The Silver Bullet, and Other American Witch Stories

Among the more interesting jobs created by the W.P.A. (Works Progress Administration) during the Depression years of the 1930s, was the Virginia W.P.A. Writers Project. The idea was to have a group of authors, editors, and reporters fan out among the coves and hollows of the Appalachian Mountains and record the beliefs, superstitions, and traditions of the mountain folk. These stories were then transcribed and sent to Richmond with the intention of publishing a book on Virginia folklore. The ultimate goal was never accomplished, and the hundreds of stories that were collected were eventually placed in the archives of the University of Virginia, in Charlottesville.

American Witch Stories draws heavily on the Virginia Project, but goes much beyond it. It proceeds from the assumption that the tales of the mountain folk were heavily influenced by the experiences of their ancestors, many of whom were of Scottish, Irish, or German origin and who settled in Virginia, Texas, New York, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Indiana, Tennessee, North Carolina, and Arkansas. As a result, tales about Cajuns, Indians, and people of Spanish backgrounds are incorporated, enlarging the scope of the book to national proportions.

Through the more than seventy-five stories selected for inclusion, there emerges a comprehensive overview of the beliefs and practices of a segment of the population to whom witches and witchcraft were a basic way of living and thinking.

This book is divided into four parts. Part I presents tales about people who wanted to become witches, describing how they went about it. Part II tells how witches work: the use of witchballs, chimneys, potions, etc. Part III tells how common folk, thinking themselves bewitched, went about breaking the spell of the Devil. Part IV describes people who used their reputations as witches for profit.

American Witch Stories uses authentic dialogue as it brings to life the activity of witches and their craft, all of which have become an integral part of the folklore of America. It describes the locales where they did their work: the mountains, the hills, and the valleys so sparsely populated, so dark and foreboding, ideal places for witches to pursue their work.

This volume adds a new dimension tot he expanding field of Americana.