Several years back, I was living with a friend who is a hereditary witch. Being friends with her gave me new insight on what it meant to be a witch—she had a much different perspective on that type of thing than the girls I knew who were into witchcraft in high school. We were spending a lot of time watching ghost shows and horror movies, discussing decadent literature and arcane subject matter; we listened to music her bohemian parents turned her onto and stuff we discovered while bouncing around the LA bar scene. Before her stay with me ended, I told her I was going to write a story about two ghost hunters running headlong into a mystery that involved witches and the occult—something that was more researched in these subjects than most horror/fantasy stories and grounded in the idea of magic as a powerful force for change. This was the birth of the Hunting For Witches series.
Hunting For Witches — Salem’s Burning is the product of obsessive late-night tarot reads, of combing through boutique video stores for obscure horror movies, of scouring the internet for forgotten tales of esoterica to pull inspiration from. It is the product of endless nights in dark nightclubs and warehouses; of late-night conversations with girls with names like Effy Skullface, Pixie, and Mouse. It is the product of dreams about Lovecraft and falling in love with the Invisibles series and wishing there was more stuff out there like it; of wishing there was more modern literature out there that spoke to me period and wishing to connect with people who might feel the same way I did. It is the product of waking up in the morning to the sounds of black metal and falling asleep to the sound of white noise; the product of thinking too much about things, and the desire for art that is daring and transformative. Dreams, memories, books, films, imagination—Hunting For Witches is the product of all of these things, but it is the product of what for lack of a better word is called magic most of all.
Synopsis: How much do you know about witches? Do you know the secret history of the Salem witch trials? Two amateur ghost hunters travel to Little Salem seeking an encounter with the paranormal and discover a small town being terrorized by an anarchic coven led by the charming and enigmatic teenage witch, Ada van Dreyer. They soon learn that Little Salem is hiding a dark history underneath its unassuming exterior and experience a series of terrifying supernatural encounters that prove that magic exists in more than just fairy tales.
“Hunting For Witches — Salem’s Burning” can be purchased here:
Apple Books
Extra thanks to everyone who has been supportive of this project over the years. I am grateful for your engagement, and I hope you enjoy the ride.
-B McIlroy