Perhaps you recall the Lost Abbey Brewery Brew-ha-ha? Maybe not. I’m not saying it was some earth-shattering event. But it did make the New York Times! A group determined to continue pestering Lost Abbey until they change their “Witch’s Wit” label to something less offensive formed on Facebook not long after the story started making the rounds on the pagan blogosphere. I wonder if they’d heard the latest news? The Lost Abbey Brewery posted today that they are discontinuing their... Read more

My favorite novel of all time, Jane Eyre, was tailor-made for cinematic adaptation, despite being written in an era when such art-forms were undreamt of. A rebellious orphan, cruelly ostracized, she makes her way in the world as a governess, and goes to work for a seemingly hard-hearted man of considerable wealth and not a few secrets. But the best part of the story, for me, is when Jane, overwhelmed by her situation, decides to venture into the wilderness, alone.... Read more

News has come from the BBC that actress Ingrid Pitt has died at the age of 73. Ms. Pitt was a holocaust survivor who spent three years in a concentration camp and went on to have a successful career as a film actress. Horror fans have loved Ms. Pitt for her roles in some of the finest Hammer Horror films, including Countess Dracula, The House that Dripped Blood and The Vampire Lovers. Ingrid was a well-loved icon among horror film... Read more

Over at The Wild Hunt, and on the Witchvox Facebook page which links to a short review on this pagan blog, there is discussion of a new self-published book by Ben Whitmore, Trials of the Moon: Reopening the Case for Historical Witchcraft,which seeks to critique and question many of the assumptions and statements of Ronald Hutton’s historical examination of the roots of modern pagan witchcraft, The Triumph of the Moon. I’ve read the (free) download of Whitmore’s book, which is... Read more

The Dark Ages, the Light Within Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part One For all of you who think the Harry Potter franchise can do no wrong (and of course they will have already seen this newest installment by now), you’ll be happy to know that Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part One, directed by David Yates, is by far the best of the films so far, a close second to the third film (my own personal favorite),... Read more

John Morehead of Theofantastique shared this link on Facebook today: horror-movies.ca offers a great list of Thirteen Top Witch Films. I like that they list a number of classics and older films, like Witchfinder General (1968) and Mark of the Devil (1970). They even named The Wicker Man (1973) their Number One choice! But I did notice they omitted several films I’d have included: most notably, The Blair Witch Project (1999) and Rosemary’s Baby (1968). And despite including a quote... Read more

After seeming to lie fallow for a number of months, it now appears that SEASON OF THE WITCH, the medieval horror thriller starring Nicolas Cage, will be opening in theatres January 7, 2011. The website ‘I am Rogue’ debuts the new poster for the film, with the tagline “This January Raise Some Hell.” The Internet Movie Database gives the following description: “A 14th century Crusader returns to a homeland devastated by the Black Plague. A beleaguered church, deeming sorcery the... Read more

So, those of you who live anywhere near Aberystwyth, are in for a treat! As the BBC website reports, Robin Hardy’s new film THE WICKER TREE, the long-awaited sequel to 1973’s THE WICKER MAN, will be having a promotional event there this Sunday, November 14th. A 12 minute clip of the film will be shown, to get people excited for the feature film’s release, which will be in the spring of 2011. Robin Hardy, interviewed for the article, says he... Read more

Today CNN reported that the Arkansas Supreme Court has ordered that the cases of Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin and Jessie Misskelley, Jr. be remanded to the lower court for a new hearing, which means that new evidence may be presented. That means DNA evidence and other evidence which may well exonerate Damien Echols; and if Echols, the alleged “ringleader,” goes free, it’s likely that Misskelley and Baldwin will also be released. As the article reports, previous DNA testing conducted between... Read more

Ugly Americans is a relatively new animated show on Comedy Central, which features demons, zombies, wizards and all kinds of assorted characters who have taken over America in the not too distant future. Tonight’s episode was entitled “Hell for the Holidays” and opened with a reference to “Samhain (pronounced correctly), our national demonic holiday.” Mark Lilly is a normal-looking human who is dating a female demon named Callie (portrayed as a seductive and sexually-insatiable woman with red hair that looks... Read more