''Curses, Hexes and Spells'' is a 1974 book by Daniel Cohen. Marketed as children's book, it explains what " curses" are, and describes supposed curses on families (such as the House of

Atreus In Greek mythology, Atreus ( , ; from ἀ-, "no" and τρέω, "tremble", "fearless", gr, Ἀτρεύς ) was a king of Mycenae in the Peloponnese, the son of Pelops and Hippodamia, and the father of Agamemnon and Menelaus. Collectively, hi ...

in Greek mythology, the House of Habsburg or the Kennedy family), creatures, places (the

Bermuda Triangle The Bermuda Triangle, also known as the Devil's Triangle, is an urban legend focused on a loosely defined region in the western part of the North Atlantic Ocean where a number of aircraft and ships are said to have disappeared under mysterio ...

, the

Devil's Sea The , also known as the Devil's triangle, the Dragon's Triangle, the Formosa Triangle and the Pacific Bermuda Triangle, is a region of the Pacific Ocean, Pacific, south of Tokyo. The Devil's Sea is sometimes considered as a paranormal location, ...

), wanderers (like the Flying Dutchman) and

ghost A ghost is the soul or spirit of a dead person or animal that is believed to be able to appear to the living. In ghostlore, descriptions of ghosts vary widely from an invisible presence to translucent or barely visible wispy shapes, to rea ...

s. It also describes a few protective

amulet An amulet, also known as a good luck charm or phylactery, is an object believed to confer protection upon its possessor. The word "amulet" comes from the Latin word amuletum, which Pliny's ''Natural History'' describes as "an object that protects ...

s from supposed "occult" dangers, and briefly touches on

birthstone A birthstone is a gemstone A gemstone (also called a fine gem, jewel, precious stone, or semiprecious stone) is a piece of mineral crystal which, in cut and polished form, is used to make jewelry or other adornments. However, certain rock ...

s. ''Curses, Hexes, and Spells'' is number 73 on the American Library Association's list of the 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books of 1990–2000. The book also appears on several other lists of "banned"/challenged books in the United States such as '' The New York Times'' 50 Most Frequently Banned Books in which it is number 11.

References

1974 children's books Occult books Children's non-fiction books American children's books {{child-book-stub