WITCH CITY
About:
WITCH CITY follows two stories, one being of a young girl as she attempts to navigate a city of witches during Samhain when evil spirits are set free, and the other is the story of her Salem Witch ancestor Tituba as she navigates the events of the trials, and their connection to the city that binds them both.
October 2022, 330 years after the end of the Salem Witch Trials. Alicia, a young aspiring writer, discovers her ancestor is Tituba, the first woman accused during the trials. After an attempt to cast a spell goes wrong, Alicia tries to go to Salem for answers. Instead, a mysterious stranger takes her to a different Witch City: Crone's Cross. There it is Samhain, the time of year when malevolent spirits are set free, and a conflict is brewing between two covens.
Alicia takes the name of Aradia, the mythic daughter of the Moon Goddess. In Crone's Cross she is accused of being a Witch Hunter, and is forced to be on the run. With the help of three teenaged Bad Witches, the Bride of Frankenstein, and even the legendary witch Baba Yaga, Aradia must find a way to survive the city, and find herself in the process.
Witch City
By Salem Styles
Genre: Fantasy, Young adult
Format: Novel
Publication Status: Self-Published
Intended Audience: Young Adult (YA), Ages 12 to 18.
Comparable Films / Books:
Alice in Wonderland (2010), Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, Wicked
Content Considerations
Content Warnings:
- Violence or weapons, Child abuse or neglect, References to slavery, witch-burning, family and generational trauma
Additional Notes:
- The child neglect is in reference to a character’s mother kicking them out for casting a spell.
- The references to slavery include the background of a character’s ancestor who was an enslaved woman.
- References to violence include magic-related violence and reference to witches being burned at the stake.
About the Author
Salem Styles is a practicing witch, tarot-reader, and the author of WITCH CITY and HECATE'S COUNTRY. He currently works at a bookstore and can often be found doing book signings around the lower mainland, especially at Halloween time. Over the years he has visited the real-life Witch City, Salem, Massachusetts, several times and has even had the pleasure of doing a book signing at the Salem Witch Village in 2024. His fascination with the events of the Salem Witch Trials, Halloween folklore and modern witchcraft practices inspired him to write WITCH CITY.
Short Film Adaptation Idea
Option 1: Scene
Aradia is kicked out of her mother's apartment for trying to cast a spell on Halloween night. She makes the choice to go to Salem to find out answers about her ancestry. She reaches Wonderland Station, but finds out the last bus to Salem has left. Frustrated and upset about what to do, she calls out for help to no one in particular. Shortly she is approached by a mysterious woman with long white hair and white eyes, clad in a leather jacket. Her name is Trivia, and asks her about what's wrong. Having no one to talk to, Aradia explains she wants to go the Witch City. Trivia offers to take her there herself. Having no other options, Aradia reluctantly agrees. Trivia then takes her on her motorcycle, and they drive into the night to Witch City.
Option 2: Trailer
A voice-over of a powerful female voice narrates the dangers of Samhain and the Monster Coven, cut with short videos of the things she narrates. The Monster Coven is led by a Wicked Witch of the West-type figure, with coven members in identical green witch masks and winged monkeys. The spirits roaming Samhain consist of possessed scarecrows in a cornfield, graveyard ghouls, and demonic trick-or-treaters. The trailer would end with the voice-over saying "Lanterns Light the Way" with a reveal of the narrator, a Queen wearing a spiked crown and a smiling jack-o-lantern mask.
