The Year of the Witching

The Handmaid's Tale meets The Village in this stunning feminist debut . .

Shortlisted for the GoodReads Choice Awards 2020 for Best Debut Novel and Best Horror Novel . a brilliant debut to chill the brightest summer day' DAILY MAIL

'Thrillingly brisk and bracing .

'A magnificent, raw slice of folk horror, dark with threat and clenched with suspense . . . a brilliant debut to chill the brightest summer day.

A thrillingly brisk and bracing tale of magic and power, I loved this book. It takes the best tropes of horror and witchcraft and gives them a refreshingly feminist twist.

A dark, dramatic tale of oppression and rebellion, ideology and morality, with a complicated, appealing protagonist caught in a Handmaid's Tale nightmare . . . a fine addition to the body of feminist fantasy works, a great read.

Bewitching . . . Henderson offers a powerful portrait of patriarchal, racial, and religious abuses . . . conjuring a sense of creeping dread and maintaining the pacing throughout. This riveting work announces Henderson as an exciting new voice in dark fantasy.

Slow burn horror crossed with a powerfully feminist coming-of-age novel . . . this book will haunt your dreams.

Beautifully sinister and beguiling, The Year of the Witching is blood-drenched, horrific and enchanting from start to finish.

Bone-chilling and breathtakingly beautiful . . . The Year of the Witching is storytelling at its finest.

The Year of the Witching blew me away. It's a masterpiece.

Alexis Henderson is a speculative fiction writer with a penchant for dark fantasy, witchcraft and cosmic horror. Growing up in one of America’s most haunted cities, Savannah, Georgia, instilled in her a life-long love of ghost stories. When she doesn’t have her nose buried in a book, you can find her painting or watching horror movies with her feline familiar. Her acclaimed adult books include The Year of the Witching , House of Hunger and An Academy for Liars . Her debut YA novel, When I Was Death, is published in March 2026.