We’ve passed the half-way point of Witch Week, with reviews that I hope have given you a few chills.

Today, you’ll find my own Witch Week post, about two fantasy novels — Diana Wynne Jones’ The Merlin Conspiracy and Rachel Hartman’s Seraphina — over at Calmgrove. Royalty certainly has a way of attracting trouble, don’t you think? Oooh, and there are dragons.

As for our game, Mr. F is but one bad guess away from a bitter end. The hangman seems to enjoy his job.

Have you figured out the phrase? If so, DON’T REVEAL IT. Just write it down and allow yourself to feel superior in private. Or, as others have done, you can reply that you’ve solved it — but feel free to make another guess anyway. Who knows? Your guess might help someone else figure it out. Unless, of course, you propose a wrong letter, just for fun — Competitive Hangman! (© Lizzie Ross 2021)

For today’s musical interlude, I give you Modest Mussorgsky’s Night on Bald Mountain, with animation by the geniuses at Disney (from Fantasia). (BTW, the date in the title is wrong — Fantasia was released in 1940.)