The Silver Bullet and Other American Witch Stories

About this book

From the front flap: Among the more interesting jobs created by the W.P.A. (Works Progress Administration) during the depression years of the 1930s was the Virginia Writers Project. The idea was to have a group of authors editors and reporters fan out among the coves and hollows of the Appalachian Mountains and record the beliefs superstitions and traditions of the mountain folk. These stories were then transcribed and sent to Richmond with the intention of publishing a book on Virginia folklore. The ultimate goal was never accomplished and the hundreds of stories that were collected were eventually placed in the archives of the University of Virginia in Charlottesville. this book draws heavily on the Virginia Project but goes much beyond it. . in addition to Scottish Irish and German stories of the Appalachians tales about Cajuns Indians and people of Spanish backgrounds are incorporated enlarging the scope of the book to national proportions. Through the more than 75 stories selected for inclusion there emerges a comprehensive overview of the beliefs and practices of a segment of the population to whom witches and witchcraft were a basic way of living and thinking.