My new book, Celluloid Hex, is now available to buy!
The book takes a look at ten films about witchcraft and covens across nine detailed, illustrated chapters. Some of these films are well known and loved; some are less familiar. However, in each case, they offer up great opportunities to consider the motif of witchcraft and what it represents about the specific time and background of each film. From Häxan to The Witch, the book covers roughly a century of cinematic witchery: along the way, it covers a variety of ideas and influences, from the Malleus Maleficarum to journalistic hoaxes, from anxieties about non-European magical practices to the uses of new technologies, from music to media to true crime, feminism and social liberty.
My last book – on Lucio Fulci’s cynical masterpiece A Lizard in a Woman’s Skin – was without doubt a niche project, whereas Celluloid Hex has a more wide-ranging appeal. The witch is everywhere; arguably, any history of witchcraft on film is a history of film itself. However, the same sort of approach which I took in Opening The Cage is used here, too. There’s the same exploration of cultural and social influences, the same close focus on details and the same film fan’s love for the films in question.
If this sounds of interest, then please head over the store for more information and to pick up your copy! This is a limited print run, so please be quick if you want to grab one. Thank you, and thank you again for supporting independent print media!