Witches have long been associated with Halloween, generally in the guise of a green-skinned, warty-nosed, old crone with big, pointy, black hat. Witches and witchcraft have been associated with film, particularly the horror genre, for over 100 years. Although there are instances of witches appearing in silent films dating back as far as the 1901 short “The Magic Sword”, one really needs only to go back to the 1922 Swedish-Danish film Häxan, a look at the history of witchcraft, to really see the subject’s early cinematic roots. Of course, over a decade later, two of the most influential witches in film history would make their screen debuts: Grimhilde, the Evil Queen in Snow White and the Seven Dwarves (1937) and The Wizard of Oz’s Wicked Witch of the West. I guess there’s technically a “good” witch we could be talking about here, but for the purposes of this series, no one cares about her. 

So, it should really come as no surprise that “witches and witchcraft” was one of the first options that I added to this year’s list of possible themes for Halloween Horrors 2025. There was just so many options, both new and old, that our contributors could choose from, and knowing the film tastes of some of our contributors as I do, there were also countless different directions the topic could go. In some ways, it may have been one of the most wide-open and wide-ranging of the themes available. In retrospect, I would have much rather had this topic as my own than what I actually ended up with. Oh, well. Dinosaurs at Halloween it is.

Instead, that theme was randomly assigned to today’s contributor, Roger Braden. Besides being one of my best buds, Roger is also the creator and curator of the Valley Nightmares Facebook page, which features not only his own personal film tastes and viewings, but also showcases movies filmed in the Kentucky area, as well as newspaper listings and reviews of horror classics from the state’s local newspapers of the era. Oh, and he also knew what my plans for this year’s Halloween series were before anyone else (except my family). So, if you weren’t happy with this year’s event, blame him. He signed off on it!

“The Lords of Salem” (2012)

by Roger Braden of Valley Nightmares

 

Happy Halloween, everyone! I hope you all are enjoying this years Halloween Horrors series as much as I am. I had no idea what to expect I’d be writing about, but was thrilled to get to write about witches! It took me a minute to finally decide what movie to write about (there’s so damn many!) and it came to me in a dream; The Lords of Salem by Rob Zombie.

I first saw the film through a Fathom Entertainment event with my sons on a Tuesday. We got music videos before the movie and a lot of interviews after the movie. We dug the videos, and only hung out for about 5 minutes after the interviews started before leaving. We had shit to do! I’ve watched the movie several times in the years since and watched it basically four times in a row to prepare to write this! I think I’m ready, I hope you are. Now, it’s time for The Lords of Salem.

We start by watching a woman sleep. Then, we’re in her dreams. It’s 1696 in Salem, Massachusetts. A coven of witches is in the woods chanting; fires burning, music is in the air. Margaret Morgan (Meg Foster) has her coven in a frenzy. Meanwhile, Reverend Hawthorne is busy writing/narrating his plans. These witches and their damnable noise must go! A group is assembled and into the woods they go… and what a sight they see. The witches are all dancing naked (it ain’t pretty) and singing and being disgusting. The townsfolk gather up the witches, accuse them of all things evil, and condemn them to being burnt at the stake. Margaret Morgan puts a curse on the Salem women and on Hawthorn’s descendants, calling his bloodline “the vessel by which the Devil’s child would inherit the Earth”.  I love a little backstory and this movie provides a good one.

Sheri Moon Zombie plays the sleeping woman, Heidi; heavily tattooed and her hair in cornrows. She DJ’s nights at a local radio station with her friends Whitey (Jeff Daniel Phillips) and Munster (Ken Foree). That’s the thing about Rob Zombie movies. You’re going to see older movie stars in his films, and I think that’s great. It brings a familiarity to the story and, let’s face it, those folks need to work too.

We follow Heidi around as she goes about her business before going to work, everything routine. At work, the trio are cutting up and laughing. To be honest, I’m not listening to the station. It’s too much. At the end of the night, the secretary gives Heidi a package that came for her during the show. It’s an album in a wooden box and it’s from “The Lords”. Heidi and Whitey go back to her apartment, hanging out and listening to the album. It’s weird. Chanting and odd music. Heidi drifts off into a wild dream with demons and things.

For a Rob Zombie film, this plays out slow and deliberate. Now, it’s not a slow film, but compared to his other films, this one is a creeper. And, that’s cool… it forces you to pay attention to the story. As the story plays out, we are introduced to Heidi’s landlord, Lacy (Judy Geeson), and her sisters Megan and Sonny (Patricia Quinn and Dee Wallace)… and man, are the three of them strange!

Our story continues, as does Heidi’s nightmares. At work, she has a talk with Francis (Bruce Davison), and he is intrigued by Heidi and her story of The Lords album. Out on one of her daily walks, she stops in a church and is assaulted by the Reverend (Andrew Prine), or is she. The visuals in this film are insane. As the week plays out, Heidi’s nightmares get worse and she starts to use hard drugs again. There are several quiet jump scares that got me. They’re not really jump scares, just something you notice in the background and they’ll make you squirm. The apartment down the hall from Heidi would make me move. It’s weird, has strange lighting, and apparently is the home to all things witchy and evil. Satan lives there and he wants Heidi for his ultimate revenge. You see, Heidi’s real name is Adelaide Hawthorn, a direct descendant of Reverend Hawthorn.

The Lords have announced that they are playing a show in town on Friday night. The radio station sponsors it and are playing that same strange music that seems to make the women of Salem do weird things. Our three DJ’s arrive at the concert hall together, looking sharp. Heidi soon disappears just as the lightly attended concert begins. As the music begins, we see Heidi’s landlord and her sisters there. All glowing, smiling and happy. The ghosts of Margaret Morgan and her coven are there also. The Satanic ritual has begun. We see audience members rise and start to strip off their clothes and head for the stage as the insane imagery continues. And there’s Heidi. Right in the middle of it all, giving birth to some tentacled mass while atop the naked audience members. Her landlord and her sisters are elated. We have an incredible shot afterwards of Heidi atop the people, her eyes white, in a pose. It’s beautiful, scary and sad.

The next day, the radio is playing and we hear of the mass suicide of 32 female members of the Salem Historical Lifer Society, all descendants of original Salem settlers. As well as the disappearance of Heidi.

I hope you guys dug my look at The Lords of Salem.  It’s a movie that I like even more over the years and repeated viewings. Thanks to Horror and Sons for this great annual event. Looking forward to reading everyone’s pieces and enjoying this time of year! Happy Halloween All!