Black Magick: 13 Tales of Darkness, Horror & the Occult Paperback edited by Raven Digitalis
?Moon Books (March 1, 2025)
Reviewed by Joshua Gage
Black Magick is an anthology compiled and edited by occult author Raven Digitalis. Each story uniquely integrates occultism and magick, deepening the mysteries of the shadow. Raven Digitalis himself is an award-winning author best known for his “empath’s trilogy,” consisting of The Empath’s Oracle, Esoteric Empathy, and The Everyday Empath, as well as the “shadow trilogy” of A Gothic Witch’s Oracle, A Witch’s Shadow Magick Compendium, and Goth Craft. Originally trained in Georgian Witchcraft, Digitalis has been an earth-based practitioner since 1999, a Priest since 2003, a Freemason since 2012, and an empath all of his life. He holds a degree in cultural anthropology from the University of Montana, co-operated a nonprofit Pagan Temple for 16 years, and is also a professional Tarot reader, editor, card-carrying magician, and animal rights advocate.
There are twelve original stories in Black Magick, all of which deal with themes of magick or oracle reading. This book is rich with pagan spells, chants, rituals, poppets, and incantations from across the spectrum. For example, the tale “Automatic Writing” focuses on Mary, who is seeking her passed lover, Vivian. Vivian has disappeared, and Mary knows it must be something supernatural, so she performs a Wiccan ritual to determine what the police detectives cannot, with terrifying results. Another tale, “Entombed,” deals with a racist, treasure-hunting archeologist, and the rituals the Middle Eastern town he’s visiting use to protect their history and eschew Western influences. Digitalis himself has a story in this collection, “The Night That Changed Everything,” an epistolary tale which deals with a trans magick user in an abusive relationship and the way they use their native magick and ancestors to fight against the abuse. These twelve stories are anchored by a reprinting of Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Black Cat,” bringing the story total to a delicious thirteen.
This is a fun theme for an anthology. Magick and paganism, the ethics and morals behind it, the codes of conduct and exchanges of energy, have been written about and discussed for decades. Black Magick, edited by Raven Digitalis, seeks to explore what happens when those rules are knowingly or unknowingly violated, when what is pagan and sacred is disturbed, and what happens to those unprepared for the consequences. Any fans of folk or occult horror will thoroughly enjoy this book.
