The Witches

Witches are real, and they hate children more than anything in the world. They look like ordinary women, but under their gloves are claws, under their wigs are bald scalps, and in their heads are plans to wipe every child off the face of the earth. That is what a young boy learns from his wise, cigar-smoking Norwegian grandmother after he goes to live with her.

On a seaside holiday in England, the boy stumbles into the worst possible luck: the hotel is hosting the annual meeting of England's witches, presided over by the terrifying Grand High Witch herself, who has devised a scheme to rid the country of children for good. Caught eavesdropping, the boy must rely on his grandmother's knowledge and his own nerve to stop them—even after the witches turn their magic on him.

A deliciously scary Roald Dahl classic, The Witches blends genuine menace with humor and heart, and closes on one of his most unexpectedly tender endings.