Halloween season has always been steeped in sisterly magic. Think of the Sanderson sisters in Hocus Pocus or the Owens sisters in Practical Magic. They set the stage for powerful supernatural stories in the 90s, and we adored them.
That’s because there is magic in stories about sisters.
When we discover sisters on the page, we are all but guaranteed built-in conflict, a rich and layered relationship, and even a nagging hope that everyone will get their happily ever after. Kaija and Minna, the two sisters in my novel The Witches at the End of the World, couldn’t be more different, and yet, because they shared the childhood trauma of witnessing their mother burn for being a witch, they have an inextricable connection. Having grown up with three sisters of my own, I understand keenly the desire to be different than a sister and yet still want to find your way back to her in the end. And, let’s face it, sister characters are so beloved because they get to be so raw. They can be themselves with each other, which means we get the uncut version of characters who wouldn’t necessarily expose their true nature to others.
A story that features sisters can explore multiple points of view, or even simply multiple opinions, on the same events—because even though sisters might grow up in the same family and have experiences that are similar, the perspectives they will have on those experiences are different, and critically, sisters’ actions as a result of those experiences contribute to spinning a complicated web of a story that’s rich with conflict.
And what happens when those conflict-rich stories are steeped in supernatural settings? The stakes get even higher and the payoff even more enjoyable. Magic and supernatural elements give power to sister characters, giving us the pleasure of seeing their rawest nature in action—using magical tools that are not available in our mundane world.
Sister relationships are some of the richest in fiction, and when magic or supernatural elements are involved, we can explore those relationships in unique and sometimes powerful ways. Here are five stories steeped in the supernatural that will satisfy all your sister-story cravings this spooky season:
C.J. Cooke, The Lighthouse Witches
Luna, Sapphire, and Clover move to a lighthouse on a Scottish island with their mom—a lighthouse that used to be a prison for women accused of witchcraft. Local lore about wildlings posing as children has haunted the surrounding town for generations, and when Luna’s two sisters go missing—and then one turns up twenty years later, still only seven years old—Luna is forced to reconcile old superstitions with her supernatural reality. Luna is the heart of this story, but we get multiple points of view that show us how deeply these relationships run and just how different each sister is.
Chelsea Iverson, The Witches at the End of the World
Two sisters born in the northernmost reaches of Norway are forced to flee the village where they were born when their mother is burned at the stake for being a witch. Kaija and Minna hide in the birchwoods for thirteen years until one day, each sister makes a choice. Kaija journeys to the village of their youth in seek of comfort and community while Minna—who is all witch—casts a curse on the villagers who burned their mother. The sisters’ fates, and survival, become intertwined in ways they could not have foreseen. Sisterhood is at the core of this story, and they each offer their own perspectives on survival—and wildly different reactions—when faced with the terror of witch hunts.
Shannon Morgan, Her Little Flowers
Francine Thwaite lives in a country home that has been in her family for generations…and is haunted by harmless ghosts. When her sister Madeleine visits unexpectedly, she brings a terrible family tale with her about fear and heartache and love. Soon, Francine uncovers memories she buried within her long ago, and the tale’s hidden layers—some lovely, some haunting—begin to unfold. Sisters play a significant role in Francine’s growing understanding of her own past, especially as we see the bond between sisters transcend life and death.
Alix E. Harrow, The Once and Future Witches
Filled with folklore and fairytales, this story of The Eastwood sisters, James Juniper, Agnes Amaranth, and Beatrice Belladonna, puts power into the hands of witches. The sisters join the suffrage movement in New Salem, where witchcraft has been suppressed for generations, and they must reclaim witching for themselves, and for the women of New Salem, in order to win the vote and ensure their survival. These sisters all have distinct personalities that lend to three very different tales, all spun together with the objective of bringing magic back to witches.
Luanne G. Smith, The Raven Spell
When private investigator Ian Cameron wakes up along the banks of the Thames with a head wound and missing memories, he seeks out Edwina and Mary Blackwood, two witch sisters eking out a living at a local curiosities shop. Soon, they learn there is a serial killer on the loose, and the Blackwood sisters become intertwined with the investigation, which takes them through the backstreets of a magical Victorian London. The sisters in this story have very different motives and attitudes, exposing moral gray areas within us all and what we would do to protect the people we love.
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