This post may contain affiliate links for books we recommend. Read the full disclosure here.
Book: “We Call Them Witches” by India-Rose Bower
Publishing Info: Poisoned Pen Press, April 2026
Where Did I Get This Book: I received an ARC from the publisher
Where You Can Get This Book: WorldCat.org | Amazon | Indiebound
Book Description: Most people have been devoured by the eldritch creatures, but Sara and her family have been fighting for survival, armed with their knowledge of folklore and pagan rituals – the only weapon that seems to work against these monsters.
And then a young woman, Parsley, comes out of nowhere into Sara’s life. Found in their garden, they have no idea where she is from.
Sara and Parsley begin to fall in love, but disaster strikes when Sara’s brother Noah is taken by the creatures. They set out to find him, across a landscape of merciless terror, haunted by death.
But can Parsley truly be trusted in a world where humanity is as scarse as humans themselves?
Review: Thank you to Poisoned Pen Press for sending me an ARC of this novel!
It’s been a bit since I read a post-apocalyptic horror tale. It wasn’t really a purposeful decision to do that, and it’s not like I’ve been having the same anxieties about it as I did during COVID (though I will say this war in Iran hasn’t exactly been giving me confidence about global stability at the moment). It just hasn’t been on my radar as much. But when “We Call Them Witches” by India -Rose Bower ended up in my mailbox I realized it had been some time, and that this one sounded like it was going to tell an end of the world story that felt different from previous ones I’ve read as of late.
It’s such a unique take on the end of the world and a post-apocalyptic life, and some of the ways that it is presented felt like “28 Days Later” just in how the environment and the survivors are coping and living a more unstable life by necessity. Our family at the heart of the story is close knit but stressed to the bone, with Sara feeling connected but the constant worry bearing down on all of them. We are seeing the tensions by the time the mysterious Parsley arrives, and while Sara gets closer to her, it causes strife between her and some family members, especially oldest sibling Danny. Sara is a pretty straight forward protagonist, and while in some ways her characterization read a bit more ‘young adult’ to me I liked the hints of tension of a family that has been pushed to the brink, and how that pushes her more towards a new and seemingly open person like Parsley. I don’t know if I bought the insta-love that Sara and Parsley fell into, but I do believe the way that Sara could be looking for that connection given how dangerous the world is and how her family has been buckling under the pressure.
It was the mystery and body horror/folk horror elements of the ‘witches’ that worked best for me in this book. We aren’t given a full on explanation as to what exactly happened to bring these creatures forth, but their menace is intense from the jump, opening with their arrival and a particularly brutal massacre that sends Sara and her family on the run to try and stay alive in a new dangerous world. Some of the descriptions were really nasty, and I really enjoyed the differences between some of the creatures and how we never really get big answers about why they function the way they do. I also liked the use of folklore and mythologies and how it does tend to work as a weapon against them to some degree. As mentioned above, it’s a fun way to explore an end of the world scenario that we haven’t seen as much before in the sub-genre.
“We Call Them Witches” was entertaining and strange. I liked the unique take on the end of the world and the monsters that lurk within.
Rating 7: A creative take on a post apocalyptic world with some interesting folk horror elements.
Reader’s Advisory:
“We Call Them Witches” is included on the Goodreads list “Folk Horror” .
The Library Ladies 