Horror Annotation: Slewfoot: A Tale of Bewitchery by Brom

Author: Brom

Title: Slewfoot: A Tale of Bewitchery

Genre(s): Horror, Fantasy, Historical Fiction

Publication Date: September 14, 2021

Number of Pages: 305

Geographical Setting: Sutton, Connecticut (Fictional)

Time Period: 1666

Plot Summary: After the mysterious disappearance and presumed death of her husband, Abitha, a young Englishwoman living in Puritan New England, is determined to maintain their farm and build a new life for herself despite her brother-in-law's threats. Meanwhile, an ancient spirit reawakens in the forest with no memory of its past. To the Wildfolk, he is Father, a guardian of nature. To the villagers, he is Slewfoot, a harbinger of death. As Abitha becomes more vulnerable and desperate, she turns to the half-man, half-beast for help. The story that unfolds is one of Pagan and Puritan, of good and evil, of bounty and bloodshed.

Subject Headings:

Demonology - Fiction

Magic - Fiction

Good and evil - Fiction

Revenge - Fiction

3 terms that best describe this book: Creepy, lyrical, character-driven

Appeal:

Setting: Wyatt & Saricks (2018) note that settings in Horror novels help establish tone and are often more vividly described than the characters themselves, writing, "So richly are setting evoked that readers can feel and sense the evil, often before its source is revealed" (p. 219). When Abitha is first introduced, she is searching for her escaped goat and hesitates as she reaches the forest:

"She reached the edge of the field and stopped, scanning the dense Connecticut woods. The trees, even at the dead end of winter and with all their leaves shed upon the cold earth, swallowed the light, making it difficult to see more than a hundred paces forward... She noted the heavy clouds above, could see dusk would be upon her soon. If she didn't find Samson by dark, then the wolves, or one of the wild men, surely would. Yet she hesitated, knowing how easy it was for a soul to enter that wood and never come out" (p. 5). 

Brom's descriptions of the forest immediately create a sense of dread. At this point, readers are already aware of the evil lurking deep within the forest and will be on edge as Abitha ventures forward. 

Additionally, Brom's descriptions of Sutton create a sense of claustrophobia:

"Each home conformed to the one before it, all covered in unpainted clapboard and partitioned off by gray wattle fences made from saplings. Abitha searched for decorations—a wreath, a string of dried flowers—anything to break up the suffocating sea of gray. She found only drab waxed windowpanes staring back at her as though judging, weighing her soul, just waiting for her to say or do something wrong so they could condemn her before all" (p. 19).

Language/Style: Wyatt & Saricks (2018, p. 220) note that Horror authors frequently use "elaborately lush" language to transport readers into the novel, and Brom is successful in this:

"She wiped her hair from her eyes and saw it, there in the tricky shadows of twilight, a giant tree towering above her, impossibly immense, its leaves crimson, the color of blood" (p. 9).

Additionally, Wyatt & Saricks (2018) note that illustrations are often included in Horror novels, "making visual that which might be better unseen" (p. 221). Brom's illustrations are uniquely creepy and reminiscent of Stephen Gammell's artwork in Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark. Each chapter is introduced by an unsettling image, and 8 pages of plates feature beautifully haunting renderings of notable characters.

 

Character: Wyatt & Saricks (2018) note, "If readers follow the story from the point of view of the villain, then they experience the story from the heart of the evil... Novels in which the reader sees the action from the protagonist's point of view are even more terrifying as readers experience everything the protagonist does and art as caught off guard" (pp. 221-222). Slewfoot: A Tale of Bewitchery is told from multiple perspectives, including Abitha, Slewfoot, Wallace (Abitha's brother-in-law), and the Wildfolk. While Abitha is the protagonist of this story, it is not clear who the villain is. Each character is caught in the web of good and evil, and each commit sinister acts. Readers will root for and fear Abitha and Slewfoot in the same breath.

3 Relevant Fiction Works and Authors:

The Year of the Witching by Alexis Henderson

Henderson, A. (2020). The year of the witching. Ace.

"Observing a life of strict submission to minimize discrimination for her mixed heritage, Immanuelle discovers dark truths about her community’s church and her late mother’s secret relationship with the spirits of four witches" (Novelist).

Common Appeals: Witchcraft, menacing, dark fantasy

In the House in the Dark of the Woods by Laird Hunt

Hunt, L. (2018). In the house in the dark of the woods. Little, Brown and Company.

"A Puritan woman goes missing deep in the woods of colonial New England, and soon must face the supernatural horrors that her people had only imagined up until then" (Novelist).

Common Appeals: Historical horror, Puritans, witchcraft, creepy

 The Hunger by Alma Katsu

Katsu, A. (2018). The hunger. G.P. Putnam's Sons.

"A supernatural reimagining of the Donner Party story follows a group of wagon-train pioneers who navigate sanity-testing misfortunes, including the mysterious death of a little boy and a series of disappearances that cause a beautiful member of the group to be accused of witchcraft" (Novelist).

Common Appeals: Historical horror, witchcraft, creepy 

3 Relevant Nonfiction Works and Authors:

Six Women of Salem: The Untold Story of the Accused and Their Accusers in the Salem Witch Trials by Marilynne K. Roach

Roach, M. K. (2013). Six women of Salem: The untold story of the accused and their accusers in the Salem Witch Trials. Da Capo Press.

"A narrative that allows readers to experience the history of the Salem witch trials through the eyes of those who lived it" (Novelist).

Common Appeals: Witches, Colonial America

The Witches: Salem, 1692 by Stacy Schiff

Schiff, S. (2015). The witches: Salem, 1692. Little, Brown and Company.

"The Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Cleopatra analyzes the Salem Witch Trials to offer key insights into the role of women in its events while explaining how its tragedies became possible" (Novelist).

Common Appeals: Colonial America, Puritan, Witchcraft

The World of Lore: Monstrous Creatures by Aaron Mahnke

Mahnke, A. (2017). The world of Lore: Monstrous creatures. Del Rey.

"A book inspired by the popular podcast LORE—which tells the fascinating, and sometimes terrifying, true stories behind myths and legends around the world, and is about to become an online streaming TV series—shares the true stories that inspired the legends of famous monsters, from werewolves to wendigo to the Jersey Devil" (Novelist).

Common Appeals: Creepy, occultism, illustrated books

Extra: 1 Relevant Movie:

The Witch (2015)

"A family in 1630s New England is torn apart by the forces of witchcraft, black magic and possession" (IMDB).

Common Appeals: Colonial America, witchcraft, creepy

References: 

Wyatt, N., & Saricks, J. G. (2018). The readers' advisory guide to genre fiction: Third edition. American Library Association.