Interviewing Catherine Cavendish
Hellooo!
I had a great weekend reading the fabulously dark short story collection The Crow Witch and Other Conjurings by Catherine Cavendish a huge variety of tales all with a Witch at the heart of them. From historical to modern day and featuring a host of varied characters from a woman in sheltered accomondation to Mother Shipton the prophetess herself! Having been a fan of Catherine’s work for a few years now it was great to have the chance to ask a few questions about this book.
How would you booktempt The Crow Witch and Other Conjurings?
There are all sorts of characters within these stories - Two witches, burned for their evil centuries earlier, now hellbent on revenge. A woman who seems to step out of an old Hollywood movie, and a castle with a murderous past. A seer whose lost and deadly prediction was hidden away for a future generation. A mysterious portrait that is far more deadly than mere paint and canvas. An old woman only the foolish would ridicule, for she knows the secrets of the land and how to harness its power…
All I’m saying is beware the witch’s curse
What draws us and you to witches?
There are of course, witches and there are Witches. There are those innocent wise women persecuted throughout the centuries because, essentially, they were different – old, deformed, eccentric or mentally ill, but possessed of an extensive knowledge of herbal medicine and folklore. Some were the victims of local vendettas or were scapegoats – easy targets when a crop failed or a valuable cow got sick. Then there are the witches of legend and storytelling. Shakespeare used three of them in Macbeth (probably my favourite scenes in that play!). It’s the whole occult, black magic, scrying, delicious scariness of the crone stirring her cauldron and, along with her familiar, weaving spells. It gives us a delicious thrill. They are so versatile as well. You can have super scary ones in cult horror films or American Horror Story: Coven and you can have lighthearted, harmless but somewhat devious ones such as Kim Novak’s portrayal of the witch in Bell, Book and Candle along with her cat, Pyewacket. Then there’s Elizabeth Montgomery who gave us Samantha Stevens – the young witch who married a mortal and serially failed to abandon her witchcraft in that wonderful series Bewitched. There’s Roald Dahl’s The Witches and there’s the Wicked Witch of the West in The Wizard of Oz. Basically you can grow up with witches and grow old with witches. They are so versatile and the possibilities are endless.
I am drawn to the dark side of the Witch because she – or he/they – provides so many opportunities to instigate diverse forms of fear. The Witch can summon a demon, alter a person’s perception, cast spells to cover every eventuality and, even when they are caught, they can still have the last laugh by returning from the dead and cursing future generations.
We have a lot of varied styles and approaches - do you enjoy shifting the way you tell tales?
Oh yes. One of the first things I have to decide with any story – is who is going to tell this story. Will it be in the first person? Will it be in the third person? Past tense or present? The time period in which the story is set will also have a bearing on this - most obviously in the language used of course. There is nothing worse than reading a story set back in history only to find the narrator using modern expressions that couldn’t possibly have been used at that time. It ruins the story for me. But deciding who is telling the story brings its own limitations and challenges. If an individual is recounting what has happened or is happening, you can only get their perspective. They can’t see round corners or into people’s minds (unless you have given them telepathic powers of course!) so you have to find ways around that. In a short story that can be particularly challenging owing to the length. But that’s all part of the fun and one of the reasons I enjoy writing shorter fiction.
Which tale was the hardest to get right?
In this collection, Sour Grapes was quite challenging. The main character is a feisty old lady and I needed to make sure she could be feisty without being cold and unsympathetic. I wanted people to care what happens to her.
What else can we look forward to from you in the future and where can we find out more?
I have a collection of brand new fiction coming out from Weird House Press in the spring of 2023 and a new novel from Flame Tree Press – The After-Death of Caroline Rand – scheduled for July. I also have a number of other projects with Weird House Press, starting around Christmas and running through next year. In 2024, my novel, Those Who Dwell in Mordenhyrst Hall comes out from Flame Tree Press. It’s rather busy right now!
You can find me in the usual haunts:
The Crow Witch and Other Conjurings is available here:
If there was one book, not your own, that you wish you could get everyone else to read what would it be and why?
Creature by Hunter Shea. Hunter is such an underrated author. He is able to create such a vivid landscape of characters, places and plot. I love all his books – novels and novellas – but Creature reaches new heights. It is lurking horror (something really scary in the woods) that grabs hold of you and refuses to let you go. More than that, there is such heart and sensitivity written into this story that it adds a rare extra dimension because there is more than the horror in the woods – there is the horror Kate has to live with every day. If you haven’t read it yet, go and grab yourself a copy. I cried at the end – and not many horror stories can do that to me.
