Yes, we know it’s only July, but in our hearts, it’s always Halloween. And – good news! – Titan Books has a Halloween treat in store for you this year. Hex Life: Wicked New Tales of Witchery (10/1) is an anthology featuring stories from some of the most famous names in fantasy and horror, edited by Christopher Holden and Rachel Autumn Deering.

The theme? Why, witches, of course.

Some, like the witches in Angela Slatter’s “Widow’s Walk,” protect the young girls of the town in which they live, giving them hope when they would otherwise have none. Wendy, from Sarah Langan’s “The Night Nurse,” will give you what you think you want if you’re not careful. Swamp witch Audrey bakes her rage into her famous seven-layer bars in Hillary Monahan’s “Bless Your Heart.” The old woman in Tananarive Due’s “Last Stop on Route Nine” blames you for her pain, whether you caused it or not. And then there’s Theodora Goss’s Ermengarde who, I’m not going to lie, is my absolute favorite of the bunch. You’ll see why soon enough.

I’m often a little hesitant to purchase anthologies because the contents can be hit or miss; there have been many times I’ve laid out goodly sums only to find myself enjoying a paltry one or two stories from a giant collection. This review copy, however, happened to turn up at my house courtesy of Titan, so I figured there was no harm in digging in.

Of the 18 stories, I only skipped one because it was written by an author whose work I don’t particularly enjoy (no, I’m not going to tell you which one it was) so, for all I know, it’s an excellent story I simply happened not to read. Of the 17 I did read, I enjoyed them all, though I did have some best beloveds (hint: they’re the ones I mentioned above).

Seventeen out of seventeen is a pretty good record, fellow readers.

This collection is particularly well chosen for several reasons: the stories are from a variety of time periods (colonial American to modern), a variety of genres (fantasy to urban fantasy to historical fiction to horror), and written by authors with vastly different styles but arranged in such a way that the transitions aren’t jarring. Both the authors and their witches are from a variety of ethnicities and cultures, which provides a fascinating survey of witchcraft and folk practices couched in fiction (which is a completely valid way to learn stuff, thank you very much).

Highly recommend this one. Even if you only like half as many of the stories as I did, it’s still a solid investment. If you’re easily creeped out, read before dark and maybe not on Halloween.

Enjoy!