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The Witch of Wapping: A Ghost Story
Like time, the River Thames flows through London Town in one direction, the water willing to swallow most anything. Items lost to the river’s churn lay exposed on the foreshore at a later date, perhaps centuries hence. Yet the river’s power to resurrect the commonplace, the fascinating, and the priceless, also extends to things much less desirable. In THE WITCH OF WAPPING, the river’s cycle of burial and revival preserves and then brings back a malevolence meant to remain dead and buried—something with a mean bite.
146 pages, Paperback
First published October 1, 2024
3 people want to read
About the author
Alan M. Clark
139 books322 followersAuthor and illustrator, Alan M. Clark grew up in Tennessee in a house full of bones and old medical books. His awards include the World Fantasy Award and four Chesley Awards. He is the author of twenty-one books, including fourteen novels, a lavishly illustrated novella, a lavishly illustrated novellette, four collections of fiction, and a nonfiction full-color book of his artwork. Mr. Clark's company, IFD Publishing, has released 45 titles of various editions, including traditional books, both paperback and hardcover, audio books, and ebooks by such authors as F. Paul Wilson, Elizabeth Engstrom, and Jeremy Robert Johnson. Alan M. Clark and his wife, Melody, live in Oregon. www.alanmclark.com Visit his blog: https://ifdpublishing.com/blog
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
September 27, 2024
A blend of historical fiction, political commentary, and the fantastical; it might seem like that’s too much to take on in 136 pages but this book does it all and with the lightest touch. I am in awe of people who can create such woven and intricate stories so well. This book will stay with me for awhile. A pleasure to read.
October 29, 2024
THE WITCH OF WAPPING by Alan M. Clark and Rebecca J. Allred.
I had read the first few chapters when it first arrived, and I knew it was going to be good in a dark way.
Set in the late Victorian era, it jumps back and forth between the late 1800s and the early 1900s.
Which might seem a little incoherent to some readers, but really, it’s not.
We start in the earliest time with a man being confined to his chamber. He is brilliant, but mad. And he bites people.
We are then introduced to Rollo, a boy of the streets, a guttersnipe living the hard life in Wapping. He and his gang are about to beat up a boy named Sam, when Rollo starts having pains, and Sam recognizes it as appendicitis. Sam takes Rollo to his mother Margaret’s house–the same house of the madman–and leaves him there. Margaret fixes the boy, removing his appendix, but she demands a price from him as well. Everyone in Wapping is afraid of Margaret. Though she is a healer, some think she is a witch.
She wants Sam back in her house. Sam wants nothing to do with his mother. And he has good reasons we later learn.
We then jump back in time and meet Stanley, who is jealous that his parents took in a girl named Daisy when her mother passed, almost adopting her. Stanley hates Daisy because his parents put up with her strange ways. But when Stanley ends up learning the truth behind Daisy’s behavior, a truce develops. Daisy has a compassion to her nature that Stanley starts to admire.
Stanley’s father is a coroner of the court, and he spends his days listening to cases to determine whether or not to charge people with murder. When we first see him, he is listening to a case where a mother is accused of killing her child, but decides it was an accident. The plight of women in this era is dark. Birth control among the poor doesn’t exist.
And we see broadsheet listings of the murders of the day interspersed through the tale. Body parts start appearing all over the place as the Thames gives up its secrets..
Now all these might seem a bit disjointed at first, but they do tie together in a grand guignol sort of way. The setting is vividly gritty. You can smell the muddy waters of the Thames, as well as the gangrenous rot of life and death in an era when the poor had to fight for every scrap of food and drink.
I won’t tell you much more. I don’t want to spoil this short book for you.
Just know that there are characters, plot and a resolution that will turn you cold. Not for the squeamish, I will add, but even the more visceral parts are done well. After all, the era of this story was not a good time for the poor, and Wapping was not a pleasant place to live.
A quick read, and a really good one, filled with history, murder and even a ghost.
Dickens would have been proud.
I had read the first few chapters when it first arrived, and I knew it was going to be good in a dark way.
Set in the late Victorian era, it jumps back and forth between the late 1800s and the early 1900s.
Which might seem a little incoherent to some readers, but really, it’s not.
We start in the earliest time with a man being confined to his chamber. He is brilliant, but mad. And he bites people.
We are then introduced to Rollo, a boy of the streets, a guttersnipe living the hard life in Wapping. He and his gang are about to beat up a boy named Sam, when Rollo starts having pains, and Sam recognizes it as appendicitis. Sam takes Rollo to his mother Margaret’s house–the same house of the madman–and leaves him there. Margaret fixes the boy, removing his appendix, but she demands a price from him as well. Everyone in Wapping is afraid of Margaret. Though she is a healer, some think she is a witch.
She wants Sam back in her house. Sam wants nothing to do with his mother. And he has good reasons we later learn.
We then jump back in time and meet Stanley, who is jealous that his parents took in a girl named Daisy when her mother passed, almost adopting her. Stanley hates Daisy because his parents put up with her strange ways. But when Stanley ends up learning the truth behind Daisy’s behavior, a truce develops. Daisy has a compassion to her nature that Stanley starts to admire.
Stanley’s father is a coroner of the court, and he spends his days listening to cases to determine whether or not to charge people with murder. When we first see him, he is listening to a case where a mother is accused of killing her child, but decides it was an accident. The plight of women in this era is dark. Birth control among the poor doesn’t exist.
And we see broadsheet listings of the murders of the day interspersed through the tale. Body parts start appearing all over the place as the Thames gives up its secrets..
Now all these might seem a bit disjointed at first, but they do tie together in a grand guignol sort of way. The setting is vividly gritty. You can smell the muddy waters of the Thames, as well as the gangrenous rot of life and death in an era when the poor had to fight for every scrap of food and drink.
I won’t tell you much more. I don’t want to spoil this short book for you.
Just know that there are characters, plot and a resolution that will turn you cold. Not for the squeamish, I will add, but even the more visceral parts are done well. After all, the era of this story was not a good time for the poor, and Wapping was not a pleasant place to live.
A quick read, and a really good one, filled with history, murder and even a ghost.
Dickens would have been proud.
November 26, 2024
What attracted me to this book was the historical setting (Victorian and post-Victorian London) combined with the promise of supernatural occurrences. I almost didn't read it, however, because the Kindle book description states the reader age as 10 - 18 years. This is NOT a middle-grade or YA book. A mature young person could read it, but it is definitely aimed at an adult audience.
The book has an unusual structure, with chapters told from different viewpoints and scattered among different timeframes. The timeframes are not in chronological order, which was confusing at first. But sticking with it paid off as the authors skillfully wove the threads of the story together to its haunting conclusion.
The cast of characters include young "mudlarks" who scavenge the shores of the Thames for items to sell for a quick penny, a woman who provides services to other women who've gotten in the "family way," and a well-off family infected by madness--or something else. The characters are well-drawn and show the huge differences in lifestyle between the haves and have-nots in 19th century London. The authors have done their homework with the setting and time-appropriate language. The supernatural elements are merely hinted at to begin with but come to the forefront as the story races to its conclusion. I found myself backing up to reread the hints the authors cleverly dropped early on.
I really enjoyed this fairly short novel and recommend it to historical horror fiction buffs.
The book has an unusual structure, with chapters told from different viewpoints and scattered among different timeframes. The timeframes are not in chronological order, which was confusing at first. But sticking with it paid off as the authors skillfully wove the threads of the story together to its haunting conclusion.
The cast of characters include young "mudlarks" who scavenge the shores of the Thames for items to sell for a quick penny, a woman who provides services to other women who've gotten in the "family way," and a well-off family infected by madness--or something else. The characters are well-drawn and show the huge differences in lifestyle between the haves and have-nots in 19th century London. The authors have done their homework with the setting and time-appropriate language. The supernatural elements are merely hinted at to begin with but come to the forefront as the story races to its conclusion. I found myself backing up to reread the hints the authors cleverly dropped early on.
I really enjoyed this fairly short novel and recommend it to historical horror fiction buffs.
August 23, 2024
THE WITCH OF WAPPING is an example of horror that happened. Life in Victorian and then Edwardian London was fraught with danger—especially for the poor. Too many mouths to feed and little to no money drove many women into prostitution, which often led to unwanted pregnancies. Women had no agency, so even those in monogamous relationships fell pregnant too many times. Infant mortality was high, and abortion was a necessary economic evil.
By setting this story at the end of the nineteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth, Clark and Allred present a history relevant to the United States' 2024 elections without even trying. I do not apologize for seeing modern political issues in historical fiction. Great writers do not live under a rock or in a cave somewhere; they are influenced by the world around them, as are their readers.
Along with history, there is a ghost that adds its supernatural message throughout the tale as the heroine, Margaret (also known as Daisy) Sutton, traverses a terrible path, taking her from a good Samaritan to the heartless anti-heroine she will become. This transition occurs over several timelines illustrated by different situations.
You may find the multiple timelines in THE WITCH OF WAPPING off-putting at first, but you will appreciate just how these ribbons of time become entwined into a coherent whole. You, as I did, may find yourself re-reading the first couple of chapters from a more informed perspective.
THE WITCH OF WAPPING is historical fiction; it is also as timely as today. Women have long been the backbone of society, quietly working behind the scenes to effect change. In Victorian London, women had no voice except the one they grabbed for themselves. Sounds familiar, right? Remember the ad that said, "You've come a long way, baby"? Forces that want to take us back to that "better" time—the 1950s, the early twentieth century, the late nineteenth century (I could go on)—need to know that strong, principled women have existed since time immemorial. They pushed us forward then, and they will continue to do so well into the future.
THE WITCH OF WAPPING works as a ghost story, a bit of history, and a warning for the future. Kudos to Clark and Allred for a fine collaborative effort.
THE WITCH OF WAPPING will be available in paperback and as a Kindle edition on October 1, 2024.
By setting this story at the end of the nineteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth, Clark and Allred present a history relevant to the United States' 2024 elections without even trying. I do not apologize for seeing modern political issues in historical fiction. Great writers do not live under a rock or in a cave somewhere; they are influenced by the world around them, as are their readers.
Along with history, there is a ghost that adds its supernatural message throughout the tale as the heroine, Margaret (also known as Daisy) Sutton, traverses a terrible path, taking her from a good Samaritan to the heartless anti-heroine she will become. This transition occurs over several timelines illustrated by different situations.
You may find the multiple timelines in THE WITCH OF WAPPING off-putting at first, but you will appreciate just how these ribbons of time become entwined into a coherent whole. You, as I did, may find yourself re-reading the first couple of chapters from a more informed perspective.
THE WITCH OF WAPPING is historical fiction; it is also as timely as today. Women have long been the backbone of society, quietly working behind the scenes to effect change. In Victorian London, women had no voice except the one they grabbed for themselves. Sounds familiar, right? Remember the ad that said, "You've come a long way, baby"? Forces that want to take us back to that "better" time—the 1950s, the early twentieth century, the late nineteenth century (I could go on)—need to know that strong, principled women have existed since time immemorial. They pushed us forward then, and they will continue to do so well into the future.
THE WITCH OF WAPPING works as a ghost story, a bit of history, and a warning for the future. Kudos to Clark and Allred for a fine collaborative effort.
THE WITCH OF WAPPING will be available in paperback and as a Kindle edition on October 1, 2024.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews