Book Review: A Blood Witch

Reviewed by Victoria Lilly

A multi-generational gothic saga set against the backdrop of 20th-century New England, blending psychological horror, supernatural intrigue, and family drama

The novel opens in 1946 with the harrowing story of Sofia Tarantino, a teenager impregnated under mysterious and disturbing circumstances—a harrowing episode among many in a generational curse involving a seductive, violent spirit named Daedrian. Fast forward to the present-day, 18-year-old Francesca “Fran” Tarantino is grappling with the recent death of her beloved great-aunt Aurora Ciccone, who has left her not just a considerable estate but a sprawling archive chronicling generations of women haunted by the same ghost.

As Fran begins to read Aurora’s journals and assorted historical documents—including letters, priest’s diaries, and legal testimony—she uncovers the dark legacy of the “blood witch” women in her lineage. Each was seduced and possessed by Daedrian, who seeks to perpetuate his influence by impregnating the next female heir. Fran must confront not only the supernatural presence that has haunted her since childhood but also the weight of her inheritance, her emerging identity, and the unspoken traumas of her family’s past. As she begins her new life in New York City, her autonomy, sanity, and survival hang in the balance. Can she survive his growing power without revealing her family’s secret—or will she become the next bride in his endless, blood-soaked history?

A Blood Witch is a dark and unflinching exploration of generational trauma as well as wider social evils such as domestic violence, sexism, and incest. Stone’s prose is polished and immersive, featuring historical epistolary fragments, contemporary narrative, and chilling confessions from multiple point-of-view characters. The novel is graphic in its treatment of themes and supernatural motifs and intentionally unsettling in explicit depiction of violence of varying sorts.

The strongest aspect of the novel is its ambitious structure and slowly-building suspense plot. Stone employs a patchwork of narrative techniques to weave a multi-generational story of spiritual possession and inherited suffering, organically nudging the reader to piece together its sinister history along with the protagonist Fran. The use of archival material echoes the epistolary horror tradition of Dracula or The Turn of the Screw.

Fran’s grief combined with her confusion and gradual unraveling tells a quite fascinating story. Her relations with her overbearing great-aunt Lily, darling cousin Mary Jane, and the spectral Daedrian are complex and often fraught. The supporting characters, especially Aurora and the earlier “brides” of Daedrian, are also given significant development. Aurora, in particular, is portrayed with nuance: she is at once a victim, a guardian, and an imperfect moral compass for Fran. Her letters are among the novel’s most haunting and eloquent passages.

The supernatural elements are handled with restraint, keeping the fantastical to the minimum. Daedrian is less a demonic presence or a monster like Dracula and primarily an allegory for intergenerational abuse and female disempowerment. He is seductive, manipulative, and, most terrifyingly, patient. The terror lies not in jump scares or gore but in the insidious way he violates boundaries—familial, physical, and spiritual.

Transitions between past records and present events are occasionally abrupt, and some sections—especially historical documents—can slow the momentum. Daedrian’s psychological profile, while fascinating at first glance, remains frustratingly static. Readers may wish for more from his origin and motivations.

A Blood Witch is a chilling, layered, and intelligent gothic piece that tackles the genre from a distinctly feminist angle. It interrogates themes of bodily autonomy, inherited trauma, and the haunting persistence of misogyny with a significant degree of literary sophistication. Though its graphic content and nonlinear structure can be challenging, the novel offers sophisticated explorations of themes interweaved with a suspenseful and gripping plot. This is not a comforting read—but it is a valuable one.

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