Witchcraft for Wayward Girls

"Witchcraft for Wayward Girls" is an intriguing Southern Gothic horror novel by Grady Hendrix, the acclaimed New York Times bestselling author known for works like "How to Sell a Haunted House" and "The Final Girl Support Group." This special hardback edition, featuring sprayed edges, follows the story of fifteen-year-old Fern who finds herself in Wellwood House, a facility in St. Augustine, Florida, during the oppressive summer of 1970. At Wellwood House, unwed mothers, like Fern, are secreted away by their families to give birth, give up their children for adoption, and erase the events from their lives.Fern, frightened and isolated, encounters other young girls facing similar fates. Among them is Rose, a hippie determined to raise her child in a commune, Zinnia, an aspiring musician who hopes to wed her baby's father, and Holly, a mute who, at just fourteen, is silently dealing with her own pregnancy. The girls' lives are tightly regulated by adults claiming to know what’s best for them. This dynamic shifts when Fern is introduced to an occult book on witchcraft by a librarian, allowing the girls to wield newfound power. However, with power comes danger, as it can be as destructive as it is creative, and it often demands a steep price, sometimes paid in blood.The book has garnered praise for its complex, haunting narrative. Stephen Graham Jones calls it "amazing," while Simone St. James describes it as "terrifying, darkly funny, and moving." Paul Tremblay remarks on it as a "morally complex and genuinely haunting tale."