''Witches Three'' is an anthology of three original fantasy stories, edited by the uncredited Fletcher Pratt and published in hardcover by

Twayne Gale is a global provider of research and digital learning resources. The company is based in Farmington Hills, Michigan, west of Detroit. It has been a division of Cengage since 2007. The company, formerly known as Gale Research and the Gale G ...

in 1952. No further editions of the anthology were issued, but each of the stories was later republished. ''Witches Three'' was the second and last in the publisher's "Twayne Triplets," a series of science fiction and fantasy anthologies of which each was to be written by a trio of writers on a common theme. The theme for ''Witches Three'' is witches and witchcraft.

*"Introduction" by John Ciardi. the opening piece discusses "the symbolism of witches, in these stories and in folklore generally."Davenport, Basil. "Out of This World," in ''The New York Times'', Dec. 14, 1952, p. BR16. *''

Conjure Wife ''Conjure Wife'' (1943) is a supernatural horror novel by American writer Fritz Leiber. Its premise is that witchcraft flourishes as an open secret among women. The story is told from the point of view of a small-town college professor who discov ...

'', by

Fritz Leiber Fritz Reuter Leiber Jr. ( ; December 24, 1910 – September 5, 1992) was an American writer of fantasy, horror, and science fiction. He was also a poet, actor in theater and films, playwright, and chess expert. With writers such as Robert ...

There Shall Be No Darkness "There Shall Be No Darkness" is a horror story by the American writer James Blish that was published in 1950. It concerns a group of people on a remote country manor who discover that one of their number is a ravenous werewolf. The story was adapte ...

", by James Blish *'' The Blue Star'', by Fletcher Pratt

Reception

Basil Davenport Basil Davenport (1905-1966) was an American literary critic, academic, anthologist, and writer of science fiction novels and other genres. He was a member of the Baker Street Irregulars literary society. He was born in Louisville, Kentucky on March ...

, reviewing the anthology in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', called the book "an unusually generous omnibus," the contents of which he regarded as "all of high quality." He comments on each of the contributions individually. He praised John Ciardi's "highly perceptive introduction" and finds "real excitement" in Leiber's "comedy-melodrama," highlighting its central idea as "one of those ... of which you say, 'Why, I never thought of that before, but it's obviously perfectly true!" Blish's story he calls "an ironic tragedy of a werewolf in spite of himself." His highest praise, however, is reserved for Pratt's, " e most ambitious and most stimulating of the stories . . . a romance with a scope far beyond that of the common science-fiction novel." In summation, he calls the volume "one more proof that science-fiction is really growing up." "If you are weary of gleaming spaceships and bug-eyed monsters on distant planets," wrote ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'', "try these comparatively old-fashioned tales of horror and witchcraft. The reviewer called the authors "old hands at conjuring up suspense and fear," and stated that " idle hour or two in this company can be quite diverting.""Nutshell Reviews," in ''The Washington Post'', Jan. 4, 1953, p. B6. The anthology was also reviewed by the editors of ''

The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction ''The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction'' (usually referred to as ''F&SF'') is a U.S. fantasy and science fiction magazine first published in 1949 by Mystery House, a subsidiary of Lawrence Spivak's Mercury Press. Editors Anthony Boucher a ...

'' in the issue for January 1953, Groff Conklin in ''

Galaxy Science Fiction ''Galaxy Science Fiction'' was an American digest-size science fiction magazine, published in Boston from 1950 to 1980. It was founded by a French-Italian company, World Editions, which was looking to break into the American market. World Editi ...

'', March 1953,

Sam Moskowitz Sam Moskowitz (June 30, 1920 – April 15, 1997) was an American writer, critic, and historian of science fiction. Biography As a child, Moskowitz greatly enjoyed reading science fiction pulp magazines. As a teenager, he organized a branch of ...

in ''

Science-Fiction Plus ''Science-Fiction Plus'' was an American science fiction magazine published by Hugo Gernsback for seven issues in 1953. In 1926, Gernsback had launched ''Amazing Stories,'' the first science fiction magazine, but he had not been involved in t ...

'', June 1953, Damon Knight in '' Science Fiction Adventures'', May 1953, and Mark Reinsberg in ''

Imagination Imagination is the production or simulation of novel objects, sensations, and ideas in the mind without any immediate input of the senses. Stefan Szczelkun characterises it as the forming of experiences in one's mind, which can be re-creations ...

'', August 1953.

References

{{Fletcher Pratt Fantasy anthologies 1952 anthologies

Contents

Reception

References