100 Wicked Little Witch Stories

by Martin H. Greenberg (editor), Stefan R. Dziemianowicz (Compiler), Robert H. Weinberg (Compiler)

The witches populating these 100 delightfully scary stories include practitioners of white magic & devotees of black. Most are female, some are male. A few are thoroughly unclassifiable. They can be born witches or made witches, & may mix simple love potions or volatile concoctions that threaten all we hold dear. Some resent not receiving the treatment they feel they deserve from lesser mortals. Yet others don't even realize they wield special influences at all. The many writers who take on this ever-fascinating character (so fundamentally human unlike more paranormal, ghostly brethren) include Martin Mundt ("Hunger Gulag"), Juleen Brantingham ("Burning in the Light"), Joe R. Landsdale ("By the Hair of the Head"), Simon McCaffery ("Blood Mary"), Terry Campbell ("Retrocurses"), Lawrence Shimel ("Coming Out of the Broom Closet") & a coven of others.
1-900 Witches (1995) by Nancy Holder & Wayne Holder
A Bluegrass Reunion (1991) by Ben P. Indick
A Good Witch is Hard to Find (1995) by Dawn Dunn
A Hundred Wicked Little Witches (1995) by Steve Rasnic Tem
A Matter of Honor (1995) by R.K. Partain
A Spell of Research (1995) by Brad Strickland
A Wild Imagination (1995) by Lisa Lepovetsky
Agnes Across the Swamp (1995) by Rich Powell
Alan's Mother (1982) by Steve Rasnic Tem
Alexa, Skyclad (1995) by Benjamin Adams
Angel of the Eleventh Hour (1995) by Joel S. Ross
Bad Things Happen on Halloween (1995) by Lucy Taylor
Bat's Blood for Flavor (1995) by Adam Niswander
Beware of That For Which You Wish (1995) by Linda J. Dunn
Blood Mary (1995) by Simon McCaffery
Blood of the Rose (1995) by Karen E. Taylor
Brownouts (1995) by Billie Sue Mosiman
Burning in the Light (1995) by Juleen Brantingham
Buyer Beware (1995) by Tim Waggoner
By the Hair of the Head (1983) by Joe R. Lansdale
Cerile and the Journeyer (1995) by Adam-Troy Castro
Coming Out of the Broom Closet (1995) by Lawrence Schimel
Common Grounds (1995) by P.D. Cacek
Crone Woman Gandy (1995) by Richard Gilliam
Daughters (1995) by Juleen Brantingham
Djinneyah & Co. (1995) by Blythe Ayne
Do No Harm (1995) by Rebecca Maines [as by Pamela D. Hodgson]
Dressed to Live (1995) by C. Bruce Hunter
Dry Skin (1995) by Charles M. Saplak
Empty Jar, Empty Chest (1995) by Stephanie D. Shaver
Fiddlesticks (1995) by T. Diane Slatton
Fish Witch (1995) by Lois H. Gresh
Garage Sale (1982) by Janet Fox
Gather Round & You Shall Hear (1995) by Billie Sue Mosiman
Gramma Grunt (1995) by Donald R. Burleson
Grue Love (1995) by David Annandale
Hair Apparent (1995) by Don D'Ammassa
Heartbeat (1995) by Nancy Kilpatrick
How the Cookie Crumbles (1995) by Mollie L. Burleson
Hunger Gulag (1995) by Martin Mundt
I Feel My Body Grow (1995) by Del Stone Jr.
In the Cards (1995) by Martin R. Soderstrom
In the Chimney (1995) by Simon MacCulloch
Introduction (1995) essay by Stefan Dziemianowicz
Invitation (1995) by Katherine Ramsland
Inyanga (1995) by Janet Berliner & George Guthridge
Just the Two of Us (1984) by Hugh B. Cave
Magician's Assistant (1995) by Adam Meyer
Master Tape (1995) by Rick Hautala
Midnight Oil (1995) by L.S. Silverthorne
Mobile Home (1995) by Michael Skeet
Newcomer (1995) by Tim Waggoner
Next-Door Neighbor (1995) by Don D'Ammassa
Of Time & Space (1985) by Hugh B. Cave
On the Wings of the Wind (1995) by Lillian Csernica
Overdue Fines (1995) by Edo van Belkom
Patience Serves (1995) by David C. Smith
Plauge (1995) by Ernest Leong
Poppet (1989) by Kathryn Ptacek
Predator's Moon (1995) by Mel Odom
Psychomildew Love (1995) by Lois H. Gresh
Quiet, Please (1995) by Richard Parks
Requiem For a Witch (1995) by Dan Perez
Retrocurses (1995) by Terry Campbell
Saunder's Little Friend (1948) by August Derleth
She's My Witch (1995) by Norman Partridge
Shedding Light on the Black Forest (1995) by Brent Monahan
Silhouette (1995) by Mark McLaughlin
Small Workers (1995) by Lois Tilton
Somewhere My Love (1995) by Stephen Mark Rainey
Sorrow Laughed (1995) by Tom Piccirilli
Suffer A Witch (1995) by Mike Baker
The Angel (1995) by Christie Golden
The Career Witch (1995) by Thomas M. Sipos
The Caress of Ash & Cinder (1995) by Cindie Geddes
The Conversion of St Monocarp (1995) by Brian McNaughton
The Devil's Men (1995) by Brian Stableford
The Edge (1995) by Adam Meyer
The Fit (1980) by Ramsey Campbell
The Good Witch of the North Wing (1995) by Stephen L. Antczak
The Hammer of Witches (1995) by Mark Kreighbaum
The Hunt (1995) by James S. Dorr
The Laurel Lake Laser (1995) by Aimee Kratts
The Mandrakes [Averoigne] (1933) by Clark Ashton Smith
The Metropolitan Menace (1995) by Gordon Linzner
The Mudang (1995) by Will Murray
The Only Way to Fly (1995) by Nancy Holder
The Politically Incorrect Witch (1995) by Benjamin Adams
The Princess & the Frog (1995) by Tina L. Jens
The Robbery (1995) by Cynthia Ward
The Scream (1995) by Mike Ashley
The Witch of the World's End (1995) by Darrell Schweitzer
There'll Be Witches (1995) by Joe Meno
This House (1995) by Yvonne Navarro
Under Control (1995) by Danielle D'Attilio
Vend-A-Witch (1995) by Adam-Troy Castro
Wall of Darkness (1948) by Basil Wells
Witch Hunt (1995) by Christie Golden
Witch Hunter (1995) by Douglas Hewitt
Witches in the Cornfield=Dangerous Scarecrow (1954) by Carl Jacobi
Young Goodwife Doten (1995) by Robert M. Price

Genres: Horror, Fiction, Short Stories, Fantasy, Anthologies, Witches, Halloween

624 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1995

About the author

Martin Harry Greenberg was an American academic and speculative fiction anthologist. In all, he compiled 1,298 anthologies and commissioned over 8,200 original short stories. He founded Tekno Books, a packager of more than 2000 published books. In addition, he was a co-founder of the Sci-Fi Channel.

For the 1950s anthologist and publisher of Gnome Press, see Martin Greenberg.

Reviews

[Krista · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent book full of stories of good, bad and mediocre witches. Some are creepy, some are funny but they're all worth reading. Especially if you're like me and love this stuff.

[Skjam! · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was my Halloween season read this year, an anthology commissioned for the Barnes & Noble stores in 1995. There are indeed one hundred stories in this hefty tome, averaging about six pages. They are not all about wicked witches, however–some witches are good, some are just mischievous and others are hard to pin down on a moral spectrum.

The volume opens with “Gramma Grunt” by Donald L. Burleson, about a man returning to the streets of his youth and regretting joining in the taunting of an old woman; and ends with “Wall of Darkness” by Basil Wells, about a piece of architecture that should be left strictly alone. The oldest story (1933) is “The Mandrakes” by Clark Ashton Smith, one of his Averoigne stories, in which a murdered woman gets revenge through the title plants (though her murderer really should have known better.) Most of the stories, however, are exclusive to this book.

As might be expected, most of these short tales depend heavily on a twist ending, but a few play it straight with an ending foreshadowed throughout. Sometimes good people win the day, other times evil triumphs, at least for now. There are many variations in kinds of witches as well, the most bizarre of which is “Fish Witch” by Lois H. Gresh, with a witchlike species of marine life; it’s got a garbled ending.

Some standouts include:

“The Only Way to Fly” by Nancy Holder: An aging witch who’s lost most of her magic through disuse is on a plane to her retirement home. Does she have one last spark in her?

“There’ll be Witches” by Joe Meno: Danny is haunted by witches that make him wet the bed. Too bad the grownups never see them!

“Beware of That for Which You Wish” by Linda J. Dunn: A woman who wants a son consults a wiser woman; the wheel turns.

“The Devil’s Men” by Brian Stableford and “The Caress of Ash and Cinder” by Cindie Geddes, a nicely matched pair of stories about witch hunts seen from the victim’s point of view, yet with mirrored perspectives.

“The Mudang” by Will Murray: A skull collector discovers a two for one bargain in Korea.
There’s a few duds as well, but they’re short and over quickly.

Scattered among the stories are a few with scenes of rape, abuse, suicide and other triggery subjects. There’s also a few iffy ethnic portrayals and those of you who are witches may not like some of the more negative portrayals.

You can probably find this for a modest price from Barnes & Noble; I see it’s been reprinted several times. Or try the library if you just want to read the bits by your favored authors.

[C.C. Bruno · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some of the stories in here were really fun. Others were just kind of bland. It was nice to have so many short stories that you could just pop in and read at random through.

[Amy L. Phillips · Rating 5 out of 5]

A nice collection of 100 stories about witches. The stories vary in length and age appropriateness, but are excellent selections and are wonderful for this time of year! The witches found within these stories range from completely fictional tales (Hansel & Gretel retellings to The Wizard of Oz’s Glenda the Good Witch) to stories of modern day Wicca practitioners and even of the infamous Salem Witch Trials. There are tales of good and bad witches, young maids as well as old crones, beautiful witches, old crones (complete with the nose wart of course), and even the occasional warlock. It was a fun read and of the 100 stories there were only 2 or 3 I didn’t like.

[Chelsea · Rating 3 out of 5]

the only reason this gets 3 stars is because it's not fair to punish every one for a few who are bad and their was more bad than good in this book took me over a month to read because I couldn't keep on going

[Jamie · Rating 4 out of 5]

The collection covers the gauntlet: white magic, black magic, maidens, mothers, crones, Wiccan, Satanist, male, female, past, present, expert, dabbler, clueless, etc. I'll be honest, it was actually Charlotte Macleod's A Long Time Sitting from Cat Crimes vol.2 that made me decide to try out this collection. It was late December when I set out to read this 600 page doorstop and I was pushing to read and review six books in two weeks on top of all the usual holiday nonsense and a crazy work schedule, but you can't say no when your brain is telling you exactly what it wants to read, especially after weeks of not wanting to read anything.

Aside from the usual few that were unclear and at least one that was totally confusing (Fish Witch by Lois H. Gresh [something about carnivorous mermaids, maybe?]), the stories were all impressive. While nothing stood out the way some in 100 MLM did (style, technique, genre, cleverness, etc.), it did manage to avoid the two strikes it had against it. Only three stories have any errors, and they’re only small spelling/spacing mistakes, and the stories were all unique despite sharing the same tropes. Actually I’m coming to suspect that the 100 MLM examples might have only seemed impressive because the rest of the book became so repetitive.

Personal favorites include;

A husband and wife build their cottage near The Mandrakes field, but after the wife leaves to visit kin her husband starts adding a bitter extra ingredient to their love potions. Clark Ashton Smith's story was interesting, engaging, and had plenty of otherworldly revenge.

A guardian angel can't keep up with his charge anymore and is in the market for a broomstick. The Laurel Lake Laser (by Aimee Kratts) is the fastest on the market, with one small problem; the sellers have a very select clientele and he doesn't make the cut. This story is adorable and the witch and angel are too cute as they try to find a workaround that prevents either from breaking the rules they're bound to.

A modern-day witch is on her way to a retirement home when she comes to the conclusion that she has a decision to make. The Only Way to Fly by Nancy Holder is one of the best and pokes a little fun at the generation gap between modern-day witches and the traditional old crones on broomsticks, and what might happen to the one when they've been forced to accept modernization and forget the old ways.

The Career Witch who can't maintain her control after death doesn't deserve their black cat. Unluckily for those she'd left behind, Cassandra's influence is still as strong as it's ever been, and she has a little unfinished business to take care of. Thomas M. Sipos gives us a fantastic story of desperation and double crosses.

In Linda J. Dunn's story the first wish is free, but sometimes you only get things right on the second try so Beware of That for Which You Wish. A sweet story of being happy with what you have, and of passing the mantle.

Crone Woman Gandy has blessed many newborns, but she proclaims this child to have a very special future. Richard Gilliam crosses the religious lines in the sand and hands us a harmonious mixture to marvel at.

A witch takes great pride in matching up the most unlikely couples, and this is the story of what might be one of her most impressive successes. Grue Love by David Annandale is super cute, and not at all what I was expecting. You almost forget it's a love story until that first meet-up takes you by surprise.

In possibly my favorite short story of the year, She's My Witch by Norman Partridge is a 1950's zomrom. It's sweet, it's romantic, and it's got bloody, bloody revenge.

Empty Jar, Empty Chest means nothing good for a witch low on ingredients, but her latest customer should be able to solve both problems. Stephanie D. Shaver's story smacks of double cross and it tickles me how charmingly conniving the witch's plan is.

A wronged woman spends a long time wreaking her revenge, but Patience Serves her well, and her last victim is going to have a very long time to think about what he's done. David C. Smith's story has a delicious revenge plot with the absolute perfect conclusion.

An Invitation is offered to interview a witch for a magazine article, but the encounter proves more life changing than one woman expected. Katherine Ramsland's story is on my favorites list not only for the intriguing concept of witchcraft as a parasitic, transmittable virus, but also for the implications this creates.

In Saunder's Little Friend by August Derleth, a man pays no attention to the instructions left to him in his aunt's will, and suffers her revenge. The revenge starts right away and the tension is exquisitely built.

A particular standout is A Hundred Wicked Little Witches by Steve Rasnic Tem. The story isn't anything special (a disturbed man sees witches in everything) but the prose is amazing:

"That's enough, that's enough now," Jack whispered to the witch of wallpaper, whose face stared at him from every inch of the wall, her eyes bright and piercing as needles, her mouth a thin line of disapproval. But like all the others, she would not stop.
(Steve Rasnic Tem, 100 Wicked Little Witch Stories (compilation), p. 446)


EDITING:
Only five mistakes I could catch, but one story has three of them and it’s very noticeable (two missed spaces and an extra letter). I can let the stories with only one mistake slide, but someone absolutely should have caught the one with three. I’m only deducting a half star since it only affects 3% of the stories in the book.

ENJOYABILITY:
A very important category and one that gets tops marks from me. There were so many directions being taken that every story was fun to read and none became repetitive.

THEME:
Is the theme followed? Yes, with a number of variations on it keeping the stories unique and interesting. I wasn’t really considering this as a legitimate category until I realized Detective Stories would have gotten a very low score on it.

THE VERDICT?
Very good, Greenberg, you’ve redeemed yourself for the moment. Now let’s see if you can keep it up in Cat Crimes 3 .

[Sara 🦷 · Rating 3 out of 5]

got this book from a Jordanian thrift store in 2019 and it’s been laying on my shelves and traveling with me until i finally decided to start reading it October 2024… ANYWAYS i’d consider this a little barnes and nobles kids bedtime story book for spooky season and nothing close to an occult witchcraft book for adult knowledge or even decent fiction. not bad though

[Robin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed the stories in this collection quite a lot. Very entertaining.

[Vikrams · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good

[Kirsten Jones · Rating 3 out of 5]

A collection of short stories. A couple were good. Most weren’t. Over 600 pages of mediocre witch stories. I only finished it because it was part of a library challenge.

[Bryan Whitehead · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’d like to turn a women’s studies class loose on this one. The stories herein range from reverent tributes to wiccan ways right down to sexist screeds populated with the usual cast of wart-nosed crones. And as with other books in this series, the quality levels vary widely, from some eerie little tales that evoke childhood memories of scarecrows and other old Halloween standbys all the way down to a story in which the first-person narrator dies in the end, another that so closely resembles an old Twilight Zone episode that the word “plagiarism” comes to mind, and a couple of pieces so “poetic” that they’re next to impossible to follow. This particular volume differs from most of the others in the set in that the stories are not arranged in alphabetical order (they seem to be roughly grouped by theme), and the vast majority of the contributions – at least judging from the copyright pages – appear to have been written specifically for inclusion herein. Technical distinctions aside, however, most readers will find the usual mix of a few stories to love, a few stories to loathe, and a hefty dose of tales to be greeted with varying measures of indifference.

[Granny · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you are looking a for a positive book about witchcraft, that would include only about one story in eight of the ones in this book. But if you like tight, well-written short stories, the percentage goes way up.

This book reminded me why I used to enjoy reading anthologies so much in my younger days. The best of the stories are quite tasty, and the lesser lights are over quickly and on to the next one. Many of the stories revolve around poetic justice, or simply revenge. If you're old enough to remember Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine, the stories are very much along the same lines. If vengence is a dish best served cold, then cover up with a blanket and settle in for a long, delicious night.

[Steve Goble · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am still working my way through these mostly very short witch stories, but I am enjoying it enought to give it a thumbs up here. This is my Halloween season reading this year (I might add some other stuff, too). Basically, it's a wide mix of tales of witchcraft -- some scary, some funny, some grotesque, etc. A mixed bag, as most anthologies are, but fun stuff.

[Jenna Gall · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some of the stories are good but not all

[Deirdre · Rating 4 out of 5]

In a mix of urban fantasy and horror these are short shorts with an average of 6 pages per story some are longer and some are shorter. They're a good mix and I enjoyed most of them.

[Dan · Rating 3 out of 5]

So far a mix of some good and not so good stories. Good book to read a story or two in bed at night.

[Robin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Some of the short stories are really creepy.

[May · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting, eclectic and sometimes disturbing collection of witch-themed short stories.

[Jen Steffens · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read a few stories...and they were good. I just want to let someone else have the book :)

[Jennifer · Rating 2 out of 5]

Stories were varied in quality. Its quite a think book, so best to take breaks and read something in between. Some promoted negative stereotypes.

[Robbie · Rating 2 out of 5]

So far decent. Its good to read if you want a short story before bed.

[Amanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Like any collection of short stories, this one was hit-or-miss, but there are still a few gems.

[Stephen Antczak · Rating 3 out of 5]

My story "The Good Witch of the North Wing" is in this book.

[Braveharlot · Rating 4 out of 5]

An enormous compilation of witchy stories, some good, some less so, but overall an enjoyable lot.