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The Bell Witch
SOMETIMES THE SCARIEST TALES ARE TRUE Inspired by actual events. It's 1817, and Tennessee is on the western frontier as America expands into the unknown. In idyllic Adams County, home of the Bell family, there exists a collection of tight-knit rural communities with deeply held beliefs. And even more deeply buried secrets. Jack and Lucy Bell operate a prosperous family farm northwest of Nashville where life with their many children is peaceful. Simple country life. That is until those secrets take on a life of their own and refuse to remain unspoken. Much has been written about the legend of the Bell Witch of Tennessee, but the details of the Bell family's terrifying experience with the supernatural have never been told in quite the way that Bram Stoker Award-nominated horror author John F.D. Taff has conceived. In his novel, for the first time, the Witch has her own say. And what she reveals about the incident and the dark motivations behind her appearance reaches way beyond a traditional haunting. Forget what you've read about this wholly American legend. What you believe you know about the mysterious occurrences on the Bell farm are wrong. Uncover the long-hidden reality that's far more horrifying than any ghost story you've ever heard.
340 pages, Paperback
First published August 6, 2013
197 people are currently reading
2127 people want to read
About the author
John F.D. Taff
86 books256 followersJohn F.D. Taff is a multi-Bram Stoker Award short-listed dark fiction author with more than 30 years experience, and more than 100 short stories and seven novels in print.
He has appeared in Cemetery Dance, Eldritch Tales, Unnerving, Deathrealm, Big Pulp and One Buck Horror, as well as anthologies such as Hot Blood: Seeds of Fear, Hot Blood: Fear the Fever, Shock Rock II, Lullabies for Suffering, Gutted: Beautiful Horror Stories, Behold!, Shadows Over Main Street 2, Horror Library V, Best of Horror Library, Dark Visions Vol. 1, Ominous Realities, Death's Realm, I Can Taste the Blood and Savage Beasts. His work will appear soon in The Seven Deadliest and I Can Hear the Shadows.
His novels include The Bell Witch, Kill-Off and the serialized apocalyptic epic The Fearing. Thunderstorm Books and Grey Matter Press will release a one-volume version of The Fearing in 2021, in limited edition hardcover, soft cover and digital. Short fiction collections include Little Deaths: The Definitive Collection and Little Black Spots, both published by Grey Matter Press.
Taff's novella collection, The End in All Beginnings, was called one of the best novella collections by Jack Ketchum and was a Stoker Award Finalist. His short "A Winter's Tale" was also a Stoker Finalist.
His upcoming anthology Dark Stars, a tribute to that seminal '80s work Dark Forces, will be published by Tor/Nightfire 11/2/21.
His website is at johnfdtaff.com. Follow him on Twitter @johnfdtaff.
He has appeared in Cemetery Dance, Eldritch Tales, Unnerving, Deathrealm, Big Pulp and One Buck Horror, as well as anthologies such as Hot Blood: Seeds of Fear, Hot Blood: Fear the Fever, Shock Rock II, Lullabies for Suffering, Gutted: Beautiful Horror Stories, Behold!, Shadows Over Main Street 2, Horror Library V, Best of Horror Library, Dark Visions Vol. 1, Ominous Realities, Death's Realm, I Can Taste the Blood and Savage Beasts. His work will appear soon in The Seven Deadliest and I Can Hear the Shadows.
His novels include The Bell Witch, Kill-Off and the serialized apocalyptic epic The Fearing. Thunderstorm Books and Grey Matter Press will release a one-volume version of The Fearing in 2021, in limited edition hardcover, soft cover and digital. Short fiction collections include Little Deaths: The Definitive Collection and Little Black Spots, both published by Grey Matter Press.
Taff's novella collection, The End in All Beginnings, was called one of the best novella collections by Jack Ketchum and was a Stoker Award Finalist. His short "A Winter's Tale" was also a Stoker Finalist.
His upcoming anthology Dark Stars, a tribute to that seminal '80s work Dark Forces, will be published by Tor/Nightfire 11/2/21.
His website is at johnfdtaff.com. Follow him on Twitter @johnfdtaff.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 116 reviews
December 2, 2015
This book made me feel as if I wasted my entire day reading it. It was hard to get into and once I did, I didn't want to finish. Would not recommend.
March 27, 2014
This is not the "original" story of the BELL WITCH that I had read before, but an entirely new one. It did start out slowly, but about 1/4 of the way in, it picked up incredibly! The author infused an entire new outlook into this story--the raw emotions, characterizations, and moralities involved made this a very engrossing read that I did not want to simply "skim" over.
4.5 stars. Recommended!
4.5 stars. Recommended!
August 24, 2018
THE BELL WITCH was an entertaining historical fiction novel about America's most well known witch.
The tale itself was interesting enough, (I was familiar with the basics going in), but here the author fleshed everything out quite a bit more, and the moral angle played a bigger part. All of which worked perfectly.
What didn't work for me were the characters, (other than Betsy). I just didn't connect with them. Because of that I found my mind wandering a lot and at about 60% through, I was ready to abandon my listen. However, at that point a thing occurred that kept me listening on to the finish.
As mentioned above, I listened to this book on audio, narrated by the excellent Matt Godfrey and if I could rate his performance separately, I would give him 5 out of 5 stars.
The issues I had with this book are my own, and it seems that I'm the only one that had them, so as this review is a reflection of my opinion and mine only, I refer you to Mark's review here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... or to Kimberly's review here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
They obviously read this book right!
Overall, THE BELL WITCH is a good story, it's just that I could not connect with the characters. YOU probably, can!
*I received the audio of this book in exchange for my honest feedback. This is it.*
The tale itself was interesting enough, (I was familiar with the basics going in), but here the author fleshed everything out quite a bit more, and the moral angle played a bigger part. All of which worked perfectly.
What didn't work for me were the characters, (other than Betsy). I just didn't connect with them. Because of that I found my mind wandering a lot and at about 60% through, I was ready to abandon my listen. However, at that point a thing occurred that kept me listening on to the finish.
As mentioned above, I listened to this book on audio, narrated by the excellent Matt Godfrey and if I could rate his performance separately, I would give him 5 out of 5 stars.
The issues I had with this book are my own, and it seems that I'm the only one that had them, so as this review is a reflection of my opinion and mine only, I refer you to Mark's review here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... or to Kimberly's review here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
They obviously read this book right!
Overall, THE BELL WITCH is a good story, it's just that I could not connect with the characters. YOU probably, can!
*I received the audio of this book in exchange for my honest feedback. This is it.*
April 16, 2019
I listened to this one on audio and it was fantastic. The narrator nailed every aspect of this story from the tone, cadence, pacing and characters. Surprisingly witty and amusing. Very well done all around.
August 11, 2013
Ok, well duh. I get to vote on my own work. Take it with a grain of salt, I suppose.
February 18, 2014
I'm going to start this off with two points: One, I'm a stickler for research and two, I do understand artistic licensing. However, there comes a point when one must realize that if artistic licensing outweighs research by such a vast degree, it would be safer to scrap the facts and just write your own novel "Inspired" by said events. This is such a book that would have benefited from that. Instead, Taff continued with his desire to retell the story of the Bell Witch, history be damned. This book was as accurate in the telling of the Bell Witch as Disney was in telling Pocahontas.
To start off, the Bell Witch is a classic American Ghost story, one of the few ghost stories that belongs only to America and is ingrained in some people. It's one of my favorites, right next to the Gainsville Ghost Trial. So, when I get a book on the Bell Witch, I expect certain things to be in it, as they were important to the story. This book deleted several characters and changed others. With so many interesting facets of the story, it's really disheartening that Taff went the cheap route with "OMG! THE WITCH IS THERE BECAUSE OF RAPE!" Which, as anyone whose studied the Bell Witch knows, is a modern way of thinking thanks to the likes of Hollywood.
What jarred me first about the book was the name changes. The father is not JACK Bell. He's JOHN Bell. Three of the Bell children did not make an appearance in the book: Jesse, Esther, and Joel. I'm guessing one, possibly Richard, had his name changed to William, so technically that's half the Bell children not in the book. Betsy's sweetheart's name was changed from Joshua Gardner to Hank Gardner. And Taff squashed the figures of three Reverends and a neighbor into one entity after taking out the neighbors sons, who were rather important figures in the Bell Witch story.
The second thing that jarred me was the frothing at the mouth representation of both Mr Bell and Gardner as rapists and molesters, out to destroy any woman who crossed their paths. That is only something worthy of the most degrading Lifetime movie. Again, the idea that Mr Bell was out raping his daughter, starting this whole mess, is a modern idea that came out in maybe the sixties (actual date is fuzzy) and made popular by movies and books, such as Hollywood's "An American Haunting". The very idea of research does not touch this theory, especially when one considers that JOSHUA Gardner remained friends with Betsy after their engagement was broken and tried to help out her husband Powell when a stroke left him unable to care for his family.
The third, and possibly nail in the coffin after my anger over the lack of research, was the witch herself. Instead of this being a ghost story about a malicious spirit who mercilessly attacked a family and terrorized them, it was a Disney special about a wise-cracking spirit. There was nothing scary about it. Casper is more frightening then this! Yes the witch talked to the Bell family, but none of the accounts (and this was one of the most well-documented hauntings, so again, research) said anything about them all being kind and quirky and friendly discussions.
And the sad thing is that I know Taff did some research. He had Andrew Jackson in this! That is a detail a lot of people forget about, and that only made this worse. So I know he did some research, and then tossed 90% of it out the window. Seriously, he would have done better by just making this a book about a generic haunting someplace in the USA back in the early 1800's, and it would have been better. But by making it the story of the Bell Witch, you MUST follow through with the research. And by not doing so, the book was very subpar in my opinion.
To start off, the Bell Witch is a classic American Ghost story, one of the few ghost stories that belongs only to America and is ingrained in some people. It's one of my favorites, right next to the Gainsville Ghost Trial. So, when I get a book on the Bell Witch, I expect certain things to be in it, as they were important to the story. This book deleted several characters and changed others. With so many interesting facets of the story, it's really disheartening that Taff went the cheap route with "OMG! THE WITCH IS THERE BECAUSE OF RAPE!" Which, as anyone whose studied the Bell Witch knows, is a modern way of thinking thanks to the likes of Hollywood.
What jarred me first about the book was the name changes. The father is not JACK Bell. He's JOHN Bell. Three of the Bell children did not make an appearance in the book: Jesse, Esther, and Joel. I'm guessing one, possibly Richard, had his name changed to William, so technically that's half the Bell children not in the book. Betsy's sweetheart's name was changed from Joshua Gardner to Hank Gardner. And Taff squashed the figures of three Reverends and a neighbor into one entity after taking out the neighbors sons, who were rather important figures in the Bell Witch story.
The second thing that jarred me was the frothing at the mouth representation of both Mr Bell and Gardner as rapists and molesters, out to destroy any woman who crossed their paths. That is only something worthy of the most degrading Lifetime movie. Again, the idea that Mr Bell was out raping his daughter, starting this whole mess, is a modern idea that came out in maybe the sixties (actual date is fuzzy) and made popular by movies and books, such as Hollywood's "An American Haunting". The very idea of research does not touch this theory, especially when one considers that JOSHUA Gardner remained friends with Betsy after their engagement was broken and tried to help out her husband Powell when a stroke left him unable to care for his family.
The third, and possibly nail in the coffin after my anger over the lack of research, was the witch herself. Instead of this being a ghost story about a malicious spirit who mercilessly attacked a family and terrorized them, it was a Disney special about a wise-cracking spirit. There was nothing scary about it. Casper is more frightening then this! Yes the witch talked to the Bell family, but none of the accounts (and this was one of the most well-documented hauntings, so again, research) said anything about them all being kind and quirky and friendly discussions.
And the sad thing is that I know Taff did some research. He had Andrew Jackson in this! That is a detail a lot of people forget about, and that only made this worse. So I know he did some research, and then tossed 90% of it out the window. Seriously, he would have done better by just making this a book about a generic haunting someplace in the USA back in the early 1800's, and it would have been better. But by making it the story of the Bell Witch, you MUST follow through with the research. And by not doing so, the book was very subpar in my opinion.
August 10, 2013
The Bell Witch is an American ghost story, brought to life by the author in a wonderful and haunting way. In some ways, this is historical fiction. 'A People's History of The Bell Witch,' as maybe Howard Zinn would have wanted it done, because the characters are brought out vivid and true and the reader is plopped down into the middle of a family in crisis. The supernatural springs forth wonderfully right into the setting, and the author's witch is original. Her voice carries the novel. This witch is not a spirit like we are used to, but has its origins from within the Bell family psyche. The way she's given life in the novel is a scene you'll never forget. The novel had me researching the story of "The Bell Witch" and this just made the book that much richer. This book is a great accomplishment.
August 1, 2014
3.5 stars
Well The Bell Witch was not at all what I was expecting, and I liked it so much more for it! I was totally thinking this was going to be your typical haunting ghost story, the title, the creepy cover, the real history at play here, everything leads you to believe that's exactly what you will get. Even the beginning of the book starts out giving you what you thought you wanted, random objects moving on their own, a voice rambling out of no where. The poor inhabitants of the Bell manor are being accosted by something they can't see or touch, unfortunately for them the "witch", as the entity ultimately becomes known as, can see and touch them, and she does so menacingly.
What started as the usual haunting symptoms quickly escalated and went far beyond anything I could have foreseen. What the witch ended up being was something I've never quite seen before. It was crazy how her presence, and her antics, quickly became a source of relief from the heavier undertones of the question, and answer, of WHY she was there to begin with. It was an interesting read for me in that sense, to have something so awful, I mean completely stomach turning going on, but have this witch, the character that you would think would be the source of this turmoil, end up instead being an antihero of sorts and your only reprieve from the unjust situation that lead to this haunting. It was amazing to me to actually laugh out loud at some of the things this witch would do or say! It was hard to think that was possible with the heaviness of the other things going on. I really appreciated this aspect of the story.
Although the witch could be humorous and insightful at times, she also made it clear from the beginning that she was there for retribution of sorts, to right a wrong that had been done. She was not shy about voicing that she was there for certain members of the Bell family, and to ultimately kill the patriarch, Jack Bell. Even with that being known, she left the why of it as a journey they would all take together and that some parties would also endure individually too. This witch ended up becoming a mirror of sorts, where some of these characters had to take a long hard look at themselves, and those around them, and start to realize and accept things that had been going on unacknowledged for awhile. Terrible, damaging things. I'd say that there was a clear message here of the potential dangerous repercussions from not expressing one's true feelings. The very real sense that things like anger, bitterness, hatred, etc. can all fester and build into something we might not recognize within us anymore, and even take on a life all it's own. I love the way the author brought those ideas to life, it was wonderfully done.
While there are obviously quite a few things to gush about here, there were also some things that were not as thrilling too. I was honestly pretty underwhelmed by almost every character in this story, other than the witch that is. The witch stole the show here, and I felt that everyone else was playing second fiddle to her orchestra. There were also times where things seemed to drag out and the story wasn't progressing as much as I wanted it too. I figured out what was going on here pretty early on, and it became frustrating at times that the characters were taking such a long time to come to the same conclusions. I get that their acceptance was the journey, but after awhile I couldn't help but to want someone to shout it from the roof tops and for some justice to be doled out. Although I suppose the slow building torture, the witch being there day in and day out may have been the ultimate form of justice, for no one could take a day to try and forget the horrors of it all when it was so clearly in their faces. Still, after so much I was as eager as the Bell's to see it all come to an end. All in all it was an intelligent and fresh take on a rather famous documented ghost story. It was a great blend of fact and fiction and an interesting journey.
Well The Bell Witch was not at all what I was expecting, and I liked it so much more for it! I was totally thinking this was going to be your typical haunting ghost story, the title, the creepy cover, the real history at play here, everything leads you to believe that's exactly what you will get. Even the beginning of the book starts out giving you what you thought you wanted, random objects moving on their own, a voice rambling out of no where. The poor inhabitants of the Bell manor are being accosted by something they can't see or touch, unfortunately for them the "witch", as the entity ultimately becomes known as, can see and touch them, and she does so menacingly.
What started as the usual haunting symptoms quickly escalated and went far beyond anything I could have foreseen. What the witch ended up being was something I've never quite seen before. It was crazy how her presence, and her antics, quickly became a source of relief from the heavier undertones of the question, and answer, of WHY she was there to begin with. It was an interesting read for me in that sense, to have something so awful, I mean completely stomach turning going on, but have this witch, the character that you would think would be the source of this turmoil, end up instead being an antihero of sorts and your only reprieve from the unjust situation that lead to this haunting. It was amazing to me to actually laugh out loud at some of the things this witch would do or say! It was hard to think that was possible with the heaviness of the other things going on. I really appreciated this aspect of the story.
Although the witch could be humorous and insightful at times, she also made it clear from the beginning that she was there for retribution of sorts, to right a wrong that had been done. She was not shy about voicing that she was there for certain members of the Bell family, and to ultimately kill the patriarch, Jack Bell. Even with that being known, she left the why of it as a journey they would all take together and that some parties would also endure individually too. This witch ended up becoming a mirror of sorts, where some of these characters had to take a long hard look at themselves, and those around them, and start to realize and accept things that had been going on unacknowledged for awhile. Terrible, damaging things. I'd say that there was a clear message here of the potential dangerous repercussions from not expressing one's true feelings. The very real sense that things like anger, bitterness, hatred, etc. can all fester and build into something we might not recognize within us anymore, and even take on a life all it's own. I love the way the author brought those ideas to life, it was wonderfully done.
While there are obviously quite a few things to gush about here, there were also some things that were not as thrilling too. I was honestly pretty underwhelmed by almost every character in this story, other than the witch that is. The witch stole the show here, and I felt that everyone else was playing second fiddle to her orchestra. There were also times where things seemed to drag out and the story wasn't progressing as much as I wanted it too. I figured out what was going on here pretty early on, and it became frustrating at times that the characters were taking such a long time to come to the same conclusions. I get that their acceptance was the journey, but after awhile I couldn't help but to want someone to shout it from the roof tops and for some justice to be doled out. Although I suppose the slow building torture, the witch being there day in and day out may have been the ultimate form of justice, for no one could take a day to try and forget the horrors of it all when it was so clearly in their faces. Still, after so much I was as eager as the Bell's to see it all come to an end. All in all it was an intelligent and fresh take on a rather famous documented ghost story. It was a great blend of fact and fiction and an interesting journey.
August 10, 2013
I was caught completely by surprise by John F.D. Taff's The Bell Witch. Although I'm a fan of Taff's writing, I have to admit I went into this book expecting the familiar narrative that is the standard way of telling a poltergeist-type story. What I had no idea was coming was that the vengeful spirit was going to be a well-developed, sympathetic character with its own voice. Where a lesser writer would have left the spirit with little more than constant malevolence and perhaps a touch of sympathetic justification (to sell its spiritual unrest, but not the bad things it does and to whom), Taff writes the spirit as a CHARACTER with a personality, feelings, and a point of view. He then takes that character and makes her deal with as much uncertainty and mixed emotions as the people she's tormenting. Every time I expected him to zig, Taff zagged, keeping the story fresh and innovative. The Bell Witch is surprising and satisfying and made me reevaluate the way other books and movies ought to be presenting ghost stories.
March 31, 2021
** Edited as review is now live on Kendall Reviews! **
Much like most of you reading this review, growing up I was always fascinated and drawn to the true stories of ghosts, possessions, hauntings and the like. Whether you believe in it being real or not, there’s no disputing that ‘something’ does happen to these people in these situations.
What makes some stories stand out even more for me are when renowned historical figures state that they experienced something while visiting these people.
Case in point: The Bell Witch. The Bell Witch is often referred to as ‘America’s Witch’ because of it happening in Tennessee and relatively recently – 1817. Add in that Andrew Jackson himself says he witnessed the witch and from there the story grew. Even to this day The Bell Witch, that entity that terrorized the Bell Family sends shivers down peoples spines. You can even go visit the cave and old farmstead if you really want to experience some American haunting history.
Which led me to this book.
What I liked: I’ve not read enough Taff, but this one’s been on my radar for some time. When it finally arrived at the top of my TBR, I tore through it. Taff does something special here by not keeping the witch in the shadows. We open with a slow build of family life until a fateful visit to the cave brings forth a spirit that has a purpose. That purpose is what makes this book really work. The witch becomes a character that offers terror and kindness, often within the same paragraph. It was a marvellous choice by John to make the reader have to question why they both loathed and loved the witch.
The family dynamic is spot on and as the story progresses we get to see just how the presence of the spirit weighs on each member. I also really loved the time period accuracy of God and the decisions made for a persons place with God and forgiveness. It created a philosophical layer that I wasn’t expecting.
Taff weaved a gem of a story, with multiple storylines playing out but all of them inherently tied to how and why the witch was tormenting the Bell family.
What I didn’t like: I found some of the story slowed near the 75% mark as the family learns the purpose of the witch and we need to go through each member to see how they react to it. It’s minor and necessary, but when you’re waiting for all hell to break loose, it was a bit of a “foot off the gas pedal” section.
Why you should buy this: Taff is a fantastic writer and while he states explicitly this is a piece of fiction and not historically accurate, once done you’ll want to do a deep dive on the lore around this. This was really well done, with some truly frightening moments, elevated by the underlying knowledge that this really happened. Or did it…
Much like most of you reading this review, growing up I was always fascinated and drawn to the true stories of ghosts, possessions, hauntings and the like. Whether you believe in it being real or not, there’s no disputing that ‘something’ does happen to these people in these situations.
What makes some stories stand out even more for me are when renowned historical figures state that they experienced something while visiting these people.
Case in point: The Bell Witch. The Bell Witch is often referred to as ‘America’s Witch’ because of it happening in Tennessee and relatively recently – 1817. Add in that Andrew Jackson himself says he witnessed the witch and from there the story grew. Even to this day The Bell Witch, that entity that terrorized the Bell Family sends shivers down peoples spines. You can even go visit the cave and old farmstead if you really want to experience some American haunting history.
Which led me to this book.
What I liked: I’ve not read enough Taff, but this one’s been on my radar for some time. When it finally arrived at the top of my TBR, I tore through it. Taff does something special here by not keeping the witch in the shadows. We open with a slow build of family life until a fateful visit to the cave brings forth a spirit that has a purpose. That purpose is what makes this book really work. The witch becomes a character that offers terror and kindness, often within the same paragraph. It was a marvellous choice by John to make the reader have to question why they both loathed and loved the witch.
The family dynamic is spot on and as the story progresses we get to see just how the presence of the spirit weighs on each member. I also really loved the time period accuracy of God and the decisions made for a persons place with God and forgiveness. It created a philosophical layer that I wasn’t expecting.
Taff weaved a gem of a story, with multiple storylines playing out but all of them inherently tied to how and why the witch was tormenting the Bell family.
What I didn’t like: I found some of the story slowed near the 75% mark as the family learns the purpose of the witch and we need to go through each member to see how they react to it. It’s minor and necessary, but when you’re waiting for all hell to break loose, it was a bit of a “foot off the gas pedal” section.
Why you should buy this: Taff is a fantastic writer and while he states explicitly this is a piece of fiction and not historically accurate, once done you’ll want to do a deep dive on the lore around this. This was really well done, with some truly frightening moments, elevated by the underlying knowledge that this really happened. Or did it…
October 28, 2019
Haunting and spooky!
I love a good ghost story and when that ghost story is based on a legendary haunting even better! The Bell Witch is brought forth to terrorize and guide the Bell family. A horrible secret becomes unveiled that will tear the family
apart. Known only as The Witch, she steals the show in every scene she’s in. Terrifying and also sad, can this family actually heal after this? No spoilers but the story carries you along at a quick pace with some amazing revelations that surprise you. Mr. Taff is quickly becoming one of my must read authors, he will be yours too. Enjoy! Perfect Halloween story to spook up your weekend! 🎃
I love a good ghost story and when that ghost story is based on a legendary haunting even better! The Bell Witch is brought forth to terrorize and guide the Bell family. A horrible secret becomes unveiled that will tear the family
apart. Known only as The Witch, she steals the show in every scene she’s in. Terrifying and also sad, can this family actually heal after this? No spoilers but the story carries you along at a quick pace with some amazing revelations that surprise you. Mr. Taff is quickly becoming one of my must read authors, he will be yours too. Enjoy! Perfect Halloween story to spook up your weekend! 🎃
September 29, 2014
The Bell Witch is loosely based on events that happened to the Bell family in Tennessee in the early 1800s. The alleged spirit activity included objects being thrown about, vocalizations by the witch, and physical attacks on family members, seemingly centered around the youngest Bell daughter, Betsy. In this novel, some liberties have been taken with the original legend: names have been changed, timelines have been revised, and the identity (or supposed identity) of the witch has also been changed.
This was a quick, entertaining read. I didn't find any of the characters to be particularly interesting or stand out in any way, but it was a fun book, regardless. Based on the cover, however, I was expecting a bit more of a horror bent, rather than just a straightforward, folktale-type ghost story.
All in all, a decent read.
This was a quick, entertaining read. I didn't find any of the characters to be particularly interesting or stand out in any way, but it was a fun book, regardless. Based on the cover, however, I was expecting a bit more of a horror bent, rather than just a straightforward, folktale-type ghost story.
All in all, a decent read.
April 5, 2016
Pure stubbornness got me to the end of this long-ass book. The original story is creepy, and the beginning showed promise, but as the book went on all I could think was "this would be improved by adding a laugh track" because literally the witch drops bananas on people and tells them how nice they look in their new dresses. It's like what would happen if someone took a pretty good, creepy movie like "Mama" and turned it into a primetime sitcom where 'Mama' doesn't have a body and is voiced by Samantha Bee. Everything is ruined.
There was nothing horror about this book after the first, like, 10 pages. There was nothing good about this book. Ouch. I hate saying that. But the plot was all over the place, the characters were jarringly inconsistent, the dialogue was clunky and unbelievable, there were too many unnecessary characters and it was waaaaay too long. Bad. Just.... bad.
There was nothing horror about this book after the first, like, 10 pages. There was nothing good about this book. Ouch. I hate saying that. But the plot was all over the place, the characters were jarringly inconsistent, the dialogue was clunky and unbelievable, there were too many unnecessary characters and it was waaaaay too long. Bad. Just.... bad.
July 27, 2014
Having read about the Bell Witch legend, I am familiar with the American ghost tale. The story is of the Bell family who live in Adams, Tennessee in the early 1800's. The Bell Witch's goal is to seek revenge on Jack Bell for what he had done to one of his family members. In this story the witch is a character of amusement, she can sign a song, predict the future and give unwanted advice. Jack Bell sentence is to die at the hands of the witch. The Bell Witch is somewhat based on the events that happened to the Bell family in the 1800's. The book started off slow but pick up a little. The book was entertaining but it was not what I hope it would be.
January 7, 2015
Horrid waste of time. Made the witch into a childish joke who can see the future and speaks slang.
September 13, 2018
. This was an interesting take on an American Haunting. I rather enjoy a good piece of historical fiction.
Full review here:
https://www.scifiandscary.com/bell-wi...
Full review here:
https://www.scifiandscary.com/bell-wi...
September 9, 2013
John F.D. Taff once again weaves a delicate, complex tapestry of words that unfolds into a glorious work of art, in a style that is uniquely and unmistakably his own brand of storytelling.
The original legend of The Bell Witch is a true American horror story, and rather than tell you about it here, I advise the reader to source other books if they wish to research the historical documented case, something which John Taff himself did before fictionalising the event in this remarkable book.
The story that John Taff regales us with here is not actually a ghost story, as the entity, the Witch herself, states that she has never lived or died, and therefore can not be considered to be a ghost.
Although the Witch exhibits behavioural patterns akin to those of a poltergeist, it soon becomes clear that there is a much deeper purpose behind her violence towards Jack Bell and his daughter, Betsy, though other members of the Bell family suffer to a much lesser extent at the hands of the sometimes vengeful, sometimes playful entity.
Rather than the book just being about the Bell family and the effects that the Witch has on the Bells, the Witch is brought into the heart of the book as a major character that interacts with members of the local community, holding conversations with them and singing in church, and such. The dialogue throughout is masterfully written, and totally believable.
I offer no spoilers here at all. The Bell Witch is a story with a very dark theme indeed; it is a mystery that is unfolded to great satisfaction as the story progresses, it is sprinkled with well-timed elements of humour, and the consequences of the Witch's insertion into the life of the Bell family changes the lives of all who come into contact with her.
Once again, John F.D. Taff shows us that he is a true master of his craft, and I cannot recommend this book enough.
The original legend of The Bell Witch is a true American horror story, and rather than tell you about it here, I advise the reader to source other books if they wish to research the historical documented case, something which John Taff himself did before fictionalising the event in this remarkable book.
The story that John Taff regales us with here is not actually a ghost story, as the entity, the Witch herself, states that she has never lived or died, and therefore can not be considered to be a ghost.
Although the Witch exhibits behavioural patterns akin to those of a poltergeist, it soon becomes clear that there is a much deeper purpose behind her violence towards Jack Bell and his daughter, Betsy, though other members of the Bell family suffer to a much lesser extent at the hands of the sometimes vengeful, sometimes playful entity.
Rather than the book just being about the Bell family and the effects that the Witch has on the Bells, the Witch is brought into the heart of the book as a major character that interacts with members of the local community, holding conversations with them and singing in church, and such. The dialogue throughout is masterfully written, and totally believable.
I offer no spoilers here at all. The Bell Witch is a story with a very dark theme indeed; it is a mystery that is unfolded to great satisfaction as the story progresses, it is sprinkled with well-timed elements of humour, and the consequences of the Witch's insertion into the life of the Bell family changes the lives of all who come into contact with her.
Once again, John F.D. Taff shows us that he is a true master of his craft, and I cannot recommend this book enough.
August 11, 2013
Out of all the novels I have read lately this is the one which prompted the greatest response, in that I have now spent quite a bit of time looking into the story behind the story.
This is historical fiction with a supernatural twist, a real "based on a true story" affair but one in which the "truth" is so elusive and distorted by legend that no-one can really say what happened to the Bell family during the time covered by the story.
As a Brit I'm used to tales of ghostly goings on but it was refreshing to read the story of a historical haunting from the States and this frontier element gives the story an added dimension.
If you've seen the Donald Sutherland movie based on the same story, don't worry, this isn't a retread of that even if the source material is the same.
A real American ghost story that is part horror fiction, part history lesson, and, more importantly, great storytelling.
This is historical fiction with a supernatural twist, a real "based on a true story" affair but one in which the "truth" is so elusive and distorted by legend that no-one can really say what happened to the Bell family during the time covered by the story.
As a Brit I'm used to tales of ghostly goings on but it was refreshing to read the story of a historical haunting from the States and this frontier element gives the story an added dimension.
If you've seen the Donald Sutherland movie based on the same story, don't worry, this isn't a retread of that even if the source material is the same.
A real American ghost story that is part horror fiction, part history lesson, and, more importantly, great storytelling.
January 23, 2018
Review coming soon...
January 24, 2021
DNF.
But i would say its okay just very, very slow.
But i would say its okay just very, very slow.
October 19, 2021
The Bell Witch by John F. D. Taff is supposed to be a supernatural horror story, I guess?
Spoilers aboud below. Read at your own risk.
This one was a huge letdown for me. I loved the movie An American Haunting, so I was excited to consume another account of the Bell Witch story. I don’t like giving negative reviews, but there’s very little to like about this book. From the one-dimensional characters to the botched sexual assault scenes to the racism to the comically bad witch, there really is nothing redeeming here.
I’ll start with my more minor grievances. The book bears very little resemblance to the actual story of the Bell Witch. Artistic license has its place, but in my opinion, if an author uses a historical haunting as the basis of their story, the result should have more than a passing resemblance to the original. Taff also seems to be missing some key understandings about what Victorian life was like. For example, pregnancy was generally spoken about in a euphemistic way, even when it happened to happily married people. For the characters to be speaking so freely about the possible pregnancy of a minor daughter and with only mild distress seems unlikely. Same thing with rape.
The characters fall flat. Betsy in particular is little more than a ghost for most of the story, which is funny given how the characters remark about how much of a presence she is after the witch first starts tormenting her. She just smiles sweetly and says uplifting things? Her character development for the first two thirds of the book is just the author telling us that she’s changed, that she’s so different now. She does gain some agency toward the end of the book, but that’s undermined by her not being heard from after her hasty marriage. The other characters are similarly one-note, wholly good or bad, with Lucy being the only one with some moral ambiguity.
There’s no real protagonist. The book just kind of hops around at random from character to character. Given the author’s intention with the witch, the tale really ought to have been centered around Betsy, but she gets far less page time than, for example, her father and her brother John. The witch is literally a manifestation Betsy’s anger over her rape, and yet Betsy herself is hardly part of the story at times.
The writing itself is not great and relies heavily on telling rather than showing. A great example of this is Betsy’s relationship with her schoolteacher, Richard Powell, who she eventually marries. Although Powell has been the Bell children’s teacher for some time, our first “interaction” between Betsy and Powell occurs on page 60. Powell goes up to see unconscious Betsy, listens to her heartbeat through the doctor’s stethoscope, and falls in love with her. Instead of showing the two interacting playfully before Betsy falls unconscious or having Powell come over every day to check on her condition, fretting and pacing and losing sleep, the author just straight up tells us Powell is in love. As he has to, since Powell’s actions certainly don’t show this.
In Part II, the witch gains a voice, and that’s when things really get weird. The interactions between the characters and the witch are absurd. The witch is not at all scary. I mean, she cries a diamond at one point because Betsy’s engagement ring isn’t big enough and showers people with fruits and berries. I think the author intended for some of her antics to be humorous, but I don’t find her funny either. I mostly just felt secondhand embarrassment, like I know he’s trying, but it’s just not working. And that’s the problem. This is supposed to be a horror story, and yet the only thing scary about it is that two different publishers chose to publish it.
But it’s the way Taff repeatedly mishandles sexual assault that really earns this book a low rating from me. Let’s start with that weird scene with Betsy and Joshua at the church picnic. Joshua pulls Betsy into the woods and starts undressing her, while Betsy is basically mentally checked out. Taff goes into gratuitous descriptions about how beautiful Betsy’s naked body is, and it’s straight up gross. Sexual assault should not be eroticised. Why are we in Joshua’s head for this? Why are we objectifying Betsy in this way? It was such a dirty and disturbing scene to read, watching Joshua undress her, study her naked body, muse on how beautiful her nudity is, while Betsy herself is not really there. She might as well be unconscious. It’s very creepy and disturbing, and not in a good way.
And then over on page 221, Joshua rapes Betsy. The framing is terrible. Rape is NOT sexy. Why is the author still talking about how hot she looks when Joshua rips off her clothes. Also, why? Why have Joshua rape Betsy? It adds nothing to the story. There are all kinds of ways the witch could have opened Betsy’s eyes to her childhood abuse without having her assaulted again. Joshua basically disappears from the story after this. There is no retribution for what he has done, no atonement. Betsy doesn’t even grapple with the aftermath. Joshua just rapes her so she can revisit these old memories. Lots of assault survivors have things that trigger their memories of the assault. It wasn’t entirely clear to me if the mud cave was a place where her father raped her, but if it was, simply being in the cave again could have triggered her repressed memories. There are all kinds of means the witch could have used to get Betsy to the cave. She could have carried Betsy there if needed, because that’s a thing the witch can do. But having Joshua rape Betsy seems cruel and unnecessary.
There’s also this baffling passage. On p. 229, the witch is talking about Betsy’s rape, and the author writes, “Denied her [Betsy’s] rightful vengeance at the act [rape] done to her by that man [her father]? Denied her own culpability in the act, brought about by that denial?” Betsy has no culpability in her rape. Rape survivors can keep their rape a secret if they wish. That doesn’t make them complicit in their assault.
Anky’s rape isn’t handled as badly as Betsy’s assaults, but it seems unnecessary. What does it add to the story? We already are well aware that Jack is a rapist. And in terms of character perspectives, we go from Jack to Anky’s husband, Sam, without ever seeing Anky’s perspective. What about her experiences? Jack literally did this to her. But she’s basically there as a prop to fuel Sam’s anger. In fact, most of the women in the story have little more of a role than scenery. We occasionally see things through Lucy or Betsy, but despite the fact that this story is supposed to revolve around Betsy, the men are the focus. The only woman who actually does anything is the witch. Also, I find it gross that the witch basically suggests that if only Betsy, a fifteen-year-old child, mind you, had a good man to watch over her, the witch would not be necessary. Male protectors are not the solution to rape, as this book plainly shows. Betsy’s first rapist was her own father. Having Sam didn’t stop Anky’s rape either, and having a supportive partner won’t magic away the pain of rape. Anky will probably still feel the same litany of emotions over her assault that Betsy did. And again, why more rape? Is that the only thing the author could think to do to keep upping his page count?
Also, Jack’s death, while it may come as a relief to Betsy, will not heal her completely. That’s not how trauma works. She will be living with the aftermath of her repeated assaults for a very long time. So this whole bit about how Betsy is supposed to be healed immediately in the wake of Jack’s death shows just how little the author knows about trauma. Apparently he could not be bothered to make sure he had his facts straight. If you want to write a story about something you don’t fully understand, you have to research it until you do understand it. Otherwise, you’ll be doing a great disservice to the story and your audience.
I also did not think the author handled the ending well. The last bit of the book is basically a treatise on the importance of forgiveness. For some survivors, forgiving their abuser is a key piece of their journey, but I don’t think it’s right or fair to paint it as the morally superior choice. Some acts deserve no forgiveness. For me, raping children falls into that category. Also, Jack never apologized to Betsy for what he had done. He never showed any real remorse. Yes, he begs and pleads for God’s forgiveness at times, but it seems more done out of a desire for the witch’s torment to end than anything else. Even while in the midst of the witch’s torment, he rapes Anky, thus showing that he doesn’t really see anything wrong with raping people. Why is it so important for all of the characters to forgive such a despicable person?
There are pieces of a decent story scattered amongst the wreckage. For example, we catch a glimpse of what could have been in that interaction between Betsy and Powell when he comes to court her. There is good in that scene, Betsy taking back her agency, Powell agreeing to support her as she recovers from the trauma of rape. But it’s not enough. It doesn’t forgive the author’s mishandling of assault elsewhere in the story. The concept for this story is good, but the execution is poor and Taff constantly undermines the message he seems to want to send. He also undermines some of Betsy’s agency by having Powell ask John for Betsy’s hand against her wishes. If Powell really respected Betsy, he would have listened to her. It just shows that even he doesn’t fully respect her agency.
I know sensitivity readers were not as much of a thing when Taff first published this as they are now, but the internet existed. If I’m writing a scene that involves heavy and potentially hurtful subject matter, such as sexual assault, I take some time to refresh myself on how to write the scene in a way that does the victim/survivor justice. Also, the republished edition which I read is from 2017. Taff notes in his afterword that it went through heavy edits between the first and second printings. That would also have been a great time to bring a sensitivity reader on board.
Based on the afterword, it seems pretty clear that Taff didn’t really think about the implications of his story. He just sees it as a ghost story. But if you choose to use one of the most painful human experiences to fuel that narrative, it’s not just a ghost story. He did the story and his readers a tremendous disservice by not bothering to do his research on what assault is actually like.
There’s also a good amount of racism. The n-word gets bandied around a lot. I know it’s intended as a nod to the time period, but given that the author gets so much wrong about early nineteenth century life, it’s not like authenticity matters here. There are plenty of ways to convey the time period to readers without including racial slurs. Also, that bit about Adam missing John Bell’s father really rubbed me the wrong way. Sure, slaves would have had a range of emotions regarding the plantation owners, but plantation owners treated slaves as literal property. A “kind” master still thought it was all well and good to enslave other people. I’ve heard this idea before that slaves didn’t really have it so bad and didn’t mind being enslaved, and it’s just rubbish. Why feed into that awful narrative? On p. 311, Taff writes, “Still, he [John, the son who takes over after Jack’s death] was fair to his slaves and worked just as long and as hard as any of them.” As if that justifies owning human beings. It doesn’t. Slavery is inexcusable, and anyone who treats another person as their property is doing something abominable. This is another place where a sensitivity reader could have been handy.
So yeah, I do not recommend this book. I regret buying it and would not have done so had I realized what it would be like.
cw: rape, sexual assault, racism, use of the n-word, physical abuse, emesis, death of an animal, death of a cat, death, murder?, pregnancy, childbirth
Spoilers aboud below. Read at your own risk.
This one was a huge letdown for me. I loved the movie An American Haunting, so I was excited to consume another account of the Bell Witch story. I don’t like giving negative reviews, but there’s very little to like about this book. From the one-dimensional characters to the botched sexual assault scenes to the racism to the comically bad witch, there really is nothing redeeming here.
I’ll start with my more minor grievances. The book bears very little resemblance to the actual story of the Bell Witch. Artistic license has its place, but in my opinion, if an author uses a historical haunting as the basis of their story, the result should have more than a passing resemblance to the original. Taff also seems to be missing some key understandings about what Victorian life was like. For example, pregnancy was generally spoken about in a euphemistic way, even when it happened to happily married people. For the characters to be speaking so freely about the possible pregnancy of a minor daughter and with only mild distress seems unlikely. Same thing with rape.
The characters fall flat. Betsy in particular is little more than a ghost for most of the story, which is funny given how the characters remark about how much of a presence she is after the witch first starts tormenting her. She just smiles sweetly and says uplifting things? Her character development for the first two thirds of the book is just the author telling us that she’s changed, that she’s so different now. She does gain some agency toward the end of the book, but that’s undermined by her not being heard from after her hasty marriage. The other characters are similarly one-note, wholly good or bad, with Lucy being the only one with some moral ambiguity.
There’s no real protagonist. The book just kind of hops around at random from character to character. Given the author’s intention with the witch, the tale really ought to have been centered around Betsy, but she gets far less page time than, for example, her father and her brother John. The witch is literally a manifestation Betsy’s anger over her rape, and yet Betsy herself is hardly part of the story at times.
The writing itself is not great and relies heavily on telling rather than showing. A great example of this is Betsy’s relationship with her schoolteacher, Richard Powell, who she eventually marries. Although Powell has been the Bell children’s teacher for some time, our first “interaction” between Betsy and Powell occurs on page 60. Powell goes up to see unconscious Betsy, listens to her heartbeat through the doctor’s stethoscope, and falls in love with her. Instead of showing the two interacting playfully before Betsy falls unconscious or having Powell come over every day to check on her condition, fretting and pacing and losing sleep, the author just straight up tells us Powell is in love. As he has to, since Powell’s actions certainly don’t show this.
In Part II, the witch gains a voice, and that’s when things really get weird. The interactions between the characters and the witch are absurd. The witch is not at all scary. I mean, she cries a diamond at one point because Betsy’s engagement ring isn’t big enough and showers people with fruits and berries. I think the author intended for some of her antics to be humorous, but I don’t find her funny either. I mostly just felt secondhand embarrassment, like I know he’s trying, but it’s just not working. And that’s the problem. This is supposed to be a horror story, and yet the only thing scary about it is that two different publishers chose to publish it.
But it’s the way Taff repeatedly mishandles sexual assault that really earns this book a low rating from me. Let’s start with that weird scene with Betsy and Joshua at the church picnic. Joshua pulls Betsy into the woods and starts undressing her, while Betsy is basically mentally checked out. Taff goes into gratuitous descriptions about how beautiful Betsy’s naked body is, and it’s straight up gross. Sexual assault should not be eroticised. Why are we in Joshua’s head for this? Why are we objectifying Betsy in this way? It was such a dirty and disturbing scene to read, watching Joshua undress her, study her naked body, muse on how beautiful her nudity is, while Betsy herself is not really there. She might as well be unconscious. It’s very creepy and disturbing, and not in a good way.
And then over on page 221, Joshua rapes Betsy. The framing is terrible. Rape is NOT sexy. Why is the author still talking about how hot she looks when Joshua rips off her clothes. Also, why? Why have Joshua rape Betsy? It adds nothing to the story. There are all kinds of ways the witch could have opened Betsy’s eyes to her childhood abuse without having her assaulted again. Joshua basically disappears from the story after this. There is no retribution for what he has done, no atonement. Betsy doesn’t even grapple with the aftermath. Joshua just rapes her so she can revisit these old memories. Lots of assault survivors have things that trigger their memories of the assault. It wasn’t entirely clear to me if the mud cave was a place where her father raped her, but if it was, simply being in the cave again could have triggered her repressed memories. There are all kinds of means the witch could have used to get Betsy to the cave. She could have carried Betsy there if needed, because that’s a thing the witch can do. But having Joshua rape Betsy seems cruel and unnecessary.
There’s also this baffling passage. On p. 229, the witch is talking about Betsy’s rape, and the author writes, “Denied her [Betsy’s] rightful vengeance at the act [rape] done to her by that man [her father]? Denied her own culpability in the act, brought about by that denial?” Betsy has no culpability in her rape. Rape survivors can keep their rape a secret if they wish. That doesn’t make them complicit in their assault.
Anky’s rape isn’t handled as badly as Betsy’s assaults, but it seems unnecessary. What does it add to the story? We already are well aware that Jack is a rapist. And in terms of character perspectives, we go from Jack to Anky’s husband, Sam, without ever seeing Anky’s perspective. What about her experiences? Jack literally did this to her. But she’s basically there as a prop to fuel Sam’s anger. In fact, most of the women in the story have little more of a role than scenery. We occasionally see things through Lucy or Betsy, but despite the fact that this story is supposed to revolve around Betsy, the men are the focus. The only woman who actually does anything is the witch. Also, I find it gross that the witch basically suggests that if only Betsy, a fifteen-year-old child, mind you, had a good man to watch over her, the witch would not be necessary. Male protectors are not the solution to rape, as this book plainly shows. Betsy’s first rapist was her own father. Having Sam didn’t stop Anky’s rape either, and having a supportive partner won’t magic away the pain of rape. Anky will probably still feel the same litany of emotions over her assault that Betsy did. And again, why more rape? Is that the only thing the author could think to do to keep upping his page count?
Also, Jack’s death, while it may come as a relief to Betsy, will not heal her completely. That’s not how trauma works. She will be living with the aftermath of her repeated assaults for a very long time. So this whole bit about how Betsy is supposed to be healed immediately in the wake of Jack’s death shows just how little the author knows about trauma. Apparently he could not be bothered to make sure he had his facts straight. If you want to write a story about something you don’t fully understand, you have to research it until you do understand it. Otherwise, you’ll be doing a great disservice to the story and your audience.
I also did not think the author handled the ending well. The last bit of the book is basically a treatise on the importance of forgiveness. For some survivors, forgiving their abuser is a key piece of their journey, but I don’t think it’s right or fair to paint it as the morally superior choice. Some acts deserve no forgiveness. For me, raping children falls into that category. Also, Jack never apologized to Betsy for what he had done. He never showed any real remorse. Yes, he begs and pleads for God’s forgiveness at times, but it seems more done out of a desire for the witch’s torment to end than anything else. Even while in the midst of the witch’s torment, he rapes Anky, thus showing that he doesn’t really see anything wrong with raping people. Why is it so important for all of the characters to forgive such a despicable person?
There are pieces of a decent story scattered amongst the wreckage. For example, we catch a glimpse of what could have been in that interaction between Betsy and Powell when he comes to court her. There is good in that scene, Betsy taking back her agency, Powell agreeing to support her as she recovers from the trauma of rape. But it’s not enough. It doesn’t forgive the author’s mishandling of assault elsewhere in the story. The concept for this story is good, but the execution is poor and Taff constantly undermines the message he seems to want to send. He also undermines some of Betsy’s agency by having Powell ask John for Betsy’s hand against her wishes. If Powell really respected Betsy, he would have listened to her. It just shows that even he doesn’t fully respect her agency.
I know sensitivity readers were not as much of a thing when Taff first published this as they are now, but the internet existed. If I’m writing a scene that involves heavy and potentially hurtful subject matter, such as sexual assault, I take some time to refresh myself on how to write the scene in a way that does the victim/survivor justice. Also, the republished edition which I read is from 2017. Taff notes in his afterword that it went through heavy edits between the first and second printings. That would also have been a great time to bring a sensitivity reader on board.
Based on the afterword, it seems pretty clear that Taff didn’t really think about the implications of his story. He just sees it as a ghost story. But if you choose to use one of the most painful human experiences to fuel that narrative, it’s not just a ghost story. He did the story and his readers a tremendous disservice by not bothering to do his research on what assault is actually like.
There’s also a good amount of racism. The n-word gets bandied around a lot. I know it’s intended as a nod to the time period, but given that the author gets so much wrong about early nineteenth century life, it’s not like authenticity matters here. There are plenty of ways to convey the time period to readers without including racial slurs. Also, that bit about Adam missing John Bell’s father really rubbed me the wrong way. Sure, slaves would have had a range of emotions regarding the plantation owners, but plantation owners treated slaves as literal property. A “kind” master still thought it was all well and good to enslave other people. I’ve heard this idea before that slaves didn’t really have it so bad and didn’t mind being enslaved, and it’s just rubbish. Why feed into that awful narrative? On p. 311, Taff writes, “Still, he [John, the son who takes over after Jack’s death] was fair to his slaves and worked just as long and as hard as any of them.” As if that justifies owning human beings. It doesn’t. Slavery is inexcusable, and anyone who treats another person as their property is doing something abominable. This is another place where a sensitivity reader could have been handy.
So yeah, I do not recommend this book. I regret buying it and would not have done so had I realized what it would be like.
cw: rape, sexual assault, racism, use of the n-word, physical abuse, emesis, death of an animal, death of a cat, death, murder?, pregnancy, childbirth
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 25, 2014
When I started reading this book I was expecting something slightly different from what I ended up reading. The cover makes it appear as if it is a horror story and I guess you could say that it is but in a different sense than is traditionally thought of. It is scary in more of a disturbing manner than a on the edge of your seat, wet your pants manner. It seems to me to be a commentary on the human response to trauma and how when bad things happen to us it can hurt the people around us if we just keep it inside. Sometimes our feeling are so intense that they take on a mind of their own and that is the basic theme of this book. It also explores the importance of forgiveness and how it can truly set you free. Since forgiveness is something that I am struggling with right now it was good for me to read something that reminded me that by not forgiving I am really holding myself back more so than the person that needs to be forgiven. We all struggle with our own feeling of what needs to be done in order to receive justice for the wrongs that have been done to us, but if we let those hurts feeling eat away at us eventually they will birth a vengeful spirit that causes harm not only to ourselves but to the people that we most care about.
August 22, 2013
I loved this book! I usually read short stories, so that I can read one in a sitting. Even with slightly longer stories, I read a chapter or 2 and then put the book down. Not with The Bell Witch! I basically read it in 2 days, mostly because I had a friend coming to visit and had to stop reading.
The story was wonderful; I'm a sucker for a good ghost story, especially one where the family doesn't try to leave, but just work through things, and adored that Andrew Jackson makes a showing in the story! I never like to give a synopsis of the story in my review, that feels a bit lame. The pacing is great, I just kept wanting to read,to find out "the secrets" of the story, and what folks would do when they found out the secrets. Really great read!!!
The story was wonderful; I'm a sucker for a good ghost story, especially one where the family doesn't try to leave, but just work through things, and adored that Andrew Jackson makes a showing in the story! I never like to give a synopsis of the story in my review, that feels a bit lame. The pacing is great, I just kept wanting to read,to find out "the secrets" of the story, and what folks would do when they found out the secrets. Really great read!!!
June 28, 2018
This wasn't scary at all! It was boring as hell, actually and so anachronic it got on my nerves.
I imagine the author thinking, "nah, I don't need to have real language of the time or any costume/behavior according to how society was back then. Nuh-uh."
"So....how will people know it's a historical piece? I mean...I know people are aware of the legend but still..."
"Oh, don't worry. I'll just throw a historical figure or happening here and there and keep repeating the year. 'Till be just fiiiine."
Seriously, I scare easily and the cover made me worried but then the story started and it was almost as if it were purposely badly written? Is this a parody?
The wikipedia page about this case will scare you more and do a better job at story telling, I swear.
I imagine the author thinking, "nah, I don't need to have real language of the time or any costume/behavior according to how society was back then. Nuh-uh."
"So....how will people know it's a historical piece? I mean...I know people are aware of the legend but still..."
"Oh, don't worry. I'll just throw a historical figure or happening here and there and keep repeating the year. 'Till be just fiiiine."
Seriously, I scare easily and the cover made me worried but then the story started and it was almost as if it were purposely badly written? Is this a parody?
The wikipedia page about this case will scare you more and do a better job at story telling, I swear.
March 19, 2016
For some reason.. for the time of the year this was... I found it so very unbelievable that this witch/spirit/demon (whatever it was) was not feared by anyone..not in the Bell home, or even in the entire town.
She gave the impression to be best friend to all ... she sang in church and the Preacher even told her what a beautiful voice she has.
She would visit the school teacher and talk with him..give him pep talks and small kisses on his cheek
Everyone ( as the Bell Witch) was getting ready to leave said Goodbye to her and acted out as if she would be missed greatly
The book was just plain ole STUPID
She gave the impression to be best friend to all ... she sang in church and the Preacher even told her what a beautiful voice she has.
She would visit the school teacher and talk with him..give him pep talks and small kisses on his cheek
Everyone ( as the Bell Witch) was getting ready to leave said Goodbye to her and acted out as if she would be missed greatly
The book was just plain ole STUPID
August 10, 2013
Need a good haunting? John F.D. Taff has certainly given the Bell Witch folktale new life. The Bell Witch is a superb story that grips you early, keeps you guessing, and will linger in your mind long after the last page has come and gone. As Taff says, “get a cup of tea, light up a good stogie, stoke the fire, and settle down in your easy chair.” The Bell Witch will keep your eyes blazing across each line and your heart pounding as this torturous ghost story unfolds. Don’t pass it up.
Weston Kincade
http://www.wakeediting.com
http://www.kincadefiction.blogspot.com
Weston Kincade
http://www.wakeediting.com
http://www.kincadefiction.blogspot.com
October 26, 2016
Interesting story but the dialogue and overall feel of the story just didn't give me the sense of being in the 1820s. A small point of history that I found jarring was the giving of a diamond engagement ring. This wasn't a common custom until much later in the century and it's doubtful someone of modest means would have given a ring like this at that time.
I received the book through Good Reads First Read.
I received the book through Good Reads First Read.
August 29, 2017
I've been fascinated by the Bell Witch since I first encountered her in the pages of Daniel Cohen's Encyclopedia of Ghosts. Taff brings her to (un)life in a moody story of historical horror that will not disappoint those familiar with the haunting or newcomers to the first great ghost story of the Americas.
August 18, 2013
Omg!! Loved this book!! Fantastic characters an the story line just pulled me in!!!
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