The Witches of Kyiv

The Witches of Kyiv
Author: Orest Somov
Publisher: Sova Books
Total Pages: 94
Release: 2016-11-04
Genre: Young Adult Fiction
ISBN: 0987594397

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In The Witches of Kyiv and Other Gothic Tales by Orest Somov the supernatural is present throughout Ukraine, from a cemetery in Kyivan Rus, to an isolated forest cottage in the seventeenth century Kozak era, to the society ballrooms of Somov’s own world – the early nineteenth century. Gothic horror appears in many guises including witches, warlocks, demons and vengeful ‘rusalka’. Strange soothsayers and malevolent visitors represent the forces of good and evil. In her foreword Dr Svitlana Krys describes Somov “as an initiator of an indigenous literary tradition of the Gothic in the Ukrainian literary canon”. Native folk traditions, ghost stories and European Romanticism are twisted together in Somov’s imaginative tales, most of which are published here in English for the first time.

The Biddings of Mara

The Biddings of Mara
Author: Scot N. George
Publisher:
Total Pages: 158
Release: 2017-03-16
Genre:
ISBN: 9781544053981

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I hope you will be captivated by the mythological characters of Slavic folklore as much as I have been after my initial introduction to their magical charm through the writings of Lesya Ukrainka's Dramatis Person�, "The Forest Song". I pray I do them justice in my tale of two witches, a tale of half-sisters, whose clash of wills become hopelessly entangled in the eternal struggle between good and evil.The setting takes place in and around the city of Kyiv in the mid to late 1800's. The two sisters reside in a stately manor situated upon a rocky precipice where the Gothic mansion culminates into three spires that tower over their surroundings. The iconic landmark, located just north of the historic Golden Gate in Kyiv, served as the inspiration in concocting my story. It stands there still today in slight disarray and can be easily seen on a leisurely walking tour about the city center.Part one will introduce you to the wicked Mara as she plies her cunning wiles to manipulate events thereby swaying a young paladin, Yuri, into doing her biddings. He follows his heart, enabling him to summon the courage to overcome self doubt and retrieve three sacred relics empowering Mara with untold abilities in marshalling the dark arts to command at her beck and call.Fate and destiny intertwine their resolve, wrestling over which will control the outcome of Yuri's efforts. Shall it be hope or shall it be despair in the end that wins the day?

Bloody Wedding in Kyiv

Bloody Wedding in Kyiv
Author: Leopold von Sacher-Masoch
Publisher: Sova Books
Total Pages:
Release: 2016-07-05
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 0987594370

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Ukrainian Witchcraft Trials

Ukrainian Witchcraft Trials
Author: Kateryna Dysa
Publisher: Central European University Press
Total Pages: 264
Release: 2020-09-01
Genre: History
ISBN: 615505312X

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Ukrainian Witchcraft Trials is an analysis of early modern witchcraft trials and legal procedures in Ukrainian lands, along with an examination of quantitative data drawn from the different trials. Kateryna Dysa first describes the ideological background of the tribunals based on works written by priests and theologians that reflect attitudes towards the devil and witches. The main focus of her work, however, is the process leading to witchcraft accusations. From the stories of participants of the trials she shows what led people to enunciate first suspicions then accusations of witchcraft. Finally, she presents a microhistory from one Volhynian village, comparing attitudes towards two "female crimes" in the Ukrainian courts. The study is based on archival research together with previously published witch trials transcripts. Dysa approaches the trials as indications of belief and practice, attempting to understand the actors involved rather than dismiss or condemn them. She takes care to situate Ukrainian witchcraft and its accompanying trials in a broader European context, with comparisons to some African cases as well.

Two Witches of Kyiv

Two Witches of Kyiv
Author: Scot George
Publisher:
Total Pages: 594
Release: 2018-06-25
Genre:
ISBN: 9781721809103

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Part three of "Two Witches of Kyiv" takes the reader on a journey through the trials and tribulations of the Stavesacre, a mild mannered painter of nature's beauty who is unaware of his mystical genesis as he combats the evil unleashed upon creation.Unbeknownst to him, he has been summoned from across the ages of the supernatural realm to come to the aid of a young sorceress who has been tasked to destroy an ancient book of magic and keep it from the hands of her evil half sister as decreed by her dying papa.Struggling with the newfound powers bequeathed to her by her father, the Supreme Imperial Warlock, the book opens to a passage, "Conjure of the Stavesacre". She inadvertently mouths the incantation setting into motion an epic battle between good and evil. The artist battles fate and destiny as he attempts to summon the courage and will to help his true love stave off the evil that has been wrought upon the creation by her evil half sister, an evil uncovered by an erudite professor who is driven by an undying curiosity for the unknown, an evil the Stavesacre helped bring about by his actions carried out in an alternate timeline.With the aid of an Alkonost Prophetess, an Amazonian Priestess and a Contrary Bear, the Stavesacre opposes the plotting of his wicked nemesis and her nefarious minions to prevent his success in securing a sacred acorn from the Great Oak Tree of Life protected by the Guardian Falcon.As the evil half sister grows stronger in her powers of darkness, her hatred boils over to where she is driven by a revulsion and disgust of her sister so strong, she conspires to forgo her lust for ultimate power and is driven to bring about total oblivion and hopeless despair. She surrenders her soulless heart to the eternal and boundless darkness with its thick cold and endless night to devour the creation, eager to ever expunge it from beyond existence.

Begone the Raggedy Witches (The Wild Magic Trilogy, Book One)

Begone the Raggedy Witches (The Wild Magic Trilogy, Book One)
Author: Celine Kiernan
Publisher: Candlewick Press
Total Pages: 288
Release: 2018-09-11
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 1536204870

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When witches kidnap her dad, Mup is swept up in a wild tide of magic that carries her to another world. Can she reunite her family and find her way back? On the night that Aunty dies, the raggedy witches come for Mup’s family. Pale, cold, and relentless, the witches will do anything for the tyrannical queen who has outlawed most magic and enforces her laws with terror and cruelty — and who happens to be Mup’s grandmother. When witches carry off her dad, Mup and her mam leave the mundane world to rescue him. But everything is odd in the strange, glittering Witches Borough, even Mam. Even Mup herself. In a world of rhyming crows, talking cats, and golden forests, it’s all Mup can do to keep her wits about her. And even if she can save her dad, Mup’s not sure if anything will ever be the same again. First in a new trilogy by Irish author Celine Kiernan, this tale of family and forbidden magic charts a fresh path through the landscape of beloved fantasy tradition — and promises to bewitch any reader in search of stories to love.

The Witch and the Tsar

The Witch and the Tsar
Author: Olesya Salnikova Gilmore
Publisher: Penguin
Total Pages: 433
Release: 2023-08-22
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 0593546989

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"A delicate weaving of myth and history, The Witch and the Tsar breathes new life into stories you think you know."–Hannah Whitten, New York Times bestselling author of For the Wolf In this stunning debut novel, the maligned and immortal witch of legend known as Baba Yaga will risk all to save her country and her people from Tsar Ivan the Terrible—and the dangerous gods who seek to drive the twisted hearts of men. As a half-goddess possessing magic, Yaga is used to living on her own, her prior entanglements with mortals having led to heartbreak. She mostly keeps to her hut in the woods, where those in need of healing seek her out, even as they spread rumors about her supposed cruelty and wicked spells. But when her old friend Anastasia—now the wife of the tsar, and suffering from a mysterious illness—arrives in her forest desperate for her protection, Yaga realizes the fate of all of Russia is tied to Anastasia’s. Yaga must step out of the shadows to protect the land she loves. As she travels to Moscow, Yaga witnesses a sixteenth century Russia on the brink of chaos. Tsar Ivan—soon to become Ivan the Terrible—grows more volatile and tyrannical by the day, and Yaga believes the tsaritsa is being poisoned by an unknown enemy. But what Yaga cannot know is that Ivan is being manipulated by powers far older and more fearsome than anyone can imagine. Olesya Salnikova Gilmore weaves a rich tapestry of mythology and Russian history, reclaiming and reinventing the infamous Baba Yaga, and bringing to life a vibrant and tumultuous Russia, where old gods and new tyrants vie for power. This fierce and compelling novel draws from the timeless lore to create a heroine for the modern day, fighting to save her country and those she loves from oppression while also finding her true purpose as a goddess, a witch, and a woman.

Ukrainian Womens Magic Traditions

Ukrainian Womens Magic Traditions
Author: Lada Luzina
Publisher: Glagoslav Publications
Total Pages: 132
Release: 2020-10-16
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 9660389574

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Lada Luzina — Golden Writer of Ukraine: “The folk rites of our great-grandmothers are so riddled with magic that there is no doubt — it was these real holidays and rituals that became the basis for all the famous legends and tales of Kiev witches. Reading now about the magical traditions of Ukrainians, you never cease to be amazed at what unique ancestors and knowledge our ancestors possessed! What a special, unique role a woman played in the Ukrainian community! And from what great depths these or other customs come!”

The Master and Margarita

The Master and Margarita
Author: Mikhail Bulgakov
Publisher: Grove/Atlantic, Inc.
Total Pages: 306
Release: 2016-03-18
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 0802190510

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Satan comes to Soviet Moscow in this critically acclaimed translation of one of the most important and best-loved modern classics in world literature. The Master and Margarita has been captivating readers around the world ever since its first publication in 1967. Written during Stalin’s time in power but suppressed in the Soviet Union for decades, Bulgakov’s masterpiece is an ironic parable on power and its corruption, on good and evil, and on human frailty and the strength of love. In The Master and Margarita, the Devil himself pays a visit to Soviet Moscow. Accompanied by a retinue that includes the fast-talking, vodka-drinking, giant tomcat Behemoth, he sets about creating a whirlwind of chaos that soon involves the beautiful Margarita and her beloved, a distraught writer known only as the Master, and even Jesus Christ and Pontius Pilate. The Master and Margarita combines fable, fantasy, political satire, and slapstick comedy to create a wildly entertaining and unforgettable tale that is commonly considered the greatest novel to come out of the Soviet Union. It appears in this edition in a translation by Mirra Ginsburg that was judged “brilliant” by Publishers Weekly. Praise for The Master and Margarita “A wild surrealistic romp. . . . Brilliantly flamboyant and outrageous.” —Joyce Carol Oates, The Detroit News “Fine, funny, imaginative. . . . The Master and Margarita stands squarely in the great Gogolesque tradition of satiric narrative.” —Saul Maloff, Newsweek “A rich, funny, moving and bitter novel. . . . Vast and boisterous entertainment.” —The New York Times “The book is by turns hilarious, mysterious, contemplative and poignant. . . . A great work.” —Chicago Tribune “Funny, devilish, brilliant satire. . . . It’s literature of the highest order and . . . it will deliver a full measure of enjoyment and enlightenment.” —Publishers Weekly

Folk Horror

Folk Horror
Author: Dawn Keetley
Publisher: University of Wales Press
Total Pages: 322
Release: 2023-04-15
Genre: Literary Criticism
ISBN: 1786839806

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While the undisputed heyday of folk horror was Britain in the 1960s and 1970s, the genre has not only a rich cinematic and literary prehistory, but directors and novelists around the world have also been reinventing folk horror for the contemporary moment. This study sets out to rethink the assumptions that have guided critical writing on the genre in the face of such expansions, with chapters exploring a range of subjects from the fiction of E. F. Benson to Scooby-Doo, video games, and community engagement with the Lancashire witches. In looking beyond Britain, the essays collected here extend folk horror's geographic terrain to map new conceptualisations of the genre now seen emerging from Italy, Ukraine, Thailand, Mexico and the Appalachian region of the US.