderful at reflecting what is and the reality of the material world.” If you have followed my channelings in any way, you will have noticed that I hardly use the typical Rider-Waite deck with the familiar major and minor arcana. They were […]

Answer: A trial from 1474. (Among other things, allegedly.) In 1474, in the good city of Basel, an independent city under the protectorate of the Holy Roman Empire, a rooster was burned at the stake for “witchcraft and defying natural law.” This account comes to us in 1626 in the Kurze Basler Chronik by Johannis […]

There are a lot of independent publishing ventures in the world of fantasy publishing. So many, in fact, that it can be difficult to know which are legitimate, long-lasting businesses and which are going to leave your twenty-dollar book order unfulfilled. It’s exhausting to sort through lists of independent publishers only to discover that they’re […]

Science, Magic, and Power: The Bruising of Qilwa and Contemporary Portrayals of Magic in Media In Naseem Jamnia’s 2022 fantasy novella, The Bruising of Qilwa, magic weaves through the narrative. In Jamnia’s world, magic has many disciplines and each specialization requires intense study with masters. Characters experiment with it in laboratories and write research texts […]

Hello to the inquiring minds of the Inglenook readers. I am bringing you an offering as your Transformation Features Writer. This reading starts familiar but takes on a different shape than my typical readings. This is not a reflection reading. This is a message. It started with my letter box filled with magnetic words for […]

Do you love magic, but don’t typically read fantasy? Fantasy isn’t everyone’s favorite genre, but the presence of magic in a book isn’t the genre-defining trait it once was. Literature-lovers rejoice: there’s enchantment to be found in the everyday world (of fiction). Ghosts, curses, and unexplainable encounters have found their way into literary fiction, allowing […]

If you’re a writer, you know that speculative or fabulist fiction can sometimes get a bad rap. The assumption is that a magic-centered story is all plot and no substance, or all strange and no literary merit. It’s true that escapism and craft is a difficult balance to strike. As publishers of magical realism and […]

Let’s face it: parenting basically is magical realism. There are lovely moments that glisten like an iridescent bubble rising to the sky, yucky moments that slime like an otherworldly mold, and terrible moments that snarl like a creature in a cave. Novels and short stories that place parenthood under a distorted, almost familiar lens show […]

Like snowflakes and fingerprints, mother-daughter relationships are never exactly alike. Memoirists like Vivian Gornick and novelists like the authors listed here will be the first to attest to how difficult motherhood and daughterhood can be to put into words. If memoir is up your alley, check out this forthcoming witchy memoir from Demeter Press. For […]

Do you love epic stories about gods and goddesses, but want a contemporary twist to the telling? One glance at this lineup of modern mythological fiction, and you’ll notice that most of them have a couple things in common: they’re written by women, about women. Maybe that’s because mythology needs a female-centric recasting, a feminine […]

Magical literature is not only reserved for the genre of fiction; throughout history, it has been written from personal experience and retrieved from memory. Accounts of magical experiences are ubiquitous throughout history, but it is perhaps the memoirs of pious women in the Middle Ages that are best remembered for their “magical” experiences, which can […]

What does it mean to be a witch? How does one get started with witchcraft? This list is geared towards answering these questions. If you’re ready to look deeper into witchcraft’s history and complicated relationship with society, take a look at these fascinating nonfiction musings from a few brilliant minds. They may also help point […]

We all know the genre of the fairy tale retelling, in which classic, familiar tales get rewritten or recast from new perspectives. But there are other ways to riff on fairy tales in contemporary novels. Authors can drop hints of classic tales into their narratives, or they can employ the very craft techniques of fairy […]

Over the years, many witches have told their tales of awakening in memoir form. While the backgrounds and settings of these narratives are all richly unique, what they share is a theme of reclaiming one’s power by embarking on an underworld journey that ultimately releases them to eschew cultural pressures and tap into their own […]

The word “witch” conjures a plethora of images: trick-or-treating children in pointy hats, a woman with a green face riding a broom, a trio of hags chanting over a cauldron. There are many interpretations of witches, and many many hundreds of books about witches, both real and fictional. Typically, fictional books about witches, or “witch […]

For women, madness is a rite of passage. Anne Sexton: “lonely thing, twelve-fingered, out of mind./A woman like that is not a woman, quite./I have been her kind.”1 Taylor Swift: “And there’s nothing like a mad woman/What a shame she went mad.”2 Florence Welch: “The magic and the misery, madness and the mystery/Oh, what has […]

Grief is a universal experience, but its ubiquity does not make it any easier. To cushion the blows of a loved one’s death, magical practices have had their own special place in grieving processes. Magical rites are enacted at the time of death, at funerals, at memorials, at graves. Some practice magic every day in […]

Holding a Mirror to the Mirror Hello to the inquiring minds of the Inglenook readers. I am bringing you an offering as your Transformation Features Writer. Just as in my last reading, I was drawn first to my box of magnetic words, a toy from the early 2000s used to make poetry or silly phrases […]

What makes a story a fairy tale retelling? Some faithfully recast characters that we know well in modern-day settings, like the characters in Helen Oyeyemi’s Gingerbread, who live in present-day England and use toxic gingerbread to travel to a distant, mystical land. Other retellings are set in the past and use the fairy tale as […]

It’s been over 15 years since Suzanne Collins published the first book in The Hunger Games trilogy, a fact that staggers its original readers. The series’ dystopian setting, teen love triangle, and hierarchal societal structure were ideas that once dominated the young adult genre, but today The Hunger Games has built a larger legacy on […]

Where to find your next haunted female protagonist Ghosts are, by far, the most versatile of the creatures who stalk English literature. In a clever writer’s hands, a specter can travel through time, remember the long-forgotten, revive long-dead secrets, all while bringing dread to the current narrative and its characters. But not all hauntings require […]

Within the umbrella of “creative nonfiction” there exists a subgenre known as “speculative nonfiction.” It’s not a widely-used term. You’re not likely to find it on Publisher’s Marketplace or the shelf labels of bookstores. But as the art of writing about life has become more popular, it’s an undeniable trend that memoirs are becoming less […]

They say you can buy anything in New York City, and it’s true–even a dose of magic. Or a witchy brownie, whatever suits your fancy. There are many New Age / crystal / spiritual stores in NYC, including Enchantments in the East Village, open since 1982, Alum Shanti and Namaste Bookshop on opposite sides of […]

As long as I can remember, I’ve been curious about fairies—faeries? Fae? (How do we address those tiny winged beings? Are they in fact winged? Tiny? Real?) Part of the draw for me is the mystery, which has followed fairies across the generations. As Jonny Dillon, archivist of the National Folklore Collection at the University […]

Have you ever felt a connection to something very deep, very old, and just beyond the grasp of the world you know? It’s like you can sense, feel, and taste an opportunity for adventure (or is it danger?) a mile away. There’s no doubt there’s folklore in your blood. The best way to ignite that […]

Beyond Phases: The Message in the Moon Hello to the inquiring minds of the Inglenook readers. I am bringing you an offering as your Transformation Features Writer. For this reading, I was discouraged from using my Enochian cards, which are normally the core source of my downloads. I felt this from the cards themselves, because […]

A good monster story is more than the sum of its body parts. A monster can mean so many things to the narrative that it lives within—a dark desire, a deep guilt, an unwanted urge—all of which makes the creature feature an endlessly fascinating genre. We’ve compiled eight excellent, innovative tales to send a shiver […]

As nonfiction writers, we know there is a certain magic in crafting what Lee Gutkind (the “father” of creative nonfiction) called “true stories, well told.” As readers, we know a similar magic exists in the reading experience of these tales, feeling the gap between our lives and the pages shorten until they feel one and […]

In the speculative fiction genre, everything is not what it seems. People shapeshift, time may or may not be real, and dystopia is ever near. Whether you read this genre for its creative commentary on modern systems or characters discovering magic in new forms, there’s plenty of recent and upcoming releases to choose from to […]

The word ‘psychic’ frequently inspires images that belong in a Spirit Halloween storefront – crystal balls, fog machines, and tarot cards. Yet more often than not, ‘psychic’ simply refers to someone with sense that goes beyond normal perception. That can include a wide range of abilities from heightened empathy to the occasionally oddly prophetic dream. […]

Have you been hearing that witchy call lately? Maybe the plethora of witch-themed paraphernalia and tchotchkes has been catching your eye more and more. Maybe you’ve started noticing witchy book titles and folklore when browsing stores and libraries. Or maybe you’ve been lingering outside longer, even in the cold, just to breathe with the wind. […]

Intimacy and Intuition Hello to the inquiring minds of the Inglenook readers. I am bringing you an offering as your Transformation Features Writer. If you want to know more about what that means, you can read my first Inglenook download for December 2025. My readings thus far have been speaking to the collective about collective […]

Magical acts have gone by many names: the devil’s work, voodoo, sorcery, trickery, dark arts, and illusory stage tricks. What is considered magic appears to be determined by an observer’s own biases—whether they believe in the supernatural, and if so, whether magic is a force for good or evil. To understand magic and the way […]

Where do you go for refuge when times are chaotic and difficult? Typically, refuge is a place we go to get away, like gardens, temples, or a wooden trail. Lately, I’ve found there is a different kind of refuge, one that comes through the choices we make: choose the path that serves your true nature […]

Have you reached your witchy era yet? Are you looking for way to recognize or perhaps broadcast some witch-curious signals? Or maybe you’re a fan of fantasy and want to know more about witch symbolism to make your reading experience more fulfilling. Regardless of whether you have spellcasting aspirations, it’s helpful to know some of […]

There is an incredible body of Holocaust memoirs and novels that has been built up over the past 80 years, from classics like Night by Elie Wiesel, originator of the phrase “never forget,” to fiction like The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, also a 2013 feature-length film. Often disturbing and vivid, Holocaust-era books give us […]

Hello to the inquiring minds of the Inglenook readers. I am bringing you an offering as your Transformation Features Writer. If you want to know more about what that means, you can read my first Inglenook download for December 2025. Before I pull any cards for you, I want to know the question I’m supposed […]

How Magical Realism Reveals Possibilities for the Future When looking at the effect of human dominion over the past five centuries, it seems there is no question that Earth’s plight is a crisis of self-destructive anthropocentrism. Philosopher Donna Haraway, in her book Staying with the Trouble, urges us to imagine a world without the human […]

It was stories of the ancient past that first drew me to Celtic witchcraft. I was halfway through my final year of university when I read about the Menai Massacre for the first time. A Roman-led attack on the island of Anglesey which was, at that time, a major druid stronghold. Countless men, women and […]

What is a spiritual book club, and what can it do for you? With the number and variety of books being published today, it can be difficult to choose what to read and when. That might be why so many readers are increasingly choosing to read with book clubs. In fact, book clubs made up […]

Coming of (P)age in 2026 To come of age in this world is to realize that you don’t actually know much of anything, especially in the Age of Information. It’s already difficult enough to not know who you are or what you’re capable of: the things lost in the churning tides of youth. To find […]

If you’ve heard of the Wheel of the Year, but never known what it is or how to follow it, this is your guide. In Wiccan and pagan tradition, the Wheel of the Year is a cycle of eight seasonal festivals or “sabbats” that mark the changing seasons. The sabbats are split between four solar […]

Book Recommendations for Yuletide The clear, bright stars of a winter night have inspired centuries of people toward stillness, self-reflection, rest, and renewal as the new year approaches. Many modern pagans and Wiccans celebrate the ancient holiday Yule by participating in the tradition on the long night of the winter solstice, which is traditionally perceived […]

            It’s fun to think of astrology as personalities. The most reductive forms of astrology are the tastiest sugar all over our teeth.             Personality prescriptions are many of those astrology memes, or when someone says, “You’re a Leo. You must be obsessed with romance (or yourself).”             Despite that, astrology is useful to me […]

For many practitioners of magic, divination requires some basic ingredients. Candles, prayer books, crystals, incense, spices, and tarot cards often serve as tools that help shape and alchemize thoughts and desires into meaningful changes in one’s life. But at what point do magical “materials” cross the line into “magical materialism”? It should come as no […]

Fall: the season of dead things brought to life, when spirits rise, vampires stalk our TV screens, songs are sung about – and possibly for – witches. This year, spooky season didn’t end with All Hallow’s Eve, thanks to the recent release of Wicked: For Good. One can almost hear the echoes of “No One […]

Hello to the inquisitive Inglenook readers. My name is Malachi Lily (they/them), and it is my distinct honor to join the illuminated Inglenook team as your monthly Transformation Features Writer. What are Transformation Features, you ask? Essentially, I offer my trained skills as an energy worker, diviner, and writer to ask relevant questions about and […]

Wondering what to buy for someone who’s a real witch? The honest answer: forage in the woods and make a handmade broomstick, wreath, or talisman. With perfume names like “Witchy Woo” hitting the market, the witch community, Inglenook included, has mixed feelings about the commodification of witch paraphernalia, and of the holidays in general. That […]

Despite its reputation as an ancient art like palm-reading or astrology, the Tarot is only a little older than Shakespeare’s plays. The illustrations of early Tarot decks used religious and literary archetypes to impart meaning, which made it enticing for spiritual guidance and cartomancy in addition to its originally intended use as a card game. […]

Is it really the holiday season for a literature lover unless it’s merry, bright, and a little uncanny? As we near the longest night of the year in December, the veil between this world and the unknown feels just a little thinner—a refrain of Samhain, if you will. That’s probably why ghost stories feel so […]

Susanna Clarke’s debut novel sets the bar for world-building literature and alternative history cloaked in the mystique of Britain’s ancient magical practices. Of course, we’re talking about 2004’s Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell. Set during the Napoleonic Wars in 19th-century England, Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell tells the tale of two rival magicians with opposing […]

This past fire season was a horrific, almost cinematic moment as the West Coast glowed with smoke and blazing canyons. The sky smoldered as arson, wind breaks of eucalyptus, and the Santa Ana’s whipped up a horrible wave of orange heat that descended the hills. Local news reports advised Californians to evacuate, to prepare, to […]

Paulo Coelho’s The Alchemist is a study in destiny that explores fear, love, and the obstacles that manifest on a personal journey. A modern and magical descendant of great works like Homer’s Odyssey, The Alchemist rewrites the concept of the hero’s journey by intertwining it with the universe conspiring to support personal destiny and the […]

If you’re familiar with the term “dark academia” (think bookshelves, libraries, stormy nights, beveled windows, ivy-covered buildings, flickering candles), you know that loving books often comes with the vibe or aesthetic of practicing magic. Bibliophilia is practically a requirement to being an occultist. The smell of paper, the feel of pages flipping through fingers, and […]

Mediumship 101 Have you ever wondered what the origin story of a medium looks like? For most, the ability to communicate and interpret messages from the dead began in childhood. For others, it takes major life milestones or traumatic events for gifts to begin taking shape. There’s no one size fits all way to become […]

We have a bone to pick with Roald Dahl. It’s not that we don’t love his mischievous, real-world tale of witches lurking in 1980s England — we do. The Witches is a classic. It’s suspenseful, adventurous, and filled with danger and vivid imagery. But Dahl’s witches are bald, clawed, square-footed, and “allergic” to children. They’re […]

Toto, I don’t think we’re in Hogwarts anymore. Hogwarts is over, for a variety of reasons (i.e. J.K. Rowling’s political views, and the fact that it’s been a minute since Harry Potter was novel). The books are distant childhood memories and the movies are outdated and overplayed (especially around Christmas–have you noticed?). Regardless of how […]

Magical realism is when elements of the fantastic, the otherworldly, the “unreal” slip into day-to-day life. “Unreal” is in quotes because reality is subjective, and good literature’s purpose is to present a variety of perspectives and challenge our notion of what’s “normal” and “accepted.” When used like a lens with a blurring effect, magical realism […]

Disney’s recent release of the live-action Snow White has us reflecting on the age-old tale of beauty, moral goodness, and purity. As Maria Tatar points out in The Classic Fairy Tales (Norton, 2nd edition, 2017), nearly every critical interpretation of the tale “identifies a stable core that turns on some kind of rivalry between mother […]

In magical realism, otherworldly elements often highlight political tensions, injustice, and oppression. Protagonists (and authors, for that matter) lean on magic as a coping mechanism to escape or re-contextualize the brutalities and all-too-familiar discrimination of the past, doing away with romanticized notions of bygone eras. When authors dive into magical historical fiction, the real or […]

When In the Dream House was published by Carmen Maria Machado in 2019, it rocketed into the limelight. Lauded for its literary experimentation and brave exploration of the taboos and complexities of queer identity, the book won the 2019 Bisexual Book Award, 2020 Judy Grahn Award, 2020 Lambda Literary Award for Nonfiction, and 2021 Rathbones […]

Does the forest comfort or scare you? In literature, the woods are often portrayed as oases of freedom and clarity, where humans can shake off conformity and follow their natural instincts. But the woods can also be cautionary, a place to be wary of and avoid. Darker stories show the forest as a place of […]

In the mood for some stories that are short, sweet (OK, maybe not sweet), and leave you wondering about the very nature of reality? While magical realism can pull us into deeply dark, kaleidoscope-like versions of day-to-day life that change our perspective forever, the truth is that a mini dose of surrealism is sometimes all […]

Need to leave the real world for a bit? Ever dreamt of getting lost in a magical library? (Were you one of those kids who watched the lesser-known Macaulay Culkin movie from 1994, The Pagemaster?) In addition to being the ultimate fantasy of all bibliophiles, the magical library trope is essentially its own genre. One […]

Why is the Sleeping Beauty fairy tale so compelling? In a world where we can easily feel like we’re going through the motions, a tale that reminds us to “wake up” and begin participating in our own lives seems timelier than ever. Sleeping Beauty also appeals because of its commentary on the transition from childhood […]

Nothing tops a warm cup of tea and a little dystopia before bed (and no, we don’t mean the nightly news). It can be weirdly soothing to read about another world’s hot mess to either help contextualize or see loopholes in our own. Dystopian novels remind us of what’s at stake. There are many dystopian […]

Is love more powerful than magic? (Are the two mutually exclusive?) In witch romance books, love and magic are often pitted against one another (see classic precedents like Alice Hoffman’s Practical Magic). The best books about witchy romances put a spotlight on the struggles modern women face as they juggle self-identity with the pursuit of […]

It’s a powerful thing when a book opens your mind to questions about the human condition, the self, and the nature of existence. Novels that are philosophical in nature take us to fictional worlds that somehow reflect and comment on the human condition better than reality, making you question where you stand and what you […]

Though most associate magic with fantasy books (i.e. dragons, spell-casting, witches, and vampires), magic can also be found in novels about the mundane, everyday world. This is the foundation for magical realism and speculative fiction. This post won’t get into the technical or craft considerations for these two genres, but know that there are some. […]

If there was any silver lining to 2020’s lockdowns, it was the rediscovery of nature. There’s something uniquely rejuvenating about being outside, feeling bare feet on grass, touching bark, tasting ocean spray. Whatever your preferred landscape, the books in this list will inspire and reinvigorate, intertwining drama and self-discovery with the howling call of the […]

This year in literature is proof that we’re living in a romance and fantasy heyday. As we hit the halfway mark in 2025, readers are already settled in for wild, heart-tugging rides that open our imaginations and awaken our pining. Which reads count as the top fantasy and romance books of 2025? Here’s a peek […]

Five hundred years ago, midwives were the leaders in reproductive health. Many of these healers were wise in the ways of plants and herbs, wombs and childbearing, and some were targeted as witches (Ehrenreich and English). Though these “witches” were the ones who understood bones, muscles, herbs, and drugs at a time when physicians “were […]

Have you always wondered about fairies (faeries, or “the fae”)? Were you one of those kids who played in the backyard or the woods, talking to imaginary friends, and collecting treasures from nature as if they were gold? These book recommendations are for the brave souls who step off beaten paths and walk the margins […]

At the start of this tale, one Smoky Barnable sets off to marry Daily Alice—but first, he has to find her. Edgewood is off the beaten path, much like Little, Big itself—no ordinary dwelling place. The upstate New York mansion has three hundred and sixty-five stairs, seven chimneys, fifty-two doors, twelve (“twelve what? There must […]

Need that perfect gift for the reader or writer in your life? Here’s our lineup for 2023’s best gift ideas, from classics to recent releases. Fiction For the Bibliophile Reading Once Upon a Tome by Oliver Darkshire is like stepping into an episode of Fawlty Towers or the British version of The Office, except in […]

Well, maybe that wasn’t the Association of Writers & Writing Program’s exact claim in their recent virtual panel discussion, but they did explore the connections between writing and divination (i.e. Tarot and other practices that seek to reveal the future. So…magic, essentially.) Magic and writing have a lot in common. They’re both acts of manifestation. […]

A teenage boy tosses and turns in bed. He can’t stop his racing thoughts, and it feels like the weight of the world is on his shoulders. A dark force looms over him, threatening everything he loves, but he feels isolated and afraid. No one believes his concerns, even as it’s plain to see the […]

The cursor on the blank page blinks off and on, taunting the fingers sitting still against the keyboard. The phone beeps a cheery tone from across the room, reminding you, yet again, that your first draft is overdue by a week. To distract yourself from the words that just won’t come, you click into your […]

The work of Ursula K. Le Guin resonates across time and cultures. From the rich traditions of the Hainish universe to the vast islands of Earthsea, Le Guin’s novels are some of the most detailed and transformative in the history of the genre. In her lifetime, Le Guin published nearly 50 novels, novellas, children’s books, […]

Who says witches have to be villains? Some of the greatest modern storytellers certainly don’t think so. Authors like Pam Grossman and Madeline Miller are flipping the script on witch stories, offering empowering and nuanced alternatives to the stereotype of the old hag in the woods who curses princesses with spindles. It’s important to tell […]

Are you reading this article when you “should” be working? Good. That means you’re already well on your way to mastering the art of slow living.  Slow living isn’t just about taking more naps or promising not to check your email during your lunch break (but for the record, you should absolutely do both). No, […]

What does love mean? Really sit with this question for a moment. If you were to create your own dictionary right now, what would you say about it? Jot your answer down somewhere. Text it, type it out, write it on the napkin laying next to you—just put “love” into words.  Are you surprised by […]