Set along the deserted Cape Cod beaches in November, A Spell to Wake the Dead delivers witchy vibes, coastal magic, and frightening occult practices wrapped up in a Young Adult novel about three friends navigating the liminal space of their senior year of high school. Mazzy, a cellist with a father battling alcohol addiction, and her best friend Nora drag their third friend Eliot to the beach one night for a full moon ritual that will reveal what has been hidden. They find a dead body, missing its teeth and hands, and quickly become embroiled in a murder mystery. Detective Huld, a police officer wearing an Icelandic rune necklace, and Ione, the proprietor of a metaphysical shop called Midnight Alchemy, both warn the trio to stay out of the investigation, but Nora and Mazzy continue to use witchcraft to connect with the dead woman, who leads them toward the discovery of more bodies. Soon the three teens are battling with the Hand of Nephthys, a cult who chaotically pulls from several esoteric traditions without honoring the history or culture of any. A Spell to Wake the Dead is a wild ride, with plenty of spooky twists and turns to keep the plot moving forward. The characters are typical young adults balancing murder investigations with AP exams, and early on, a love triangle in which Eliot likes Nora and Mazzy likes Eliot, provides fuel to the narrative. Nora is bolder in her approach to spell work, while Mazzy likes to do things by the book, and while there is a clear regard for the beauty of alternate spiritualities and the power of Tarot, the negative depiction of the cult leans into stereotypes about Pagan beliefs. Running beneath the story is a subtle recognition of real-world struggles including addiction and economic burdens. My favorite part of the story is the setting which is drawn with rich imagery and detail. This is not the Cape Cod of tourist season, but a haunted Cape turned desolate by winter weather, and yet each beach, each remote roadway, each landmark is described with austere nuance and appreciation. As I read, I pictured myself wandering through abandoned towns and over deserted boardwalks, making gruesome discoveries and wondering what was going to happen next. If you are a fan of The Craft, Egyptian mythology, and Young Adult narratives featuring murder, mystery, and the magic of friendship, A Spell to Wake the Dead is the perfect book for you. Although I would have appreciated more nuance in the “good” and “bad” characters, I eagerly continued turning pages well into the night and enjoyed the sweet resolution after the climax of the tale. This book definitely had me longing to visit the shoreline during the winter, and you can’t go wrong if you are looking for a fun, addictive, and witchy story. You can find it here. Thank you to NetGalley for a free copy of the book in exchange for a fair review. Kelly Jarvis works as the Contributing Writer for The Fairy Tale Magazine and teaches writing and literature at Central Connecticut State University. Her work has been featured in A Moon of One’s Own, Baseball Bard, Blue Heron Review, Corvid Queen, Eternal Haunted Summer, Forget Me Not Press, Mermaids Monthly, The Chamber Magazine, The Magic of Us, and the World Weaver Press Anthology Mothers of Enchantment: New Tales of Fairy Godmothers. Her debut novella, Selkie Moon, was released in 2025. You can connect with her on Facebook (Kelly Jarvis, Author) or Instagram (@kellyjarviswriter) or find her at https://kellyjarviswriter.com/

Spend time in food tales—retellings and original tales—from many traditions around the world: India, Pakistan, the Philippeans, Malta, Canada, and Western Europe and more. Look for Hansel & Gretel and that particular witch with her tempting sugared dwelling more than once within the pages of “Ravenous.” We are here to tempt you with the delights of food, the fear of not enough, the need to savor, and the human impulses toward greed or toward sharing. Tie a napkin around your neck and reach for your favorite place setting as you open the pages of this issue. We believe consuming it will leave you fully satisfied. Enjoy! Scroll down for a list of featured authors and first lines for each piece in Ravenous. Click on the PDF to download and read the issue. A donation of $7.00 is greatly appreciated to keep The Fairy Tale Magazine running and able to pay its authors, its hard costs, and create our beautiful PDFs. Click the box to download and read our Fall/Winter 2026 issue! Contributors A LOVE LETTER TO THE WITCH OF THE WOODS Dear Forest Witch, I came upon your garden of evening primrose and moonflowers one night while I was lost. Drawn in by the smell of vanilla, Brittani Jenee’ Cal is a multiracial writer, poet, and performer. She is relentless in her pursuit of poems and stories, seeking them in haunted cities and forest paths. She has an MFA from Emerson College. Her work has been published in Enchanted Living, Witches Magazine, The Fabulist, and The Fairy Tale Magazine. ______________________________________________________________________________ THE HANDLESS MAIDEN RE-MEMBERS And when she does marry the King of Pears, he gifts her a set of silver hands Kristen Baum DeBeasi writes poems, stories and music. She has poems in Blue Heron Review, The Muleskinner Journal and elsewhere. She is a Best of the Net nominee and Editor-in-Chief of The Fairy Tale Magazine. As a composer, she loves setting fairy tale poems to music. ______________________________________________________________________________ MOTHER THE WITCH (inspired by Hansel & Gretel) I’m going to eat you from the inside out I taste like everything you hate about yourself Lena Hadley is a British poet and actor based in London. She regularly performs at open mic events around London and has recently been published by Voicemail Poems, The Hooghly Review and The Third Eye. She loves reimagining existing stories and characters through her poetry. You can find her on instagram @1enahadley. ______________________________________________________________________________ MINERVA AT THE YARN SHOP The fire in The Guild Yarn Shop’s woodburning stove had burnt down to embers that pulsed like a heartbeat in the back workroom. Liz Husebye Hartmann/Tessa Kjeldsdottir is a Midwest dabbler in fiction, fairy tales, and poetry. Her writing can be found scattered along forest trails, in tiny galleries, in chapbooks/anthologies, and online magazines (though some have disappeared into the liminal space of the internet). Please find more on her flash blog: ValleyoftheTrolls.blog ______________________________________________________________________________ PORRIDGE Who else will teach the children respect for bears (or any wildlife, for that matter)? Kathleen Hellen is the author of three collections and three poetry chapbooks, most recently from Lily Poetry Review Books, young girl in the flower of time. Hellen’s writing has appeared in Four Way Review, The Journal of Compressed Creative Arts, PANK, The Rumpus, SmokeLong Quarterly, and elsewhere. ______________________________________________________________________________ BE OUR GUEST; FEASTING AT THE TABLE OF FAIRY TALE We’ve all heard the warnings: if you find yourself in the realm of Faerie, do not eat the food. Kelly Jarvis teaches writing and literature at Central Connecticut State University and works as the Contributing Writer for The Fairy Tale Magazine. Learn more about her books, Selkie Moon, a coming-of-age novella, and Sea and Stars, a Gothic historical reimagining of Beauty and the Beast, athttps://kellyjarviswriter.com/ ______________________________________________________________________________ THE SMELL OF WITCHCRAFT IN THE MORNING The gingerbread loaf cooled on the windowsill, releasing its molasses scent into the morning air. The kitchen table creaked as the old woman reached toward a bowl of brown sugar. Kelly Jarvis (see above) ______________________________________________________________________________ THE GIRL WHO WAS FED BY THE HOUSE Our house was made of sugar, or so my mother said, and she never let me lick the walls. Pravy Jha is a writer from India. Her work has appeared in Solarpunk Magazine, Brilliant Flash Fiction, Blue Marble Review, and elsewhere. She won second place in Writers' Hour Magazine's “The Doorway” contest. ______________________________________________________________________________ SHAHZĀDA OWES PICHHAL PAIRĪ DINNER cheeni burns somewhere behind the floor, a bare foot tails off beside mine Hannan Khan is a nefelibata, poet, fiction writer, editor, and scholar of literature & linguistics from Pakistan. He is the winner of the Native Voices Award 2025 for his poetry collection Isn’t Cooked Is Cursed, and a finalist for the Rhysling Award 2026. He is longlisted for the erbacce-prize for Poetry 2026. ______________________________________________________________________________ THE HUNGER THAT LIVED BENEATH THE HEARTH Once, in a kingdom where the king had seven kitchens, the hungry were forbidden to smell the cooking. David Anson Lee is a physician and poet whose work explores memory, transformation, mortality, the ordinary and the mythic. His poems appear in literary journals and anthologies, including The Sunlight Press, Gyroscope Review, Plainsongs, and Still Point Arts Quarterly. His first chapbook, The Body Keeps Its Inventory in Shadow, is forthcoming from Kelsay Books. ______________________________________________________________________________ BANNOCK, TWO WAYS When sending one’s son or daughter off to seek their fortune, it is traditional to offer them a big bannock with a curse or a wee bannock with a blessing. Ella Leith (she/her) writes fiction, creative nonfiction, and occasional poetry. A folklorist by training, her work explores how the past and uncanny exist in the present and mundane. Recent publications include Ekphrastic Review, Abhartach and Kitchen Table Quarterly. Originally from the English Midlands, she now lives in Malta. www.ellaleith.com ______________________________________________________________________________ THE BEGGAR-WOMAN (after Tatterhood) Why do we swallow these ugly things i say, and wait, Max Maclean (he/him) is a musician and poet living in Vancouver, BC. He studies creative writing at UBC, and was recently published for the first time in Contemporary Verse 2. ______________________________________________________________________________ MARIA TANGDO-AN ON HOMONHON ISLAND There was a time when Homonhon Island was thick with green. Forests climbed the hills. Fhen M. has received multiple recognitions, including second place in the 1st Chito Roño Literary Awards in the Waray poetry (siday) category and several daily wins in the DYVL Siday Contest, a radio-based poetry competition. His published works include “Bamboo House” and “Homing” in Horseshoe Spring 2024 and Fall 2025, respectively. ______________________________________________________________________________ SIX RIPE CHERRIES "Where do you go, Boireannach?" a strange voice called to me from the left side of the dirt path, using the word for woman from the old tongue. I closed my eyes, trying to steady the tremor in my heart. Grace Nuth is a writer, artist, and wonder-seeker. She is coauthor of The Faerie Handbook and former senior editor of Enchanted Living Magazine. When she isn’t matchmaking readers with stories in her day job, she is writing tales of her own, or talking with the faeries. Find more of her work at http://www.gracenuth.com ______________________________________________________________________________ THE SUGAR TAPER My grandmother's gingerbread house was not a house. It was a trap, and I knew it from the moment I bit the windowsill. Matteo Preabianca is an Italian-born Australian linguist, lecturer, and translator now based in Scotland. His work explores displacement, memory, and the politics of language across poetry, fiction, and experimental music. He writes in English and Italian. ______________________________________________________________________________ CUNNING COOKERY Because I could not feed his unclean hunger for Berry-ripe lips and soft flesh, I fled, carrying with me Deborah Sage is a native of Kentucky, USA. She has been published in Eternal Haunted Summer, Literary LEO, Fairy Tale Magazine, the 2022 Dwarf Stars Anthology, Amethyst Press All Shall Be Well anthology for Julian of Norwich, Eye to the Telescope, Lothlorien Poetry Journal, and Otherworld Magazine among others. ______________________________________________________________________________ GREEN FAIRY SALAD & DRESSING The forest fairies are mostly vegan or vegetarian. They won’t eat fish, because some fish may have swallowed a fairy or might be fairies who magically transformed into a fish. Lorraine Schein, a NY writer, has published in Strange Horizons, Scientific American, Michigan Quarterly, and the anthologies Underland Arcana and Tragedy Queens: Stories Inspired by Lana del Rey & Sylvia Plath. The Futurist’s Mistress (poetry, Mayapple Press) and The Lady Anarchist Cafe (stories), are from Autonomedia and Amazon. https://autonomedia.org/product/the-lady-anarchist-cafe/ ______________________________________________________________________________ THE CHEF AND THE MIRROR That night, in the great kitchen of the royal court, I sat alone. The copper pots hung from their hooks like old bells that had stopped ringing years ago. Dr. Farbood Shokouhi (b. 1969) is an Iranian writer and poet known for literary short fiction ‎rooted in realism and existential themes. Widely published in Persian-language journals, he ‎received the 2026 Derang Short Story Award and the 2026 Ferdowsi Literary Award. His work ‎blends poetic sensibility with disciplined storytelling.‎ ______________________________________________________________________________ COOKING THE WOLF She chops the meat very fine Wolf is gamey, she is told Lissa Sloan is the author of Glass and Feathers, a transformational continuation of the traditional Cinderella tale. Her poems and short stories have appeared in The Fairy Tale Magazine, Niteblade Magazine, Corvid Queen, Three Ravens Podcast, Eternal Haunted Summer, and anthologies from World Weaver Press. Visit Lissa online at lissasloan.com. ______________________________________________________________________________ I CRAVE THE RAMPION IN THE WITCH’S GARDEN When the window’s open I can almost smell it, earthy funk cut with new green. The night my husband fed it to me, Marjorie Tesser has authored two poetry chapbooks “The Important Thing Is,” a Firewheel Award winner, and “The Magic Feather.” Her debut full-length poetry collection, Unquiet, is forthcoming from Cornerstone Press (2027). Recipient of a prize from Academy of American Poets and a 2026 Poets & Writers GTWO Poetry Fellow, Marjorie is editor-in-chief of MER-Mom Egg Review. ______________________________________________________________________________ SEVEN BRIGHT OF SUN, SEVEN DARK OF MOON Kavita sighed and put down her knife before sucking on her thumb. The sharp blade had slipped and cut into her skin, rather than the rainbow that had been her actual target. Shveta Thakrar’s work has appeared in a number of magazines and anthologies, most recently Brian Froud’s Green Women. Her debut novel, Star Daughter, a 2021 Andre Norton Nebula Award finalist, was followed by The Dream Runners and Divining the Leaves. Her novella, Into the Moon Garden, is available from Audible.

Happy September Fairy Tale Friends! We're so excited to announce that The Fairy Tale Magazine's September issue is here! Tales from the Night Queen's Realm There are stories that exist where dreams become reality and reality becomes the landscape of dreams. This is the Night Queen’s landscape A place where light and shadow mingle to dance upon stardust, and the place where she weaves her stories of happiness and sorrow into the velvet fabric of forever. The Night Queen has many tales to share, and she is beckoning you to enter into her realm of Eternal Night…. Access the Journal Here ⬇️ This issue is packed with original fairy tale stories, poems, art, articles, and an interview with author, Alice Hoffman! FEATURING WORKS BY Ella Arrow - Amanda Bergloff - Cecilia Betsill - Tish Black Sarah Cannavo - Jayne Cohen - Sara Cleto - A.J. Cunder Sofia Ezdina - Alyson Faye - Hannah Grace Greer Kelly Jarvis - Rosanne E. Lortz - Leila Murton Poole Deborah Sage - Marcia Sherman - Margaret Fisher Squires Laren Stover - Brittany Warman AND TO CELEBRATE, you can read the Grand Prize Winning Poem from our Poetry Contest by author Margaret Fisher Squires that's included in this September issue below! AND VERY LITTLE STONE by Margaret Fisher Squires They built the palace together. They used dreams and glass and very little stone. She did not notice the lack, distracted as she was by the motes of glamour that sparked the air around her prince. Perhaps she is not to be blamed. Perhaps he is not to be blamed either. The Fair Folk cannot help what they are. The Elf Lord quite enjoyed the playful labor. The woman’s flights of fancy matched his own as few other mortals’ had. Her dreams served for timbering and floors, fine-grained and richly hued like mahogany or teak. The pair were dazzled by their reflections in the ballroom’s mirrors. “We’ll give a ball!” he declared. She answered him, “Yes!” and he conjured fragile chairs of gilded wood, rich brocade draperies, candles of fragrant beeswax. The dainty cakes were real, with currants in them. He stole them by magic from the bakery in the nearest town. It did not seem to matter that the palace had no kitchen. Candle flames lit the ballroom and burned again in gilded mirrors, in guests’ jewels, and in his mortal lover’s eyes. Dancing with her was a joy at first. The time came when her every kiss, her every hand-brush felt like the peck of a small, hungry bird. Her eyes, bright with hope drained him. Besides, the party seemed to last almost a whole night or almost a whole year. (Despite long interludes with mortals, he still tended to confuse the two.) He knew, or believed in his fine ivory bones, that if he stayed a whole night or a whole year in one place, time would enspell him, stiffen his flesh until he was trapped in panicked immobility, an Elf Lord shaped entirely of something like mahogany or teak. Her chatter carved a numb hollow in his chest, He felt approaching dawn. He left her while the dance swirled all around them, slipping away through one of the tall glass doors into the darkness. He left her dancing with his reflection. Outside, he paused, and glanced back through the glass at the bright-eyed comely woman circling alone in her graceful dance. He heard a distant fiddle swinging into melody over the hill. He felt the music fill his chest with fire. His heels barely touched the earth as he crossed the hill but he remembered the woman for almost as many years or hours as it took for the palace’s timbers to collapse into dust. Margaret Fisher Squire’s poems have appeared in brass bell: a haiku journal, The Ryder Magazine, and the Five Women Poets’ chapbook, Birds of a Feather. Some can be heard in the archives of WFIU’s program “The Poets Weave” https://indianapublicmedia.org/poetsweave/ . You can find TALES FROM THE NIGHT QUEEN'S REALM single issue HERE and check out other past issues HERE

The Maker’s Guide to Magic is an informative and accessible guide to the esoteric tools that can help creative people fill their lives with magic. Hannah explains that “magic is a tender thing, felt most often in the agony of a sleepless night and the lull between scattered thoughts.” She encourages her readers to embrace their own creativity and enrich their life journeys. The book introduces the basics of using candles, crystals, incense, and tarot cards, but it is careful to define these items as simple tools for creating magic which truly comes from our own human heartbreak. Hannah, an astrologer and certified yoga teacher, outlines the four steps to the magic process which include clearing the channel, tuning in, taking action, and distilling wisdom. She leads her readers through information on moon and planet cycles and breaks down the complexity of tarot and oracle cards for divination. She offers advice for amplifying or softening the traits of your astrological signs and advocates for the beauty of meditation and mindful time spent in nature. Her organized and informative approach is punctuated by “spellwork” sections which contain journaling prompts designed to help readers connect to their own intuition. The Maker’s Guide to Magic lightly explores the connections between science, nature, mindfulness, and magic to conclude that the making of art is a necessary element in human healing. Hannah explains that it is impossible to go through life without heartbreak, and she says that “pain is where the light gets in.” She defines the making of art and magic as a conversation between the cosmos and the human heart and she upholds the sacred nature of all creative acts from cooking a meal to starting a business. This book made me think about creativity in new ways, and I highly recommend it to everyone who would like to fill their lives with magic. You can purchase the book here. Thank you to NetGalley for a free copy of the book in exchange for a fair review. Kelly Jarvis works as the Contributing Writer for The Fairy Tale Magazine and teaches writing and literature at Central Connecticut State University. Her work has been featured in A Moon of One’s Own, Blue Heron Review, Corvid Queen, Eternal Haunted Summer, Mermaids Monthly, The Chamber Magazine, The Magic of Us, and Mothers of Enchantment: New Tales of Fairy Godmothers. Her debut novella, Selkie Moon, was released in 2025. You can connect with her on Facebook (Kelly Jarvis, Author) or Instagram (@kellyjarviswriter) or find her at https://kellyjarviswriter.com/

The Lost Souls of Saint Oda’s is the latest installment in Jess Armstrong’s Ruby Vaughn mystery series, and it provides all the drama and excitement readers have come to expect. This novel, set in 1923, brings Ruby, the disgraced American heiress turned “lady detective,” to Belgium where she hopes to find her mother who miraculously survived the sinking of the RMS Lusitania. When she arrives at the hospital at Saint Oda’s priory, she is told her long-lost mother escaped and drowned in a still pool of water, but Ruby's inquiries reveal several recent deaths and disappearances of hospital patients. A host of suspicious doctors, tight-lipped priests, the ghost of a missing child, and a strange supernatural feeling permeating the isolated area all lead Ruby into an occult-based murder mystery that will keep readers turning pages well into the night. This is Armstrong’s fourth Ruby Vaughn book following The Curse of Penryth Hall, The Secret of the Three Fates, and The Devil in Oxford, and fans of the series will find much more than an exciting murder to solve. They will also rediscover Mr. Owens, Ruby’s octogenarian boss who thinks of her like a daughter, and Ruan, the Cornish Pellar who stole her heart. Ruby and Ruan have lived through several traumatic experiences together, and The Lost Souls of Saint Oda’s pushes their growing relationship even further as Ruby deals with the loss of her mother and Ruan relives his experiences in the Great War. The love and longing between Ruby and Ruan are my favorite parts of the series, and this latest adventure exposes new information about their romance and lays the groundwork for more exciting things to come! At the end of the book, Armstrong includes an author’s note touching on her research about the horrors of living in occupied territories during and after the war and calling out for an end to the cycle of human violence. A somber strain of reality runs through the asylum setting of the novel, but despite Ruby’s half-hearted contention that romance is “the stuff of fairy stories, not real life,” The Lost Souls of Saint Oda’s offers readers the enduring hope that love and understanding can be a balm to pain. Ruby, Ruan, and Mr. Owens all come to terms with their own mortality throughout the course of the book, and in doing so, they embrace all life has to offer. The tender moments of this novel moved me to tears, and I look forward to Jess Armstrong’s next book so I can learn more about Ruby, Ruan, and Mr. Owens as they make their way toward a surprising new adventure. If you love your mysteries with a side of folklore, Jess Armstrong’s works are for you! I couldn’t put this one down! You can find it here. Kelly Jarvis teaches writing and literature at Central Connecticut State University, works as the Contributing Writer and Correspondent for The Fairy Tale Magazine, and is a Recurring Columnist for Eternal Haunted Summer. Her poetry and fiction have also been featured in A Moon of One’s Own, Baseball Bard, Blue Heron Review, Corvid Queen, Enchanted Conversation, Forget Me Not Press, Mermaids Monthly, The Chamber Magazine, The Magic of Us, and the World Weaver Press Anthology Mothers of Enchantment: New Tales of Fairy Godmothers. Her debut novella, Selkie Moon, was selected as a semi-finalist in the 2025-2026 Speculative Fiction Indie Novella Championship, and her Gothic historical romance, Sea and Stars, is the winner of a Literary Titan Gold Book Award. Visit her at https://kellyjarviswriter.com/

Gingerbread houses deep in the forest. Baskets of treats for Grandma. Poisoned apples. Bowls of porridge, simmered just right. Food is an integral part of the fairy tales we tell, and to keep you satiated while you wait for The Fairy Tale Magazine's upcoming Issue Ravenous, we have served up a buffet of delicious folklore, literary cookbooks, luscious art, and food-themed quotations for you to savor. And, as a special treat, our Editor-in-Chief, professional composer and poet Kristen Baum DeBeasi, has baked us a playlist of music to make our mouth water! So, pull up a chair, Be Our Guest, and dine on every delectable morsel in our roundup! Food Folklore *If a man and a woman eat from the same beet, they will fall in love *In ancient Greece, dill was used to garland the brows of returning war heroes *Eat twelve grapes at midnight on New Year's Eve to usher in good luck *Always toss spilled salt over your left shoulder to ward off evil spirits *Spilling milk is considered a bad omen *Dropping a tortilla on the floor means a visit from your in-laws is coming soon *Keep fish scales in your wallet for good fortune *Hanging garlic from the rafters can prevent the evil eye *Place a piece of wedding cake under your pillow to dream of your future spouse Cookbooks for your Literary Kitchen What better way to begin a Fairy Tale Cookbook Roundup than with Alexander Höss-Knakal’s Fairy Tale Cooking: Delicious Dishes Inspired by The Little Mermaid, Cinderella, Aladdin, and Other Classic Characters and Christin Geweke’s Fairy Tale Baking: Delicious Treats Inspired by Hansel & Gretel, Snow White, and Other Classic Stories. Both volumes contain fairy tale inspired recipes alongside photography by Melinda Kutelas and Yelda Yilmaz. You’ll find dishes like Mushroom Flatbread with Hazelnut Pesto (inspired by Little Red Riding Hood) and Black Forest Cherry Trifle (inspired by the deep, dark woods). The most famous fairy tale collectors get their own kitchen volume titled The Brothers Grimm Cookbook: Recipes Inspired by Fairy Tales. Robert Anderson presents concoctions drawn directly from the Grimms Kinder-und-Hausmarchen such as Clever Hans’s Sticky Bacon and Onion Pan Fry and Spider’s Web Pancakes. Divided into sections like Once Upon a Time, Crumbs & Nibbles, The Magic Cooking Pot, and Happily Ever Afters, this book is sure to delight fairy tale fans. Once Upon a Kitchen by Leslie Bilderback offers readers 101 magical recipes inspired by Arthurian Legend, The Arabian Nights, The Lord of the Rings, Star Wars and even Shakespeare! Recipes include Lusty Month of May Potato Soup, Aladdin’s Magical Garden Salad, Gandalf’s Cold Chicken and Pickles, Jedi Ration Bars, Titania’s Apricot and Dewberry Crisp, and, my favorite, Witches’ Brew (a coconut shrimp green curry). The perfect cookbook for literary minds! Magic takes over in The Wizard’s Cookbook and The Wizard’s Dessert Cookbook both penned by Aurelia Beaupommier. The first volume outlines the author’s “Who’s Who” of sorcerers before launching into magical foods for every day and feasts for special occasions. The second volume provides sweet recipes for Butterbeer, Lucy Pevensie’s Magic Cordial, and Bilbo’s 111th Birthday Cake. Fans of JRR Tolkien, JK Rowling, Roald Dahl, and CS Lewis will find themselves drawn to the kitchens to recreate their favorite literary meals. And for those who prefer Elves to Wizards, check out Robert Anderson’s The Elven Cookbook: Recipes Inspired by the Elves of Tolkien. Kitchen Witch: Food, Folklore, and Fairy Tale by Sarah Robinson does not contain any detailed recipes, but it invites readers to find magic in all corners of their kitchen. Robinson compiles the folklore and healing properties of everyday foods and explores the significance of celebrating with food as the wheel of the year turns. She also offers an historical overview of kitchen witches and a study of food in fairy tale. I love this informative book, but if you prefer your folklore with recipes try Eric Johnson’s The Folklore Cookbook: Fairy Tales and Recipes which pairs seventy-five original folktales with instructions for preparing matching dishes. Where would The Fairy Tale Magazine be without our beloved trolls? Karima Cammell and Clint Marsh’s The Troll Cookbook gifts readers “the aromatic spell of a stirred pot; the ritual conjuring of ingredients; the ancient, rumbling wilderness echoed in our hungry bellies.” This treasure explores the primal flame and provides with readers with an overview of trolls before grouping its stories, folklore, and recipes by season and ending with a reminder to rekindle the flame of simple living and home cooking. Practical tips like the value of a sharp knife and the economic benefit of tending a garden are placed next to whimsical stories, gorgeous illustrations, and tongue-in-cheek troll equivalents for temperatures, measurements, and weights. The result is pure magic, and readers will soon find themselves searching the tree lines for the ancient shadows of trolls. This is one of my most precious cookbooks, and it never fails to fill my kitchen with enchantment. The incomparable Jane Yolen, who was featured as an Enchanted Creator in our Briar and Thorn Issue, brings her folkloric magic to children in Fairy Tale Feasts: A Literary Cookbook for Young Readers and Eaters. Written with her daughter Heidi Stemple, and lovingly illustrated by Philippe Béha, this book draws connections between the art of cooking and the art of storytelling, explaining how both processes’ contain changeable ingredients which make every serving unique. Yolen and Stemple return to the intertwining of storytelling and cooking in both Jewish Fairy Tale Feasts and Hanukkah Fairy Tale Feasts, collections which feature retellings of Jewish tales alongside classic recipes. And, Jane Yolen also pens the introduction to Paul Yee’s Chinese Fairy Tale Feasts: A Literary Cookbook (illustrated by Shaoli Wang), a book which folds the fairy tale and folklore of China into child-friendly recipes designed to stimulate family time in the kitchen. The latest in this series is Arab Fairy Tale Feasts which features Karim Alrawi’s stories and pictures from Nahid Kazemi. Make way for one of my favorite books of all time: The Unofficial Princess Bride Cookbook: 50 Delightfully Delicious Recipes for Fans of the Cult Classic by Cassandra Reeder. In addition to complete party menus for a Feast of Insanity and a Storming the Castle Banquet, this volume features recipes for Fezzik’s Restorative Stew and Buttercup’s Perfect (Chicken) Breasts. Filled with tidbits of information about the movie, this book is sure to be on the As-You-Wish-List of every Princess Bride fan. Find my full review of the cookbook here. Looking for a fairy tale adjacent cookbook? Consider A Gothic Cookbook: Hauntingly Delicious Recipes Inspired by 13 Classic Tales, a text which grew out of Dr. Alessandra Pino’s academic study of how food manifests on Gothic pages. Ella Buchan, a food writer and recipe developer, joins Pino to create over sixty original recipes illustrated by Lee Henry. America’s most popular Gothic writer gets his own cookbook in A Ravenous Feast: Spellbinding Recipes Inspired by the Literary Works of Edgar Alan Poe by Veronica Hinke, and the Mystery Writers of America ban together to create Wickedly Good Meals and Desserts to Die For. Literature lovers can also find tamer options include The Book Lover's Cookbook: Recipes Inspired by Celebrated Works of Literature, and the Passages That Feature Them by Shaunda Wenger and Janet Jensen, Jane Austen's Table by Robert Anderson, and A Literary Tea Party: Blends and Treats for Alice, Bilbo, Dorothy, Jo, and Book Lovers Everywhere by Alison Walsh. If you prefer to get your nutrients in liquid form look no further than La La Laine’s Fairytale Cocktails: Cocktails Inspired By Your Favorite Disney Characters. Dedicated to all the “Disney adults” who still believe in fairy tales, this book is divided into chapters like Snow White’s Hazy Adventures, A Whole New World of Flavors, and Under the Sea Mixology. Full-color photography allows readers to enjoy the beauty of drinks like Mad Hatter’s Punch and Enchanted Rose Martinis. This book contains the perfect concoctions for romantic evenings or girls’ nights curled up watching a favorite film. If you don’t consider yourself a Disney adult but still like to raise a glass of cheer, try the literary inspired Tequila Mockingbird by Tim Federle, a book which blends sixty-five drink recipes with scintillating commentary on the novels which inspired them. For a cozy tavern-inspired meal, why not try The Copper Spoon Chronicles Cookbook? Emily Teuscher offers a culinary quest through a world of flavor and fantasy, peppering her stories with recipes like Roasted Garlic Butter and Hen and Hearth Stew. I follow Emily on TikTok where she posts meals for weary travelers, and her concoctions never fail to delight me! This beautifully illustrated book is sure to be a favorite among Dungeons and Dragons players and adventurers! Finally, nothing is more fairy tale than celebrating the wheel of the year, and Erika Kubick’s gorgeous text Cheese Magic: Seasonal Recipes, Plates, and Pairings does just that, providing readers with delectable concoctions to carry them from Imbolc through Yule. Divided into eight seasonal sections and illustrated by Devon Forst, this book will keep cheese-lovers’ mouths watering as the wheel turns. I love to flip through cookbooks and dream about recipes for parties, celebrations, and gatherings with friends. We hope our list of literary cookbooks inspires you to make some magic in your own kitchens! Art and Quotations to Savor Goblin Market by Arthur Rackham “Come buy our orchard fruits, Come buy, come buy: Apples and quinces, Lemons and oranges, Plump unpeck’d cherries, Melons and raspberries, Bloom-down-cheek’d peaches, Swart-headed mulberries, Wild free-born cranberries, Crab-apples, dewberries, Pine-apples, blackberries, Apricots, strawberries;— All ripe together In summer weather,— Morns that pass by, Fair eves that fly; Come buy, come buy" (Christina Rossetti) The Goblin Market by Hilda Koe "Come buy, come buy: Our grapes fresh from the vine, Pomegranates full and fine, Dates and sharp bullaces, Rare pears and greengages, Damsons and bilberries, Taste them and try: Currants and gooseberries, Bright-fire-like barberries, Figs to fill your mouth, Citrons from the South, Sweet to tongue and sound to eye; Come buy, come buy” (Christina Rossetti) Snow White by Walter Crane "Then she went into her most secret room--no one else was allowed inside--and she made a poisoned, poisoned apple. From outside it was beautiful, white with red cheeks, and anyone who saw it would want it. But anyone who might eat a little piece of it would die" (Little Snow White, The Brothers Grimm) Hansel and Gretel by Kay Nielsen "The bird sat on the roof, and when they came closer, they saw that the little house was built entirely from bread with a roof made of cake, and the windows were made of clear sugar" (Hansel and Gretel, The Brothers Grimm) Little Red Riding Hood by Walter Crane "One day her mother, having made some cakes, said to her, "Go, my dear, and see how your grandmother is doing, for I hear she has been very ill. Take her a cake, and this little pot of butter" (Little Red Riding Hood, Charles Perrault) Beauty and the Beast by Kinuko Y. Craft "At noon she found dinner ready, and while at the table, was entertained with an excellent concert of music" (Beauty and the Beast, Jeanne-Marie LePrince de Beaumont) Music for Cooking Compiled by our Editor-in-Chief Kristen Baum DeBeasi This playlist includes a variety of food/topics around food and hunger from fairy tales old and new. Some of the pieces are inspired by the Brothers Grimm (Hansel & Gretel), Disney (Beauty and the Beast), Christina Rosetti (Goblin Market), The Nutcracker, Narnia, and a mashup of many familiar fairy tales. Two modern sonic retellings are: The Golden Fly One. This is lovely solo piano music by Alessandra Celletti. I like to imagine that her suite for The Golden Fly loosely shares fantasias on the Celtic tale of The Golden Fly (related to the myth of Étaín) involves food and drink, specifically a pivotal moment wherein the goddess Étaín, transforms into a golden fly and falls into a queen's cup, is drunk up by the queen, which leads to her magical rebirth as a human girl after the queen gives birth to her. It’s not clear that this is the inspiration according to the composer, but for me, that’s always been the story I connect it with. And the art song I composed, “Ravenous” based on Sally Rosen Kindred’s poem that’s inspired by the Grimm's tale "The Raven.” We hope From Gingerbread to Goblin Fruit: A Fairy Tale Food Roundup has fed your soul while you wait for the Fairy Tale Magazine's upcoming Ravenous Issue! Fill your kitchen with music and bake up some magic for the people you love! Kristen Baum DeBeasi, the Editor-in-Chief of The Fairy Tale Magazine, was born a flower child (on the inside). In fact, she remembers communing with the flowers surrounding her PNW home as a young girl. It wasn’t until later in life when her inner flower child grew bold enough to emerge (on the outside). Kristen has loved faeries and fairy tales for as long as she can remember. She is a poet, writer, and composer with a M.M. in theory and composition. The marriage of storytelling and music guides her creative expression. Visit her at: https://www.kbdebeasi.com/ Kelly Jarvis works as the Contributing Writer for The Fairy Tale Magazine, is a Recurring Columnist for Eternal Haunted Summer, and teaches writing and literature at Central Connecticut State University. Her work has been featured in A Moon of One’s Own, Blue Heron Review, Corvid Queen, Mermaids Monthly, The Chamber Magazine, The Magic of Us, and Mothers of Enchantment: New Tales of Fairy Godmothers. Her debut novella, Selkie Moon, was named a semi-finalist in the Speculative Fiction Indie Novella Championship and her Gothic historical romance, Sea and Stars, won a Literary Titan Gold Book Award and a Literary Global Gold Seal. Connect with her on Facebook (Kelly Jarvis, Author) or Instagram (@kellyjarviswriter) or find her at https://kellyjarviswriter.com/

Although Nightbird is classified as a young adult novel due to its twelve year old protagonist, a young girl who must navigate the secrets of her family and her small town, this spellbinding story will delight adults and fans of fairy tale magic. Written in Alice Hoffman’s beautiful style, Nightbird is a book that will lead you back to a time in your life when friendships, first love, and finding your true self all lead to enchantment. The novel takes place in the town of Sidwell, Massachusetts in the Berkshires. Teresa Jane Fowler (known as Twig) must keep her family’s secret, the results of an ancient curse cast by a witch over two-hundred years ago. Twig’s family owns an apple orchard which grows fruit from the seeds of Johnny Appleseed himself, and when new neighbors move into the witch’s abandoned cottage down the street, Twig’s growing friendship with a girl named Julia makes her secret harder and harder to keep. Together, the girls must investigate the local legend of a “flying monster” who steals things from residents, save the woods, which house a unique species of owl, from being bulldozed and developed, facilitate their older siblings’ star-crossed romance, and break the ancient curse upon the Fowler family. Nightbird is an easy read for adults, but there is much complexity in the writing which lingers long after the book has been put away. It is the kind of book I would teach in my Children’s or Young Adult Literature college classes to demonstrate the possibilities of the genre in the hands of a true artist. Hoffman shines when she speaks of the depths of love and friendship, and her narrative is filled with natural imagery about the world that will change the ordinary into something special. The book encourages readers to see what is in front of them from a new point of view, and it is the perfect story to share with a middle grade reader or to enjoy with the full force of adult nostalgia. If you loved Hoffman’s Practical Magic series, you will enjoy Nightbird which sparkles with magic, innocence, and love. You can purchase the book here. Kelly Jarvis works as the Contributing Writer for The Fairy Tale Magazine and teaches writing and literature at Central Connecticut State University. Her work has been featured in A Moon of One’s Own, Blue Heron Review, Corvid Queen, Eternal Haunted Summer, Mermaids Monthly, The Chamber Magazine, The Magic of Us, and Mothers of Enchantment: New Tales of Fairy Godmothers. Her debut novella, Selkie Moon, was released in 2025. You can connect with her on Facebook (Kelly Jarvis, Author) or Instagram (@kellyjarviswriter) or find her at https://kellyjarviswriter.com/

I have long been a fan of Sharon Lynn Fisher’s cozy Gothic fantasies (Salt & Broom, Grimm Curiosities, Tea & Alchemy) and I was thrilled to find Bane Bloom just as phenomenal! The novel begins with the mysterious diary entries of Charles Carroll, an apothecary from the London Society who has been sent to the Lake District to catalogue the specimens in Arthur Banes’ Pine Cottage. After Mr. Carroll loses his grip on reality and disappears, Catherine Gray, a young woman with an interest in botany and a talent for illustration take up his cataloguing work in exchange for becoming an apprentice apothecary. Catherine has grown up with an artist for a father, and her trip to the north may help secure their future, but when she arrives in the country and meets Thomas Bane, Arthur’s grandson and the groundskeeper for the property, Catherine’s careful plans begin to unravel. Thomas is no ordinary man, and his taciturn behavior harbors a series of dark secrets. Nevertheless, an attraction between Thomas and Catherine is undeniable, and much of the novel centers on the complexities of their growing relationship as Catherine learns the secrets of Pine Cottage. The titular Bane Bloom, an elusive shape-shifting flower that has the power to grant your heart’s desire, is the key to the Pine Cottage mystery, and it explains the tie between Thomas and the surrounding land. Madness, folklore, superstition, and witchcraft permeate the story, and Fisher’s admiration for both benevolent (hyacinths, foxglove, and bluebells) and malevolent (hellebore, and belladonna) plants fill her sentences with luscious scent and eye-catching beauty. As always, her landscapes are meticulously researched, and I felt like I was wandering among the becks and fells as I turned each page. Bane Bloom perfectly blends a real world setting with frightening touches of fairy magic, and I delighted in learning about kelpies, nokken, and wodewose. The tone leans Gothic and explores serious themes like abandonment, loneliness, and isolation, but beneath it all is a strain of beauty and a reverence for the natural world as the village participates in celebrations to welcome the spring. Fisher’s prose especially sings when she is exploring the relationship between Catherine and Thomas. Although the book is told primarily from Catherine’s point of view, a few chapters allow Thomas to tell his own story, and the blend of both voices helps the reader feel more invested in their courtship. The romance between Catherine and Thomas is a slow burn, but it is also quite sensual since both characters stand somewhat outside the gendered and social expectations of Victorian society. The ups and downs of their relationship will make readers swoon, and the mystery of whether they will discover their happily ever after is as intriguing as the mystery of the Bane Bloom. If you love beautifully crafted explorations of nature, folklore, and romantic relationships, you will adore Bane Bloom! You can find it here. Kelly Jarvis works as the Contributing Writer for The Fairy Tale Magazine and a Recurring Columnist for Eternal Haunted Summer. She also teachers writing and literature at Central Connecticut State University. Her folklore inspired novella, Selkie Moon, was a semi-finalist in the 2025-2026 Speculative Fiction Indie Novella Championship and her Gothic historical romance, Sea and Stars, is the winner of the Literary Titan Gold Book Award. Learn more about her at https://kellyjarviswriter.com/

Do you love Jane Austen? Do you love murder mysteries? If you answered yes to these questions, then add Vanessa Kelly’s novel, Murder in Highbury to your list today! The novel takes place in the summer of 1813, a year after Emma’s marriage to the magistrate George Knightly. Emma and her friend Harriet Martin discover the body of Mrs. Elton, the vicar’s wife, on the steps of the church, and when they notice bruises on her neck and a blood-smeared candlestick on the altar, foul play is suspected, and an investigation filled with twists and turns ensues. In addition to offering her readers a satisfying mystery, Kelly provides a faithful adaptation of Austen’s characters in her novel. Kelly’s Emma is the Emma generations of readers have fallen in love with, and her new role as a wife has not changed her personality or dampened her wit. Emma has evolved from matchmaker to detective, but her dialogue retains the witty banter and keen observations of Austen’s original character. Readers will also delight in the stern but loving George Knightly, the hysterical Harriet, and the humorous Mr. Wodehouse who claims the vicar “should not have allowed his wife to go off and get murdered in the first place.” The novel ends with George’s hope that his wife’s detective days are over, a sentiment the reader will certainly not share. I loved the cozy vibes of this murder mystery which immersed me in Regency Era inquests and funeral customs. The subtle plot twists and endearing character portrayals kept me reading, and Vanessa Kelly continues the fun with her sequel Murder at Donwell Abbey! You can purchase the first book in the Emma Knightly Mystery Series here. Thank you to NetGalley for a free copy of the book in exchange for a fair review. Kelly Jarvis works as the Contributing Writer for The Fairy Tale Magazine and teaches writing and literature at Central Connecticut State University. Her work has been featured in A Moon of One’s Own, Blue Heron Review, Corvid Queen, Eternal Haunted Summer, Mermaids Monthly, The Chamber Magazine, The Magic of Us, and Mothers of Enchantment: New Tales of Fairy Godmothers. Her debut novella, Selkie Moon, was released in 2025. You can connect with her on Facebook (Kelly Jarvis, Author) or Instagram (@kellyjarviswriter) or find her at https://kellyjarviswriter.com/

Inheritance is the first book in best-selling author Nora Roberts’ new The Lost Bride Trilogy and it will delight her fans. The book begins with the tale of an 19th century bride ruthlessly murdered before her marriage can be consummated and then moves into the present day where the protagonist, Sonya MacTavish, is forced to call off her own wedding due to her groom’s infidelity. When she learns that her late father had a long lost twin who has left her a Victorian mansion on the Maine coast, she jumps at the chance to make a new start. She soon discovers, however, that the house is haunted by the ghosts of her family’s past. With the help of a new love interest, Sonya will try to solve the mystery of the Lost Brides, seven women who were killed or met an untimely death while living in the house. This book has all the makings of a Gothic romance, and I found the setting and legends which punctuate the modern day narrative captivating. It is part ghost story, part romance, part fantasy-suspense. The story ends with a cliffhanger and fans will be happy to learn they can complete the trilogy by reading The Mirror and The Seven Rings. This was an easy and fun summer read. If you have ever dreamed of a spooky mansion on the east coast and a generational curse, then this just might be the book for you! You can purchase it here. Thank you to NetGalley for a free copy of the book in exchange for a fair review. Kelly Jarvis works as the Contributing Writer for The Fairy Tale Magazine and teaches writing and literature at Central Connecticut State University. Her work has been featured in A Moon of One’s Own, Blue Heron Review, Corvid Queen, Eternal Haunted Summer, Mermaids Monthly, The Chamber Magazine, The Magic of Us, and Mothers of Enchantment: New Tales of Fairy Godmothers. Her debut novella, Selkie Moon, was released in 2025. You can connect with her on Facebook (Kelly Jarvis, Author) or Instagram (@kellyjarviswriter) or find her at https://kellyjarviswriter.com/

The Thinking Woman’s Guide to Real Magic is a beautifully written portal fantasy which sends Nora, a graduate student researching John Donne’s poetry, into a world where real magic exists. At first, the lonely Nora, who is suffering from both a real-world break-up and an existential crisis about her life path in academia, finds solace in the beautiful fairy world she encounters. She exists in a trance-like state as she is given a magical makeover to prepare her for a romance with the son of the Queen, but not everything is as it seems. It is Aruendiel, a powerful but moody magician who rescues Nora from her fated marriage, offering her shelter in his home and protecting her from retaliation. As a romance begins to build between the unlikely pair, Aruendiel agrees to teach Nora to wield some magic of her own, a prospect that makes her return to her own world more complex. I absolutely loved this novel! The presence of a contemporary scholar in a medieval-type world of magic provided ample points of contemplation regarding the examination of Faerie, and the magical world of the book is in constant conversation with the contemporary world of scholarship, poetry, and literature. Fragments of poems return to Nora as she navigates a strange and dangerous environment, and she translates a copy of Pride and Prejudice for Aruendiel to read. Emily Croy Barker has achieved a perfect balance between urban and high fantasy, one that makes readers see the mundane world of the everyday as a place filled with shadows of enchantment. In addition to the intellectual commentary regarding the intersections of magic, art, science, and technology, Barker gives readers a delicious slow-burn romance steeped in mystery and intrigue. Although I usually tear through books, I found myself lingering with one, enjoying every moment of the superb plotting and immersive description. When I reached the end, I was delighted to learn Barker has written a sequel, How to Talk to a Goddess and Other Lessons in Real Magic, which advances the relationship of Nora and Aruendiel while exploring humanity’s relationship to divinity. I loved it just as much as The Thinking Woman’s Guide to Magic. If you enjoy sparkling, witty dialogue, deep character development, high fantasy with real-world human stakes, and intelligent, slow-burn romance steeped in mystery, pick up copies of both books in Emily Croy Barker’s bewitching duology. They will change the way you think about magic! You can find the books here. Kelly Jarvis works as the Contributing Writer for The Fairy Tale Magazine and teaches writing and literature at Central Connecticut State University. Her work has been featured in A Moon of One’s Own, Blue Heron Review, Corvid Queen, Eternal Haunted Summer, Mermaids Monthly, The Chamber Magazine, The Magic of Us, and Mothers of Enchantment: New Tales of Fairy Godmothers. Her debut novella, Selkie Moon, was released in 2025. You can connect with her on Facebook (Kelly Jarvis, Author) or Instagram (@kellyjarviswriter) or find her at https://kellyjarviswriter.com/

I was lucky enough to read an early copy of The Elementist and was absolutely enchanted by it! Boyko tells the story of Caedris, a character who discovers herself through memory and her connection to the elements. Found wandering in the woods and covered in amethyst, emerald, and aquamarine tattoos, Caedris is pushed forward on a journey to find what is missing. Boyko builds a beautiful world with her writing, presenting a society based on the premise of gifting. There is a host of characters to enjoy, and I especially loved Ferrid, the Lorekeeper, and Jocco, the sweet and steady farmhand. The love triangle between Caedris, Ferrid, and Jocco is full of twists, turns, and revelations grounded in emotional and social growth. The novel unfolds like the rings of a tree, looping around as it weaves together stories, memories, thoughts, and voices. The natural world oozes from the pages, but there are libraries and labyrinths too, all bound together by the web of Boyko’s prose. The beautiful cover created by Alison Weber, The Faerie Scribe, perfectly captures the essence of The Elementist, a sweet but quest-filled adventure to discover one’s place in the world. If you enjoy traditional fantasy writing, stories crafted with lyrical prose, and quests that are as internal as they are external, The Elementist is the book for you! You can find it here. Kelly Jarvis works as the Contributing Writer for The Fairy Tale Magazine and a Recurring Columnist for Eternal Haunted Summer. She also teachers writing and literature at Central Connecticut State University. Her folklore inspired novella, Selkie Moon, was a semi-finalist in the Speculative Fiction Indie Novella Championship and her Gothic historical romance, Sea and Stars, is the winner of the Literary Titan Gold Book Award. Learn more about her at https://kellyjarviswriter.com/