83 Books Like Magical House Protection

This is a good, overall history of witchcraft spanning from ancient civilisations to the birth and practises of the present-day Wicca.

It is well-written, highly informative, and contains a great number of interesting historical illustrations.

It is also a beneficial read for those who wish to understand how people in different eras viewed the world around them and how these beliefs and fears transformed into actions that moulded the society in English villages like Dunster which I based my book on.

I have now read this book twice, from cover to cover, and just flicking through it again for the purpose of writing this recommendation makes me want to read it again. A definite keeper!

This book, originally published in 1903, recounts the tales F.J. Snell collected in Exmoor during his lifetime. The author’s intention was to supply “a general account of Exmoor,” and that it does in its own charmingly old-fashioned writing style.

The most interesting part for lovers of folktales is the "Folklore" chapter, where F.J.Snell talks about pixies, fairies, witches, and the exorcism of spirits and ghosts. It also contains fascinating “recipes” for local charms and cures such as instructions on how to cure a child’s whooping cough by touching him with a human corpse or hanging a toad’s leg around one’s neck.

Mindbogglingly fascinating stuff!

This title drew me in right away, and the contents did not disappoint. This is a well-written and thoroughly researched book with interesting first-hand accounts of ghost hunts by an English author who, as a child, lived in a haunted house, yet has never actually seen a ghost.

The approach to the subject is also right up my alley: why do people fear the supernatural, and why are some cultures and people more likely to encounter ghosts than others?

Ghost stories are fascinating in their own right, but exploring how people in different times and places reacted to these encounters is even more interesting. 

The concept of this book is simple but extremely effective in shedding light on the superstitions the Cornish country folk still held in the 19th and 20th centuries.

The author has collected old newspaper clippings, which reveal a fascinating variety of reports on how people tried to protect their belongings, dwellings, and themselves from illnesses and misfortunes caused by spells or “ill-wishes”. The reports talk of ‘witch bottles’ and pierced animal hearts being used to counter-act spells, and how the practitioners of magic, the cunning folk, were frequently taken to court when the purchased cures did not work.

The reports also shed light on the undoubtedly hard lives of those who were believed to be witches. There are several reports of “witch scratchings” ending up in courts when the supposed witches claimed compensation for the injuries caused by villagers trying to draw their blood to counteract spells.

A great book,… show more.

I tell anyone who will listen that I am not a fan of anything paranormal, but this series has me hooked. I think Summoning the Winds is the first book I ever read about witches (Hamlet doesn't count), and I loved it. In a nutshell, the series takes the notion of witch trials and turns it on its head with tales of real witches in colonial Connecticut of the 1660s (where, in my time machine, I would view the events in this story from a safe distance).  

Yarrow Pickering, the main character and an eighteen-year-old orphan, is spunky and smart. She’s also a witch. She uses her abilities for good and, like her mother, is skilled at creating herbal remedies for illnesses and injuries suffered by the people in the village of Milthorpe. When she attempts to help a young girl who has become ill, the girl’s father becomes… show more.

I’m a heavy reader so I’m always looking for a good author who has a large catalog to feed my need. Reading Deana Chase’s Keating Hollow books was like coming home. Her ability to string the series together with a revolving cast makes every visit like a new ride on a familiar carousel. 

This was the first book I ever read by HP Lovecraft and after reading it, I read everything else that I could find by such a talented writer. Lovecraft’s stories are dark, doom-ridden tales that are filled with cosmic horror, nightmarish landscapes, and indescribable monsters. But it’s not only the tales themselves that captivated me, it’s the style in which they were written. Lovecraft has such a beautiful literary style of writing that really made me feel what the characters felt and see what horrors they witnessed. His work definitely inspired me to pick up pen and paper and write stories of my own.

This was probably one of the first books to specifically connect Witchcraft and Shamanism in a practical way for me. Witchcraft Today Book Three edited by Chas S. Clifton opened the door, but Johnson told you how to deftly step through it. Previously called The North Star Road, he linked stellar knowledge of European Paganism with its spirit worker roots and gave you very practical and meaningful ways to commune with the powers and understand more deeply the Witch’s sabbat, the wild hunt and the journey of life after death. Huge influence on my work. 

Another 90’s throwback, The Witches of Eileanan is the first in a six-book series featuring a slew of warrior women. Our heroine, Isabeau, is a young witch who has spent most of her life in seclusion—honing her skills while trying to remain hidden in a world where witchcraft is outlawed. Shortly after her sixteenth birthday, Isabeau is forced to abandon the safety of her home and embark on a quest to save her kingdom from dark forces. She meets many fellow warrior women along the way, all of whom are rendered in glorious, unabashed badassness that was truly revolutionary in its day. While this series is undeniably a trailblazer in the realm of heroine-centric fantasy, and certainly an excellent read for anyone on the hunt for fierce warrior women, I do want to warn potential readers that there are a few instances where female characters suffer sexual abuse. The casualness… show more.

The narrator is turned into a donkey and undergoes various tribulations before recovering his human form. The only Latin novel to survive complete, it is a unique curiosity shop of diverse treasures: fantastical, comic, bawdy, beautiful, violent, and finally—biggest surprise of all—devoutly religious. "It smells of incense and urine," Flaubert said. Much of the work consists of tales related by the characters whom the donkey comes across, of which the longest is Cupid and Psyche, a fabulously rococo display of exquisite and enchanted storytelling. The virtuoso beauty of the description of Cupid’s wings is unbeatable. "Reader, listen up: you’ll love it," says the narrator at the start. You will. Again, go for Ruden’s translation.