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Witch Spell
Thirteen-year-old Brenda "Bobbie" Wheeler is sent by her witch mother to an English boarding school, where she begins receiving some very special lessons from her distant father. Original.
- GenresHorror
286 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published June 1, 1993
2 people are currently reading
115 people want to read
About the author
Guy N. Smith
175 books298 followersI was born on November 21, 1939, in the small village of Hopwas, near Tamworth, Staffordshire, England. My mother was a pre-war historical novelist (E. M. Weale) and she always encouraged me to write.
I was first published at the age of 12 in The Tettenhall Observer, a local weekly newspaper. Between 1952-57 I wrote 56 stories for them, many serialized. In 1990 I collated these into a book entitled Fifty Tales from the Fifties.
My father was a dedicated bank manager and I was destined for banking from birth. I accepted it but never found it very interesting. During the early years when I was working in Birmingham, I spent most of my lunch hours in the Birmingham gun quarter. I would have loved to have served an apprenticeship in the gun trade but my father would not hear of it.
Shooting (hunting) was my first love, and all my spare time was spent in this way. In 1961 I designed and made a 12-bore shotgun, intending to follow it up with six more, but I did not have the money to do this. I still use the Guy N. Smith short-barrelled magnum. During 1960-67 I operated a small shotgun cartridge loading business but this finished when my components suppliers closed down and I could no longer obtain components at competitive prices.
My writing in those days only concerned shooting. I wrote regularly for most of the sporting magazines, interspersed with fiction for such magazines as the legendary London Mystery Selection, a quarterly anthology for which I contributed 18 stories between 1972-82.
In 1972 I launched my second hand bookselling business which eventually became Black Hill Books. Originally my intention was to concentrate on this and maybe build it up to a full-time business which would enable me to leave banking. Although we still have this business, writing came along and this proved to be the vehicle which gave me my freedom.
I wrote a horror novel for the New English Library in 1974 entitled Werewolf by Moonlight. This was followed by a couple more, but it was Night of the Crabs in 1976 which really launched me as a writer. It was a bestseller, spawning five sequels, and was followed by another 60 or so horror novels through to the mid-1990's. Amicus bought the film rights to Crabs in 1976 and this gave me the chance to leave banking and by my own place, including my shoot, on the Black Hill.
The Guy N. Smith Fan Club was formed in 1990 and still has an active membership. We hold a convention every year at my home which is always well attended.
Around this time I became Poland's best-selling author. Phantom Press published two GNS books each month, mostly with print runs of around 100,000.
I have written much, much more than just horror; crime and mystery (as Gavin Newman), and children's animal novels (as Jonathan Guy). I have written a dozen or so shooting and countryside books, a book on Writing Horror Fiction (A. & C. Black). In 1997 my first full length western novel, The Pony Riders was published by Pinnacle in the States.
With 100-plus books to my credit, I was looking for new challenges. In 1999 I formed my own publishing company and began to publish my own books. They did rather well and gave me a lot of satisfaction. We plan to publish one or two every year.
Still regretting that I had not served an apprenticeship in the gun trade, the best job of my life dropped into my lap in 1999 when I was offered the post of Gun Editor of The Countryman's Weekly, a weekly magazine which covers all field sports. This entails my writing five illustrated feature articles a week on guns, cartridges, deer stalking, big game hunting etc.
Alongside this we have expanded our mail order second hand crime fiction business, still publish a few books, and I find as much time as possible for shooting.
Jean, my wife, helps with the business. Our four children, Rowan, Tara, Gavin and Angus have all moved away from home but they visit on a regular basis.
I would not want to live anywhere other than m
I was first published at the age of 12 in The Tettenhall Observer, a local weekly newspaper. Between 1952-57 I wrote 56 stories for them, many serialized. In 1990 I collated these into a book entitled Fifty Tales from the Fifties.
My father was a dedicated bank manager and I was destined for banking from birth. I accepted it but never found it very interesting. During the early years when I was working in Birmingham, I spent most of my lunch hours in the Birmingham gun quarter. I would have loved to have served an apprenticeship in the gun trade but my father would not hear of it.
Shooting (hunting) was my first love, and all my spare time was spent in this way. In 1961 I designed and made a 12-bore shotgun, intending to follow it up with six more, but I did not have the money to do this. I still use the Guy N. Smith short-barrelled magnum. During 1960-67 I operated a small shotgun cartridge loading business but this finished when my components suppliers closed down and I could no longer obtain components at competitive prices.
My writing in those days only concerned shooting. I wrote regularly for most of the sporting magazines, interspersed with fiction for such magazines as the legendary London Mystery Selection, a quarterly anthology for which I contributed 18 stories between 1972-82.
In 1972 I launched my second hand bookselling business which eventually became Black Hill Books. Originally my intention was to concentrate on this and maybe build it up to a full-time business which would enable me to leave banking. Although we still have this business, writing came along and this proved to be the vehicle which gave me my freedom.
I wrote a horror novel for the New English Library in 1974 entitled Werewolf by Moonlight. This was followed by a couple more, but it was Night of the Crabs in 1976 which really launched me as a writer. It was a bestseller, spawning five sequels, and was followed by another 60 or so horror novels through to the mid-1990's. Amicus bought the film rights to Crabs in 1976 and this gave me the chance to leave banking and by my own place, including my shoot, on the Black Hill.
The Guy N. Smith Fan Club was formed in 1990 and still has an active membership. We hold a convention every year at my home which is always well attended.
Around this time I became Poland's best-selling author. Phantom Press published two GNS books each month, mostly with print runs of around 100,000.
I have written much, much more than just horror; crime and mystery (as Gavin Newman), and children's animal novels (as Jonathan Guy). I have written a dozen or so shooting and countryside books, a book on Writing Horror Fiction (A. & C. Black). In 1997 my first full length western novel, The Pony Riders was published by Pinnacle in the States.
With 100-plus books to my credit, I was looking for new challenges. In 1999 I formed my own publishing company and began to publish my own books. They did rather well and gave me a lot of satisfaction. We plan to publish one or two every year.
Still regretting that I had not served an apprenticeship in the gun trade, the best job of my life dropped into my lap in 1999 when I was offered the post of Gun Editor of The Countryman's Weekly, a weekly magazine which covers all field sports. This entails my writing five illustrated feature articles a week on guns, cartridges, deer stalking, big game hunting etc.
Alongside this we have expanded our mail order second hand crime fiction business, still publish a few books, and I find as much time as possible for shooting.
Jean, my wife, helps with the business. Our four children, Rowan, Tara, Gavin and Angus have all moved away from home but they visit on a regular basis.
I would not want to live anywhere other than m
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
January 2, 2021
If you are in the mood for a sleazy witch story, WP is just the ticket. Published by Zebra in 1993, WS basically follows a teenage named 'Bobbie' (who is female) off to college and mayhem. Bobbie's parents are witches, but her father chose the 'left hand path' to Satan while his mother clung to the 'white side' with Jesus. I do not know that much about Wicca, but that did not sit well with me. Anyway, Bobbie's parents are separated and have been since Bobbie's birth. Mom wants Bobbie to keep her distance from evil dad, but both parents have a reputation as witches. After a potential expose on their relationship, mom pulls some strings and has Bobbie accepted to a prep school ASAP.
There is some more backstory, but essentially, Bobbie discovers powers she never know she had at the new school (turns out her father's death helped in this regard) and starts using them to form a coven at the school. Soon, she has a cohort of fornicating witches who praise Satan and proclaim Jesus is dead. There are some truly graphic sex scenes here, albeit largely revolting. Smith has quite an imagination but like Wicca, I had a hard time buying his Satanic rituals.
So, if you want a badly researched witch story with sleazy Satanic sex scenes, this may be a book for you. It is entertaining for all that. 2.5 stars, but rounding down for the super cheesy ending.
There is some more backstory, but essentially, Bobbie discovers powers she never know she had at the new school (turns out her father's death helped in this regard) and starts using them to form a coven at the school. Soon, she has a cohort of fornicating witches who praise Satan and proclaim Jesus is dead. There are some truly graphic sex scenes here, albeit largely revolting. Smith has quite an imagination but like Wicca, I had a hard time buying his Satanic rituals.
So, if you want a badly researched witch story with sleazy Satanic sex scenes, this may be a book for you. It is entertaining for all that. 2.5 stars, but rounding down for the super cheesy ending.
August 18, 2021
Witch spell:
I had never read Guy N.Smith. I had heard of him although I am not that well versed in fiction. Of course I know about Ray Bradbury, Stephen King, etc. But I've never really read too much fiction to begin with. I've read Carrie 3 times, A terminator novel, and a few children's book as a child. Guy N.Smith seemed like a chance in terms of writing. I was pleasantly surprised that there is a reason why he was so prolific and has his fans and made a name for him self in the cheap horror paperback shelves of libraries and book stores. As I read I realized that he was actually a very good writer and I liked moments of his writings that had nothing to do with the actual story. Such as describing the houses/neighborhoods and the people who lived there. Stuff like that.
Basically Witch spell is about a 16 year old perfect Christian "witch" who is sent to an isolated school surrounded by woodlands. Sent there by her mother to get her daughter away from the possibly negative publicity spawned by her father who is known in the local papers as "The black magician" ie he's a satanist.
Sure, some of the subject is absurd and is typical 1970's "witch" hollywood understanding, but so what? It's fictional. Guy N.Smith isn't some con artist who is claiming "I was a high satanist priest who sacrificed babies and women to satan, drunk their blood, etc. You know, all the sh*t that we see in movie; slanderous lies from the Medieval ages. Ya, I did all the stuff. I had a 100,000 member satanic coven. I had my own drug ring. I met Charles Manson, I cursed; put spells onto albums. If you play the song backwards you can hear the satanic messages...then I found GAWD and became a christian. GIVE ME MONEY!"
Or as con man Marjoe Gortnor put it "I'll say 'for 7 years I was a heroin addict. Pill dropper. LSD tripper. High gliding and low sliding. Bustin heads and dropping reds. Kickin in doors and banging whores. Settin tires and slashing fires. But then I met a man who was hanged up on my hang ups'...you know, that's the kind of testimony. You give up all of that."
"You know, this a business and you know, you don't get meetings or you don't get book back UNLESS you have a GIMMICK. It's incredible, they'll say 'oh brother so and so has the ministry of laying on of hands or he's got the ministry of prophecy.' but that's a GIMMICK and the guys who have the GIMMICK get the big meetings and do good."
Which reminds me today's "news". As Megan Kelly ironically pointed out about Alex Jones "He's not wrong that he was quote 'under pressure' to say this was a hoax [Sandy hook conspiracy theory]. The people who listen to [name of website] WANT HIM TO SAY THAT and many of them BELIEVE THAT."
"they wanted him to say it, AND HE SAID IT, then he dialed it back again, then he'd say it again; so he's been playing this cat and mouse game for years."
Even during the lawsuit against him by the parents [The parents won their defamation case] the lawyer pointed out that a lot of his followers were writing comments like "Hey, Alex, why aren't you talking about Sandy hook?"
As his own cohost admitted "I'm just trying to be what the people want."
And that's become all "news". Even fox news has gotten hate for telling their viewers the truth about the election and vaccines from time to time and of course they've doubled down on anti vaccines and "the election was stolen" due to that.
As one of my favorite youtubers put it "People like him [con man/convicted rapist who died in an insane asylum. Who is responsible for "music is satanic. I would know. I was a satanist priest. We'd curse albums all the time."]; he was a pathological liar and a convicted rapist. Can find a niche within a certain milieu of society. He was essentially telling tall tales at an audience primed to believe them [like David Koresh]." He then rightly compares him to Marjoe Gortnor who admitted he was a liar and a con man "But that's another example of somebody who was able to thrive in that market where...they're primed to believe the extraordinary and if you pitch things in their lingo that APPEALS TO THEIR BIAS AND THEIR WORLDVIEW then they'll be less questioning of it." Which is exactly why the radical feminist "rape culture"/"Believe the women" of the 70s and 80's became big supporters of the satanic panic conspiracy theory along with the right wing/christian fundamentalist.
I think the "rape culture" Law and Order:SVU episode totally hit it on the head. Doing an episode based on the FALSE UVA "rape" case.
Journalist: I feel gratified in some small way I helped start dialog about campus rape.
SVU detective: Then why didn't you start that dialog with a story that was true?
Journalist: Because most other stories are more complicated. They are 'he said-she said' Heather's story CHECKED EVERY BOX. CAL-ADMINISTRATION, ENTITLED WHITE BOY FRAT BOY JOCKS, THE PACT MENTALITY, GANG BANG MENTALITY ASPECT. IT WAS A STORY I HAD BEEN LOOKING FOR!
SVU detective: And damn the consequences, right?!
"Rape culture" college professor: Does it matter by whom? How long?
Prosecutor: Yes, YES! It matters...we are talking about criminal charges based on specifics of what happened.
"Rape culture" college professor: It doesn't matter what happened to her. What matters is that "it" happens every day and these FRAT BOYS STRUT AROUND LIKE THEY ARE BULLET PROOF, SO IF A FEW OF THEM FINALLY HAVE TO TAKE RESPONSIBILITY, GOOD! THIS ISN'T ABOUT YOU, OR THESE BOYS, OR THIS CASE [or the false accuser/actual victim] OR ANY OF US. THIS IS ABOUT ELIMINATING 'RAPE CULTURE'."
Or as a history professor and documentary explained about the medieval witch hunt;
Narrator: Witches anoint themselves with magic potions [made from babies] and fly to a gathering of wild orgiastic dance [dancing was considered obscene and immoral], gluttony, and indiscriminate sex. They throw them selves into frenzy revelry urged on by demons. But the sabbat's ultimate abomination is the ritual sacrifice of new born babies. [where they drink it's blood and eat it's body.]
Historian: Of course the function of these age old fantasies about wild promiscuity, incest, bestiality, eating of children. These too are all ideas that represent chaos. The exact opposite of what's suppose to be going on and I believe personally that this is because such periods need a symbol of chaos. IF YOUR TRYING TO MAKE A NEW COSMOS. BUILD A NEW ORDER, YOU NEED SOMETHING TO REPRESENT DISORDER and the devil did that supremely well.
Historian: These beliefs are used as a means of PROPAGANDA. Probably believed in by those who propagate them, but never the less propaganda for INTIMIDATING AND TERRORIZING a peasant population.
In a different documentary about the witch hunts the historian also points out that the mass executions and false accusations were a form of "social cleansing."
Dictionary - the large-scale removal from an area of members of a social category regarded as undesirable.
Wiki - class-based killing that consists of the elimination of members of society who are considered "undesirable,"
Exact same thing with "rape culture", the satanic panic of the 80's into the 90's, and the modern day Qnon. It's propaganda used to JUSTIFY their biases and desires and hatred.
Youtube personality being sardonic; Like they don't actually think top politicians in this country secretly run [satanic cannibalistic]child sex rings and they just say that about democrats to destroy their brand and to win politically and to use[EXPLOIT]child molestation as a deeply callous immoral political football. It almost sounds like that is what your saying and what they [Qnon] seem to be doing with their actions.
Going back to one of my favorite youtubers I mentioned;
"and it's just so bizarre that this guy who was so obviously a fraud and pathological liar is STILL being believed by a certain segment of the internet THAT WOULD VERY MUCH LIKE TO BELIEVE the outlandish things that he put forward."
Witch spell is NOT that. Witch spell is fiction and based on old 1970's fiction that was so widely popular during the 70's. In films and paper backs. Of course frauds and urban legends took a lot of that and put it into their story. So movies and paperbacks and fictional made up stories/con jobs/urban legends told as real blended together mixing into a moral panic. As one of these con man admitted, he saw the exorcist and Rosemary's baby and it "inspired him" and "if the devil does have PR, it is definitely cinema." and even the reporter hilariously stated "the fictional portrait of these satanist is EERILY SIMILAR to the reported claims of satanic cults." And of course...what inspired these movies and paperbacks? Old beliefs, some historical/religious knowledge and of course the witch hunts.
My point is, don't get bogged down by "oh it isn't historically/factually accurate" in terms of Wicca and so forth. Ya, it's fiction. Like "Scooby doo! and the witch's ghost." where repeatedly they bring up a character being only 1/6th Wiccan, like being a witch is "in your blood. It's inherited." That's nonsense. It's a religion like any other, but this is again FICTIONAL and it's a common trope in the witch fiction genre. Also, some actual wiccans and "new agers", etc really do believe they were born with powers.
Smith doesn't waste time with anything in this story. Within the first 33 pages we get 2 people injured or dead from witch craft and he also waste no time getting Bobbie the 16 year old daughter into the setting; the isolated school for rich kids surrounded by the forest. In fact we don't even get any introductions like in a movie where we see the main character drive up to the school, step out of the car, and carry their luggage up to their room and on the way meet the teachers, janitor, principal, etc. Then once in their room they meet their room mates. Instead it's literally describing the school and it's history, and the principal. Then "Bobbie felt home sick" Next thing we know Bobbie is in ballet class and the teacher is introduced along with a male ballet dancer.
I kind of felt like I should of been listening to the theme song of Suspiria while I read this.
Many things that happen in the book do seem very absurd and ridiculous where it's hard to take it seriously but as things go further and further that becomes less so. Bobbie her self is not very likeable at all at any point and is constantly doing a 180 and Guy N.Smith apparently really likes to cut to the chase, not wasting any time and things start off slowly but gradually escalate very quickly. Each page is a total set up for things to happen and I kept wondering how this was all going to end. Although I did get the ending correct.
The book also makes it very clear that the entire story takes place within a single month.
My favorite part that I think was very very well done is the chemistry/P.E teacher story line. Which very much reminds me of Suspiria and Inferno.
Alice Cooper talking about Suspiria: The music is getting louder and louder and the dog turns and rips his throat out, for no apparent reason.
Over all, not a bad book. A good book. Has many deaths, some gory deaths, some disturbing ideas. Has an interesting premise. I just wish Smith did better with Bobbie in terms of character.
Also...the synopsis on the back of the book is a lie.
1.Bobbie is 16 not 13.
2.No one gets sick [supposedly from witchraft].
3.A student does not slit their wrist. No one does.
4.The book implies the "illness" and suicide by slashing your wrist were the "beginnings" of what was to come. Not true at all. A teacher gets hurt and a student has a "heart attack".
I had never read Guy N.Smith. I had heard of him although I am not that well versed in fiction. Of course I know about Ray Bradbury, Stephen King, etc. But I've never really read too much fiction to begin with. I've read Carrie 3 times, A terminator novel, and a few children's book as a child. Guy N.Smith seemed like a chance in terms of writing. I was pleasantly surprised that there is a reason why he was so prolific and has his fans and made a name for him self in the cheap horror paperback shelves of libraries and book stores. As I read I realized that he was actually a very good writer and I liked moments of his writings that had nothing to do with the actual story. Such as describing the houses/neighborhoods and the people who lived there. Stuff like that.
Basically Witch spell is about a 16 year old perfect Christian "witch" who is sent to an isolated school surrounded by woodlands. Sent there by her mother to get her daughter away from the possibly negative publicity spawned by her father who is known in the local papers as "The black magician" ie he's a satanist.
Sure, some of the subject is absurd and is typical 1970's "witch" hollywood understanding, but so what? It's fictional. Guy N.Smith isn't some con artist who is claiming "I was a high satanist priest who sacrificed babies and women to satan, drunk their blood, etc. You know, all the sh*t that we see in movie; slanderous lies from the Medieval ages. Ya, I did all the stuff. I had a 100,000 member satanic coven. I had my own drug ring. I met Charles Manson, I cursed; put spells onto albums. If you play the song backwards you can hear the satanic messages...then I found GAWD and became a christian. GIVE ME MONEY!"
Or as con man Marjoe Gortnor put it "I'll say 'for 7 years I was a heroin addict. Pill dropper. LSD tripper. High gliding and low sliding. Bustin heads and dropping reds. Kickin in doors and banging whores. Settin tires and slashing fires. But then I met a man who was hanged up on my hang ups'...you know, that's the kind of testimony. You give up all of that."
"You know, this a business and you know, you don't get meetings or you don't get book back UNLESS you have a GIMMICK. It's incredible, they'll say 'oh brother so and so has the ministry of laying on of hands or he's got the ministry of prophecy.' but that's a GIMMICK and the guys who have the GIMMICK get the big meetings and do good."
Which reminds me today's "news". As Megan Kelly ironically pointed out about Alex Jones "He's not wrong that he was quote 'under pressure' to say this was a hoax [Sandy hook conspiracy theory]. The people who listen to [name of website] WANT HIM TO SAY THAT and many of them BELIEVE THAT."
"they wanted him to say it, AND HE SAID IT, then he dialed it back again, then he'd say it again; so he's been playing this cat and mouse game for years."
Even during the lawsuit against him by the parents [The parents won their defamation case] the lawyer pointed out that a lot of his followers were writing comments like "Hey, Alex, why aren't you talking about Sandy hook?"
As his own cohost admitted "I'm just trying to be what the people want."
And that's become all "news". Even fox news has gotten hate for telling their viewers the truth about the election and vaccines from time to time and of course they've doubled down on anti vaccines and "the election was stolen" due to that.
As one of my favorite youtubers put it "People like him [con man/convicted rapist who died in an insane asylum. Who is responsible for "music is satanic. I would know. I was a satanist priest. We'd curse albums all the time."]; he was a pathological liar and a convicted rapist. Can find a niche within a certain milieu of society. He was essentially telling tall tales at an audience primed to believe them [like David Koresh]." He then rightly compares him to Marjoe Gortnor who admitted he was a liar and a con man "But that's another example of somebody who was able to thrive in that market where...they're primed to believe the extraordinary and if you pitch things in their lingo that APPEALS TO THEIR BIAS AND THEIR WORLDVIEW then they'll be less questioning of it." Which is exactly why the radical feminist "rape culture"/"Believe the women" of the 70s and 80's became big supporters of the satanic panic conspiracy theory along with the right wing/christian fundamentalist.
I think the "rape culture" Law and Order:SVU episode totally hit it on the head. Doing an episode based on the FALSE UVA "rape" case.
Journalist: I feel gratified in some small way I helped start dialog about campus rape.
SVU detective: Then why didn't you start that dialog with a story that was true?
Journalist: Because most other stories are more complicated. They are 'he said-she said' Heather's story CHECKED EVERY BOX. CAL-ADMINISTRATION, ENTITLED WHITE BOY FRAT BOY JOCKS, THE PACT MENTALITY, GANG BANG MENTALITY ASPECT. IT WAS A STORY I HAD BEEN LOOKING FOR!
SVU detective: And damn the consequences, right?!
"Rape culture" college professor: Does it matter by whom? How long?
Prosecutor: Yes, YES! It matters...we are talking about criminal charges based on specifics of what happened.
"Rape culture" college professor: It doesn't matter what happened to her. What matters is that "it" happens every day and these FRAT BOYS STRUT AROUND LIKE THEY ARE BULLET PROOF, SO IF A FEW OF THEM FINALLY HAVE TO TAKE RESPONSIBILITY, GOOD! THIS ISN'T ABOUT YOU, OR THESE BOYS, OR THIS CASE [or the false accuser/actual victim] OR ANY OF US. THIS IS ABOUT ELIMINATING 'RAPE CULTURE'."
Or as a history professor and documentary explained about the medieval witch hunt;
Narrator: Witches anoint themselves with magic potions [made from babies] and fly to a gathering of wild orgiastic dance [dancing was considered obscene and immoral], gluttony, and indiscriminate sex. They throw them selves into frenzy revelry urged on by demons. But the sabbat's ultimate abomination is the ritual sacrifice of new born babies. [where they drink it's blood and eat it's body.]
Historian: Of course the function of these age old fantasies about wild promiscuity, incest, bestiality, eating of children. These too are all ideas that represent chaos. The exact opposite of what's suppose to be going on and I believe personally that this is because such periods need a symbol of chaos. IF YOUR TRYING TO MAKE A NEW COSMOS. BUILD A NEW ORDER, YOU NEED SOMETHING TO REPRESENT DISORDER and the devil did that supremely well.
Historian: These beliefs are used as a means of PROPAGANDA. Probably believed in by those who propagate them, but never the less propaganda for INTIMIDATING AND TERRORIZING a peasant population.
In a different documentary about the witch hunts the historian also points out that the mass executions and false accusations were a form of "social cleansing."
Dictionary - the large-scale removal from an area of members of a social category regarded as undesirable.
Wiki - class-based killing that consists of the elimination of members of society who are considered "undesirable,"
Exact same thing with "rape culture", the satanic panic of the 80's into the 90's, and the modern day Qnon. It's propaganda used to JUSTIFY their biases and desires and hatred.
Youtube personality being sardonic; Like they don't actually think top politicians in this country secretly run [satanic cannibalistic]child sex rings and they just say that about democrats to destroy their brand and to win politically and to use[EXPLOIT]child molestation as a deeply callous immoral political football. It almost sounds like that is what your saying and what they [Qnon] seem to be doing with their actions.
Going back to one of my favorite youtubers I mentioned;
"and it's just so bizarre that this guy who was so obviously a fraud and pathological liar is STILL being believed by a certain segment of the internet THAT WOULD VERY MUCH LIKE TO BELIEVE the outlandish things that he put forward."
Witch spell is NOT that. Witch spell is fiction and based on old 1970's fiction that was so widely popular during the 70's. In films and paper backs. Of course frauds and urban legends took a lot of that and put it into their story. So movies and paperbacks and fictional made up stories/con jobs/urban legends told as real blended together mixing into a moral panic. As one of these con man admitted, he saw the exorcist and Rosemary's baby and it "inspired him" and "if the devil does have PR, it is definitely cinema." and even the reporter hilariously stated "the fictional portrait of these satanist is EERILY SIMILAR to the reported claims of satanic cults." And of course...what inspired these movies and paperbacks? Old beliefs, some historical/religious knowledge and of course the witch hunts.
My point is, don't get bogged down by "oh it isn't historically/factually accurate" in terms of Wicca and so forth. Ya, it's fiction. Like "Scooby doo! and the witch's ghost." where repeatedly they bring up a character being only 1/6th Wiccan, like being a witch is "in your blood. It's inherited." That's nonsense. It's a religion like any other, but this is again FICTIONAL and it's a common trope in the witch fiction genre. Also, some actual wiccans and "new agers", etc really do believe they were born with powers.
Smith doesn't waste time with anything in this story. Within the first 33 pages we get 2 people injured or dead from witch craft and he also waste no time getting Bobbie the 16 year old daughter into the setting; the isolated school for rich kids surrounded by the forest. In fact we don't even get any introductions like in a movie where we see the main character drive up to the school, step out of the car, and carry their luggage up to their room and on the way meet the teachers, janitor, principal, etc. Then once in their room they meet their room mates. Instead it's literally describing the school and it's history, and the principal. Then "Bobbie felt home sick" Next thing we know Bobbie is in ballet class and the teacher is introduced along with a male ballet dancer.
I kind of felt like I should of been listening to the theme song of Suspiria while I read this.
Many things that happen in the book do seem very absurd and ridiculous where it's hard to take it seriously but as things go further and further that becomes less so. Bobbie her self is not very likeable at all at any point and is constantly doing a 180 and Guy N.Smith apparently really likes to cut to the chase, not wasting any time and things start off slowly but gradually escalate very quickly. Each page is a total set up for things to happen and I kept wondering how this was all going to end. Although I did get the ending correct.
The book also makes it very clear that the entire story takes place within a single month.
My favorite part that I think was very very well done is the chemistry/P.E teacher story line. Which very much reminds me of Suspiria and Inferno.
Alice Cooper talking about Suspiria: The music is getting louder and louder and the dog turns and rips his throat out, for no apparent reason.
Over all, not a bad book. A good book. Has many deaths, some gory deaths, some disturbing ideas. Has an interesting premise. I just wish Smith did better with Bobbie in terms of character.
Also...the synopsis on the back of the book is a lie.
1.Bobbie is 16 not 13.
2.No one gets sick [supposedly from witchraft].
3.A student does not slit their wrist. No one does.
4.The book implies the "illness" and suicide by slashing your wrist were the "beginnings" of what was to come. Not true at all. A teacher gets hurt and a student has a "heart attack".
November 9, 2012
I read this book years ago when I was about 14.
My best friend borrowed it from the school library, thinking it would be just your average teenage witchcraft story.
She couldn't have been more wrong.
The next day she insisted I read it, and I was both shocked and delighted to discover that it was full of satanic porn.
As a 14 year old I had a very dirty mind (and still do if I am honest) so I thoroughly enjoyed the various sex scenes where Bobby looses her virginity, has drug fueled lesbian sex, seduces her teacher, hosts a satanic orgy etc etc.
I have given this book 4 stars because it was a huge part of my teenage years, and I have many fond memories of laughing at all the sex scenes and quoting various amusing lines from the book.
However I had to take 1 star off because I think that there should be some kind of warning about all the sex and drug use. Theres no hint of it at all in the blurb or cover, which leads to the impression that it is suitable for the younger reader. It's not.
My best friend borrowed it from the school library, thinking it would be just your average teenage witchcraft story.
She couldn't have been more wrong.
The next day she insisted I read it, and I was both shocked and delighted to discover that it was full of satanic porn.
As a 14 year old I had a very dirty mind (and still do if I am honest) so I thoroughly enjoyed the various sex scenes where Bobby looses her virginity, has drug fueled lesbian sex, seduces her teacher, hosts a satanic orgy etc etc.
I have given this book 4 stars because it was a huge part of my teenage years, and I have many fond memories of laughing at all the sex scenes and quoting various amusing lines from the book.
However I had to take 1 star off because I think that there should be some kind of warning about all the sex and drug use. Theres no hint of it at all in the blurb or cover, which leads to the impression that it is suitable for the younger reader. It's not.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 27, 2024
Guy N. Smith, known for his creature feature, B (or even C) grade pulp horror shifts gears and this time gives us his other writing penchant: witches and the ever popular good versus evil.
This time it’s Bobbie Wheeler, a girl born from the genes of 2 competing witches. Torn between the light and dark and hidden away at a boarding school to keep her sheltered from her evil father, it isn’t long before the sinister ways of her dead dad (and the lure of Satan) influence her life. Before long she’s Satan’s acolyte and has started a Coven full of sex, violence, and every other Satanic cliche readers have come to know.
Honestly, Smith should have just stuck to the attacking crabs and bats books he was so famous for because Witch Spell is a mess…which is saying a lot considering this was an original Zebra.
From the beginning to the very end, nothing about this book is any good. Things happen so quickly that there is little buildup or understanding. One second Bobbie is a nervous virgin and within 3 paragraphs she’s a harlot, sleeping with anyone, boys or girls. She is wondering about the voices in her head and by the end of the sentence, she’s a professional Satan worshipper. The same with the students at the school. With hardly any exposition, Bobbie suddenly is able to influence basically the entire school to be full of followers of Satan. She does random things that are never explained. The fellow level headed teachers suddenly turn into either killers or rapists…or both. Bonnie’s dead mom returns at the end of the story for literally no reason except a badly written deus ex machina. And true to Smith form, there’s a ton of illicit sex (which is fine), except it’s done for shock value with hardly any bearing on the story (except, of course, apparently when you worship Satan, you need to have a shit load of dirty, violent and S&M influenced intercourse).
This book’s one saving grace is that it’s wicked fast and incredibly easy to read. Just like in every other one of his 60+ novels, Smith doesn’t waste time with trying to be a wordsmith.
Still though, Witch Spell is a dud. It may not be the absolute worst thing I’ve read (or that Smith has written), but it’s a far cry from his gloriously trashy Crabs series.
This time it’s Bobbie Wheeler, a girl born from the genes of 2 competing witches. Torn between the light and dark and hidden away at a boarding school to keep her sheltered from her evil father, it isn’t long before the sinister ways of her dead dad (and the lure of Satan) influence her life. Before long she’s Satan’s acolyte and has started a Coven full of sex, violence, and every other Satanic cliche readers have come to know.
Honestly, Smith should have just stuck to the attacking crabs and bats books he was so famous for because Witch Spell is a mess…which is saying a lot considering this was an original Zebra.
From the beginning to the very end, nothing about this book is any good. Things happen so quickly that there is little buildup or understanding. One second Bobbie is a nervous virgin and within 3 paragraphs she’s a harlot, sleeping with anyone, boys or girls. She is wondering about the voices in her head and by the end of the sentence, she’s a professional Satan worshipper. The same with the students at the school. With hardly any exposition, Bobbie suddenly is able to influence basically the entire school to be full of followers of Satan. She does random things that are never explained. The fellow level headed teachers suddenly turn into either killers or rapists…or both. Bonnie’s dead mom returns at the end of the story for literally no reason except a badly written deus ex machina. And true to Smith form, there’s a ton of illicit sex (which is fine), except it’s done for shock value with hardly any bearing on the story (except, of course, apparently when you worship Satan, you need to have a shit load of dirty, violent and S&M influenced intercourse).
This book’s one saving grace is that it’s wicked fast and incredibly easy to read. Just like in every other one of his 60+ novels, Smith doesn’t waste time with trying to be a wordsmith.
Still though, Witch Spell is a dud. It may not be the absolute worst thing I’ve read (or that Smith has written), but it’s a far cry from his gloriously trashy Crabs series.
September 11, 2018
I tried, but just couldn't get into it. It seemed ridiculous from the very beginning. I understand it's fantasy but the author obviously has no idea of what witchcraft or Satanism really are, much less how greatly they differ from each other.
July 23, 2025
This one is a bit of a mess but the scary parts are indeed scary and properly revolting.
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