Witches!

     Aunt Maria proved to be quite an evil woman.  The book that draws its name from this woman, Black Maria, was a very good read.  Slow to start, it seemed a bit shaky at first in that it gave a good bit of detail on setting and story (which is never a bad thing).  The popular consensus is the class is that a slow build up is apparently something to dislike.  That isn't a surprise when we live in a 'fastfood' kind of lifestyle, but I liked the slow pace of the start of the story.
     That being said, though, once the book hit the interesting moments, I couldn't stop reading.  I read the entire book in one night.  I think the part that hooked me was when one of the women told Chris he looked like a jester, after having seen the ghost that was dressed as a jester.  It made my eyes widen a bit, and I knew it would get good.  And of course when Chris was turned into a wolf.  The visual storytelling was great, I easily put myself in the space and witnessed it all happening.

     Are witches making a slow come-back?  Maybe.  In my opinion, they've been relevant for a while, but in varying capacities.  As far and I can remember, I've seen an interest in witches in popular culture.  Many are interested in Wiccans and witchcraft, the history of Salem and the witch trials, and something a bit less dark like Harry Potter.  One can at least argue that people have been interested in these sorts of things for the 15 or 20 years, if Harry Potter is the deciding factor.