Book Review: Witch Studies Reader

Soma Chaudhuri and Elizabeth Jane Ward, eds., The witch studies reader. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2025. ISBN: 9781478031352.

Genre: Witchcraft, witches

Subgenre: Women and Gender Studies, postcolonial studies

Format: Hardcover

Source: Hutchins Library, Berea College  

 

This is a collection of scholarly essays looking at witches and witchcraft as an academic field of study. The book's authors feature scholars, practitioners, and scholar-practitioners "who examine witchcraft from a critical decolonial feminist perspective that decenters Europe and departs from exoticizing and pathologizing writing on witchcraft in the Global South" (from back cover).

The book is divided in six parts with 32 chapters. Topics include: 

• History.
• Debate of open versus closed practices.
• Appalachian folk magic.
• Tarot.
• Feminist theory.
• Witch hunts.
• Pop culture.
• Academia and the craft. 

This is a book by academics for academics. It is also for practitioners who are also academics or have a strong academic interest connected to their craft. This book may be a bit "too scholarly" for most practitioners. Some essays are more accessible than others, so I'd suggest to most folks to the essays they find of interest. 

I'd recommend this book for academic programs in feminist studies, pop culture, religion, peace and social justice, and gender studies. Most public libraries may want to skip this as it is not really a book for lay readers. 

I liked it. Some essays were better and more interesting than others. 

3 out of 5 stars. 

 

Additional reading notes: 

On witch stories: 

"Stories about witches, found in nearly every corner of the world, are by their nature stories about the most basic and profound of human experiences-- healing, sex, violence, tragedies, aging, death, and encountering the mystery and magic of the unknown" (1). 

 

A spell for accessing knowledge: 

"May we shed our attachments to disciplined ways of knowing and listen with humility" (14). 

 

Elements of Appalachian folk magic: 

". . .lacking a formal system, making do with items at hand, believing in astrological influences, and engaging aspects of Christianity" (90). 

 

Books mentioned in the "Resurrecting Granny" essay that I have read. Links go to my reviews: 

• Ballard, Roots, Branches, and Spirits.
• Richards, Backwoods Witchcraft. 

 

 

 

This book qualifies for the following 2025 Reading Challenge: