Witchcraft for Wayward Girls by Grady Hendrix is historical fiction/horror in 1970 Florida at a wayward house. What is a wayward house? You might be asking. A wayward house is a place where unwed pregnant teenagers would stay. The mothers would remain until the baby was delivered and adopted. The mothers would never see the baby again and return to their "normal lives". The system is set up so the mother will abandon all rights to the child while the wayward house will get paid for the adoption. The young mother feels helpless until witchcraft is introduced. The wayward house is a character in the novel and an interesting one. Every time the novel moved away from the house setting I was sad. The novel works best when at the house, I didn't even need the supernatural element when I was there. The wayward house is filled with a lot of dread about the future, but the bonds girls form are unbreakable. The themes are powerless and control, even when the witchcraft is brought in the girls soon realize they have power but no control, making them feel powerless. This novel is a character piece and the characters for the most part are intriguing. The pace was slower than I expected from the two other Grady Hendrix novels that I read. But the slower moments involve the wayward house and I was interested. The humor that I usually count on from Grady Hendrix was very muted here's some but Witchcraft for Wayward Girls is his most serious. The witchcraft was way less than I was expecting, but it did keep the reader on their toes in anticipation. I do believe the lack of witchcraft will turn off some readers, but there are two awesome scenes of the witchcraft power. I would have wanted to see more, but was only slightly disappointed. The ending has a crazy scene of witchcraft that I was all about. Hendrix pays off the reader for the lack of witchcraft with a big scene. The epilogue is written very well and ends on a line that sums up the whole novel. Witchcraft for Wayward Girls will be published on January 14, 2025. Thanks, Netgalley and Berkley Publishing for the read.

Plot Summary: Neva is a pregnant 15-year-old in 1970 from Alabama. She rides in a car to Florida with her disappointed father who has signed her up to stay at Wellwood Home. A place for unwed pregnant teens to have the baby without the neighborhood knowing. Neva learns that she must go by a different name, all the girls go by flower names since their flower was taken. Neva is now called Fern. Fern meets all the other girls and sees the horrors of childbirth firsthand. She makes friends with her roommates Holly, who is the youngest girl and a mute, and Rose, who is a loud Hippie who is determined to keep her baby she named Blossom. Later Zinnia, a refined black girl will move in and be Fern's best friend. Fern just wants everything to go back to normal and is tired of getting pushed around. At Wellwood Home, she is told what to eat when to sleep, and what to read. She meets a librarian from a mobile bookmobile. The librarian sees something in Fern and gives her a book on witchcraft. Fern starts reading it and sharing it with the roommates, they form a coven and do little spells empowering them. They soon learn that the book wasn't just a gift but a promise and find they have no power.

What I Liked: The Wellwood Home was interesting. I did not mind the lack of witchcraft at the beginning since the home was so interesting. I liked the history of the home and what happens at the end of it. I do like how Roe v. Wade eventually enters the story. I do like two awesome scenes we get of witchcraft. Both scenes were intense but the end one was fun. This book has a main character Fern, whose character I did enjoy, but she is supported by so many great supporting characters. Rose was my favorite, followed by Zinnia, Holly, Hagar, Miriam, and the first Hazel. I love what the girls shout as someone leaves the home, meaning cross your fingers and your legs. I have not talked about how emotional the book is there are some hard truths in how the girls got there and the pressure to give your baby away. This book does have two intense birth scenes that make this reviewer glad he is not a birthing woman.

What I Disliked: The story gives the background of Mrs. Wellwood but nothing is done with it, I thought when we learned it we would get a scene about it later, especially with Holly. The lack of witchcraft in the novel. This was a choice but there was so much potential to elevate scenes. I feel it was a missed opportunity. There were two scenes that I was reading where I was like I can't believe that was played straight and no witchcraft added. There's a point in the story where the girls get protection from the witch but it lasts way too long with so many opportunities for it to get taken away by someone who doesn't know any better.

Recommendation: Despite the fact I thought Witchcraft for Wayward Girls could and should have more witchcraft scenes I liked this book. The story went places I could not predict and was a fun ride. Witchcraft for Wayward Witches is the first book I have read published in 2025 and it is a strong start. I recommend my followers read Witchcraft for Wayward Girls.

Rating: I rated Witchcraft for Wayward Girls by Grady Hendrix 4.1 out of 5.

Ranking: I have read three Grady Hendrix books and rated them all 4 stars on Goodreads and Amazon. I ranked them from favorite to least favorite: 1) Final Girls Support Group, 2) Witchcraft for Wayward Girls, and 3) My Best Friend's Exorcism.

I have a lot of mixed feelings on this one. On one hand, the conversation around how women who became pregnant out of wedlock were treated (and just pregnant women in general) is a super important conversation to have and I enjoyed the real life horror aspect. I also thought a lot of the stuff with the witches was creepy, but I definitely thought the magic would be a bigger focus of the book.

I kind of went back and forth between being really into this book and just wanting it to be over, here were a lot of parts that were super repetitive and the first 20% I was so bored and considered DNFing it multiple times just because it was so repetitive, but I wanted to see how the magic would affect everything. There are also a ton of characters to keep straight, but it was hard to keep them all straight because none of them really felt like they had any developed personalities, including the main characters. The only one I found incredibly interesting was Rose, and there was a lot of the story she wasn't even present for.

My biggest issue with this book though is something that's specific to me - while I knew from the title and description that the characters in this book were pregnant, I was NOT expecting the amount of graphic description about childbirth - multiple times, in fact. Pregnancy as a whole isn't something I'm interested in reading about, but the witchcraft aspect had me so intrigued by this one that I decided to overlook my reservations and give it a try.

Ultimately this ended up not being for me as my expectations were totally different than what this book provided, although I can see this being something that a lot of people enjoy. I'm still curious about some of his other works though, and I hope I can find one of his books that really works for me!

I will read anything Grady Hendrix writes, even though this one didn't rank as high as the others. Big trigger warning for anyone who has any kind of pregnancy trauma--especially around giving birth.

Pros: Well-written experiences of pregnancy from a man...he did a good job researching a woman's experience.
Satisfying conclusion.

Cons: The main character just didn't do it for me. I was extremely frustrated by her and her choices--which was probably the point but it took me out of the story.
Oddly paced plot: the first 2/3 of the book kind of dragged while the last third was an avalanche of crazy stuff.
The aforementioned traumatic birth stories.

Overall, it was a classic Hendrix story of social commentary wrapped up in a horror story, meant to exaggerate a part of our society that should horrify us--the unjust and ostracizing treatment of women who find themselves young, unwed, and pregnant.

Grady Hendrix is an automatic read for me because of his ability to mix so much human emotion in with the supernatural. As a mother, this book hit my heart because I can't imagine my own children being in Ferns situation, and I understand her need to risk everything to keep her daughter safe. This is yet another great read!

Grady Hendrix has been one of my favorite horror authors ever since I read My Best Friend’s Exorcism. His vivid storytelling never fails to captivate me. There’s also always some relevant topic infused in the midst of the horror story. In Witchcraft for Wayward Girls, there’s actually not much scary stuff, unlike his last book (remember the puppet screaming kawewe?!?!🤣) BUT my golly, I admired him all the more because of how he wrote those childbirthing scenes! Even the POV of the obstetrician is on point! I’d given birth thrice and also delivered lots of babies during my medical training so I can definitely say he did his research well. If I didn’t know Grady’s a man, I would think he’s a woman who experienced pregnancy and labor pains! I’d say the horror of the book is more of what the unwed pregnant teens endured during that time period and how society and even their own parents unjustly treated these young ladies. Stripping them of their rights and choices (and their own babies!) in the guise of giving them a better future is indeed terrifying. If you like feminist coming-of-age and character-driven stories with a bit of hocus pocus, then do add this to your must-read pile. Thank you @berkleypub for my ARC.

Gah, why was this so good??? I have wondered for a long time how I feel about men writing women almost exclusively in their writing careers, but why did this book about injustice against young women, written by a man, hit so hard? Like this had me crying in the end…

In Hendrix’s signature hilarious horror, this book dives into witchcraft and all of the balance in nature and magic. Paired with the desperation of bereft young women on the cusp of something monumental in their lives- who, until now have had all control taken from them…

I loved these characters. I loved the bonds formed. While this one definitely had its creepy moments, it was the heart of it all that really got me.

Thank you NetGalley and Berkley for this eARC!

I loved this book. It is troubling, heartbreaking, and eerie. Hendrix addressed real issues of the time for unwed pregnant teenagers. The world controlled them and the girls in this book turned to the only appealing way out of their sad situation… witchcraft. Fern and her friends discover just how truly strong and powerful they are.

Grady always has a way of captivating the reader from the jump, but still playing the long game. This book was vividly dark and entertaining. A knock out but physically and audio.

In Hendrix’s newest novel, unwed, pregnant girls are tucked away, forced to give birth in secrecy and give their babies up for adoption. Surrounded by dozens of others in the same predicament, things are looking bleak. When a mobile library visits the home, the librarian gives the girls a chance to finally stand up for themselves. They just don’t know that there’s always a price to be paid.

YESSSSSS!!! 🎉🎉
This is the book I’ve been waiting for Hendrix to write!! I love some witchcraft!!

I was a bit hesitant about reading women’s suffering written by a man, but I was pleasantly surprised with the care and research the author put into this book. Being an unwed & pregnant in the 1970’s was full of hypocrisy, slut-shaming, isolation and injustice. This book does a good job of portraying that- and it’ll infuriate you. (In a powerful way!)
The biggest injustice of all, being forced to give birth just to have your baby ripped away from you against your will.

It’s safe to say that this book will stay with me for quite some time.

If you’re looking for historical fiction with mystery, witchcraft, and full of feminine rage, this one’s for you!

First off, this is not your usual Grady Hendrix book. Yes it has witchcraft and a fabulous retro vibe and setting, but it is much more subdued and not at all the usual satire you expect from his writing.

Unlike the horror tropes that Grady typically exploits to perfection, the real nightmares of this story are the parts that were based in reality; the lack of preparation and education about birthing and what these girls should expect; the doctor telling them symptoms like morning sickness were all in their head and within their control; the diet and physical restrictions; the shame and ridicule. I could go on and on listing the atrocities. For being a man, I thought Grady did an excellent job of conveying the struggles and emotions of these girls (as much as even I can imagine, having also never been in their shoes.)

As for the witchcraft part of the story, it was just what the doctor ordered. I don’t want to say too much so I’ll just say this, when you try to strip women of all their power and freedom, what do you expect!?

One thought kept popping into my head as I read this book - I can’t believe this was written by a man! The story revolves mainly around female characters but also a lot of it is about female bodies and uniquely female experiences and Grady Hendrix did such a fantastic job of bringing all of that to life.

I also loved the mix of elements of number of different genres! I feel that combination intensified my emotional response to the story and the characters. And ugh did this story ever make me feel things! Sadness and joy but most of all unbelievable rage at how often decisions are made on behalf of women/girls especially when it comes to their bodies. There were a number of vivid, memorable, cinematic scenes which just beg to be turned into a mini series! Also this makes for a great book club pick - so much material for discussion!

I’ll be recommending this book left, right and center so be prepared to see it on many of my lists. I dream of @gradyhendrix coming to Toronto, that’s one book event I would not miss!

This book made me feel so many things, and I loved every minute of it. I did go into it thinking it was going to be a straight up spooky witchy tale, and while it wasn't that, it was so good for what it was. Those poor girls were told repeatedly that they were nothing but sluts and that the only moral thing they could do was give their babies up for adoption, forget about all the ugliness and shame of their situation, and then go back to their lives as if nothing had happened. Most of the girls don't question that, but a few do when they meet a librarian who gives them a book on witchcraft and tells them that they can be in control of their own power and make their own decisions. But is that a good thing or a bad thing?

This was a unique and emotionally draining story at times, but I couldn't help but continue reading it. The girls were all unique and from different places and situations, but they weren't allowed to talk about that. They were only able to go by the name provided them when they got to the home, whether they liked it or not. That was their first lesson in how things would be and the first right taken away from them. Another huge part of the story was the setting, Florida in 1970, oppressive and sweltering. It set so much of the tone of the book and added to the suspense, as weird as that might sound.

All in all, I'm glad I read this book and highly recommend it to others.

5/5 stars.

*** I would like to thank NetGalley, Berkley Publishing Group, and Grady Hendrix for the opportunity to read and review Witchcraft for Wayward Girls.

This was one of my most highly anticipated releases for the year, and this book did not disappoint! I loved the setting of 1970s Florida; the descriptions of the miserable, relentless heat and the secluded Home really set the tone for the rest of the book.

The girls. Ugh, these poor girls!! And I don’t say that with pity but with anger and incredible sadness for their situation - not that they’re pregnant, but because of how they are treated by the world. You can tell that Grady Hendrix took the time to get to know these young women before crafting this story because they felt like real teenagers, petty squabbles and delusional hopes and all. I felt protective of these girls whenever Miss Wellwood or Diane or Dr. Vincent tried to dress them down or make them feel less than or take their autonomy away. It was both infuriating and disgusting to experience - truly horrific.

If you go into this book expecting a typical witch horror story, you might feel like this isn’t all that scary, but if you’re familiar with and like Hendrix’s writing style, I think you’ll enjoy this book. There were definitely a few moments that had me LITERALLY screaming in shock and horror (keeping this spoiler free but MY GOD, I was so grossed out at one part that I had to turn my e-reader off and scream/breathe for a moment 😂). There is quite a bit of body horror (because almost all of the characters are very pregnant), some bug stuff, and some creepy house in the middle of the night scares that kept me on the edge of my seat. But overall, this felt more like a historical fiction with horror elements, and I’m fine with that because the reality these women actually had to deal with? Scary. Doctors not listening to you and doing whatever they want to your body? Terrifying. I’ve had to deal with that once or twice in my own life but not to the degree these girls had to and it was bad enough! I can’t imagine being pregnant at 15, being told no information, and then being poked and prodded at and essentially operated on without so much as a ‘hi, how are you?’.

The witch elements were really interesting and I appreciated that he didn’t make them stereotypical, ugly hags who are “evil” for no reason. Anyone with previous knowledge or interest in the occult will probably find a few things to give them pause or make them think when reading this book, and I loved that! I love when authors can take things rooted in reality and put their own twist on it.

By the end of the book, I was pretty emotional and found myself almost crying? In a HORROR BOOK?? Totally taken aback in a good way by this story and it will stay with me for a long time!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for granting me an advance reader copy of this title in exchange for an honest review.

There is no doubt that Grady Hendrix is one of the best horror writers in the US! Every novel of his sucks me in from the very beginning & then I am in a mad dash to find time to finish the book! Witchcraft for Wayward Girls may be his best work yet! I was very fortunate to meet him last summer & hear him talk about this novel! The research he described about homes where pregnant young women went to have their babies before Roe v Wade was heartbreaking and terrifying! With a (too) big portion of the US probably wishing for a return to these times....it adds another element altogether! Adding in the touch of supernatural and witchcraft really made this a great read! Wow....Grady Hendrix did an incredible job with this one & I will be pushing it for sure to everyone I know!

Description
There’s power in a book…

They call them wayward girls. Loose girls. Girls who grew up too fast. And they’re sent to Wellwood House in St. Augustine, Florida, where unwed mothers are hidden by their families to have their babies in secret, to give them up for adoption, and most important of all, to forget any of it ever happened.

Fifteen-year-old Fern arrives at the home in the sweltering summer of 1970, pregnant, terrified and alone. Under the watchful eye of the stern Miss Wellwood, she meets a dozen other girls in the same predicament. There’s Rose, a hippie who insists she’s going to find a way to keep her baby and escape to a commune. And Zinnia, a budding musician who plans to marry her baby’s father. And Holly, a wisp of a girl, barely fourteen, mute and pregnant by no-one-knows-who.

Everything the girls eat, every moment of their waking day, and everything they’re allowed to talk about is strictly controlled by adults who claim they know what’s best for them. Then Fern meets a librarian who gives her an occult book about witchcraft, and power is in the hands of the girls for the first time in their lives. But power can destroy as easily as it creates, and it’s never given freely. There’s always a price to be paid...and it’s usually paid in blood.

In Witchcraft for Wayward Girls, the author of How to Sell a Haunted House and The Final Girl Support Group delivers another searing, completely original novel and further cements his status as a “horror master” (NPR).

I tend to find Hendrix's books to be hit-or-miss and this one managed to be middling. I loved the concept of following a young pregnant girl in 1970 as she navigates a home for unwed mothers where the staff isn't nearly as benevolent as they first seem. This book started out solidly historical fiction and I felt that was the genre it was suited to. When the tone shifts after the first third to be more supernatural, I found the genre-blending to feel forced. Although Hendrix is known for his humor-laced horror and that was what I went in expecting, I would have preferred this novel stayed rooted in historical fiction and lean into the horrific elements of the situation instead of adding real witchcraft to the mix. Because of how much this tome tackles and its length, I noticed the pacing was not steady and I think it would have benefitted from another round of edits. Still, the writing and characterizations were clever and interesting and I finished this book rather quickly. 3 stars overall.

Grady Hendrix prefers his scares to have substance. More specifically, the author tends to give a unique, witty, and poignant spin on classic monster archetypes and horror subgenres in his novels. My Best Friend’s Exorcism put a lighthearted, charming ’80s spin on demonic possession, The Final Girl Support Group envisioned forged friendships born of slasher trauma, and How to Sell a Haunted House captured a deeply Southern family learning to reconnect amidst a pesky poltergeist problem, for a few examples.

Hendrix’s latest, Witchcraft for Wayward Girls, offers the author’s take on witches but with a far meatier and more mature story grounding it. Here, witchcraft is rarely as scary as the historically based horrors tormenting a handful of terrified teens shunned by society.

The 1970-set novel Witchcraft for Wayward Girls introduces 15-year-old Neva Craven, left scared and confused as her irate father coldly drives her across state lines and unceremoniously deposits her in Florida’s Wellwood House, a strict and controlling place for people like Neva: unwed pregnant teens. Neva doesn’t learn until she’s abandoned by her family that she’s there to give birth in secrecy, far from her town’s prying eyes, and surrender the baby for adoption.

The idea, of course, is that life will resume as normal for Neva and her disgraced family once the evidence of her transgression has been thoroughly resolved. The arduous, painful process begins the day Neva arrives, where she’s renamed Fern and given a fake background, joining similarly renamed pregnant teens Rose, Zinnia, and Holly, among others. The girls bond over Wellwood House’s cruelty and oppressive lack of agency, commiserating over the powerlessness of their situation. That’s precisely when Fern comes upon How To Be A Groovy Witch, a cryptic, worn paperback that offers the girls power like they’ve never experienced before.

By the time the book lands in Fern’s possession, Wayward Girls has already painted Wellwood House as a grim house of horrors of its own merit. It’s less a boarding school and more of a prison for its unlucky tenants, many too young to even understand what changes their bodies are undergoing, let alone the physical horrors of giving birth. There’s rarely a trace of empathy to be found within the creaking, groaning walls of the Floridian home, either, as the adults treat them as incarcerated felons unworthy of kindness. Wayward girls are, after all, a blight on polite society, a dirty secret to be kept hidden away under lock and key.

The House’s callous and grim proprietor, condescending doctor, and prickly staff all feel deserving of comeuppance in some form so that by the time a magical book lands in Fern’s hands, it brings an initial sigh of relief and hope that the power imbalance can be restored in some way. So much so that it falsely sets up the expectation that Hendrix might borrow from The Craft; Fern and her three friends deserve to call up the four corners to smite this rotten bunch of adults, surely.

Yet that would be too tidy and easy. Hendrix isn’t interested in retreading that familiar story, nor rewrite history. Instead, Wayward Girls maintains an unflinching eye on the horrific treatment of these girls and sometimes the even more heartbreaking reasons they wind up in places like Wellwood House. Witchcraft dangles exhilarating relief, only to violently rip it away with harrowing new consequences that further plunge Fern and friends into darkness. What begins as the start of a vengeance story through supernatural means instead slowly transforms into a harrowing tale of survival.

Driving home the girls’ relentless plight is the constant body horror. Witchcraft demands a price, often through blood and self-harm, yet it pales in comparison to the physical horrors of giving birth; Hendrix dedicates pages to demonstrating the gory, painful details of childbearing from ill-prepared mothers. Stephen King famously captured the abject terror of young Carrie White experiencing her first period, and Hendrix stretches that acute feeling over the course of an entire novel on a much larger scale. Of course, the body horror here isn’t exclusively pregnancy-related; expect to wince in sympathy over grotesquely broken fingernails, eviscerated tongues, and more.

There’s a solemn maturity to Wayward Girls matching its primal horror. While its witchcraft plotline feels a bit too neatly wrapped up by the novel’s end and one supporting character comes perilously close to a tired trope, though perhaps befitting of the era, Hendrix gives precedence and utmost weight to giving a voice to a specific generation of silence women. Levity doesn’t come in the form of Hendrix’s usual lighthearted wit but in the tender friendships formed by teens trapped in an unthinkable nightmare. It’s those friendships and the immediacy of their loss of agency that drives Wayward Girls, giving it rich complexity right through to its emotionally satisfying conclusion. It’s an affecting journey that casts a harrowing spotlight on a more insidious corner of history and immerses with its powerful portrayal of rebellion.

Thank you so much for an ARC of this book! Grady Hendrix has done it again! Is there nothing he can’t write well?? This book had me angry and happy and sad and scared and hopeful, and sometimes all at once! All the stars and rave reviews for this one! We will definitely be buying this for our library and telling all my friends and coworkers about it. Now.. because I am so obsessed with this book.. im on my way to listen to the audiobook, which I know is going to be amazing! Also.. I ordered a hard copy for myself because I gotta have all the hard copies of Grady’s books! 😂

Grady Hendrix took a very controversial social theme and made it into a very scary book ( I felt for those girls) and also a very fun witchy book about taking back the power they lost. I enjoyed every minute of it. Thanks for this early copy, it made me think, it was fun, it was sad, overall a great book to start 2025.

Here is my full review:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a4Hw2OP9Q2I

My work is not review based, since I talk with authors directly on my podcast, but for the purposes of this site, here are some thoughts:

Hendrix is a favorite author and an automatic purchase for me, so I was so pleased to be able to read this prior to publication. This feels like a departure. Much of the horror of what happens to these "wayward" girls is not based in the supernatural elements of the book but in the dark hearts of the humans who are tasked with caring for these literal children. In this way, it makes me think of Tananarive Due's recent instant-classic, The Reformatory.

Hendrix's research into birthing, midwifing, witchcraft, and root magic is deep and impressive. The characters are rich and relatable, if not always likeable, which is never a problem for me. This is not the scariest of Hendrix's books, which is also fine, because it's ultimately super entertaining and compulsively readable.

I would NOT recommend reading this book if you are pregnant, gave your baby up for adoption, or have recently given birth (especially if that birth was a traumatic one). As I was reading it I thought, "wow; I'm glad I didn't have to go through all of that at the hospital!" But, truthfully, some of those practices still exist fifty years after this book was set; the patriarchy is alive and well.

Regarding the book itself: I couldn't stop reading it, even though there are pacing issues (some parts are MADDENINGLY slow). Grady Hendrix continues to craft brilliantly eerie scenes and forever makes me wonder how a white man writes within these spheres and utilizes these tropes as well as he does (not that white men need any more praise, but...it's warranted here).