I need vengeful, witchy media.
January 3, 2020 4:17 PM   Subscribe

I love "Silver Springs" by Fleetwood Mac - there's just something about the way the energy changes in the second half that really resonates with me. It gets witchy, and threatening, and vengeful. I also just refreshed my memory of "Medea" by Euripides, which has a really similar, even darker, feeling. What else can I read, listen to, or watch which might have the same sort of effect?
posted by catch as catch can to Media & Arts (25 answers total) 28 users marked this as a favorite
 
Vienna Teng's song "Watershed" is from the perspective of Nature herself speaking to humanity, but I think it captures some of that vibe.
posted by northernish at 4:45 PM on January 3, 2020 [1 favorite]


The Autopsy of Jane Doe might have the feel you're looking for. Also Jennifer's Body and Ginger Snaps. (These are all horror films and also horror films about women, so, y'know, warnings for violence and sex and sexual violence.)
posted by darchildre at 4:49 PM on January 3, 2020 [1 favorite]


Have you seen Dead To Me on Netflix?
posted by fshgrl at 5:02 PM on January 3, 2020 [3 favorites]


Dr. John, preferably live performances.
posted by Calvin and the Duplicators at 5:25 PM on January 3, 2020 [1 favorite]


Sinead O'Connor's entire Lion and Cobra will show you how it's done.
posted by effluvia at 6:12 PM on January 3, 2020 [9 favorites]


Shakespear's Sister - Stay
posted by Sassyfras at 6:21 PM on January 3, 2020 [3 favorites]


Circe by Madeline Miller.

A lot of Joanna Newsom songs have a vengeful undercurrent (maybe none as explicit as Silver Springs, yowch), and are definitely witchy. Have One on Me (the song) is just one of many examples.
posted by telegraph at 6:45 PM on January 3, 2020 [4 favorites]


Mary Chaplin Carpenter’s song 10,000 Miles is haunting, and she mentioned it was influenced by fado - which are resonant haunting songs from earlier maritime communities, like Portugal, who had literal boatloads of working people that might not come home with their vessel. Easy to imagine them sung by a widow looking out to sea, calling her beloved home.

Bonnie Raitt’s Angel from Montgomery
Janelle Monáe casts a spell with Dance Apocalyptic
First Aid Kit’s Shattered and Hollow
Sara Bareilles’ If I Dare
Roseanne Cash’s She Remembers Everything
Milck’s Quiet
Robyn’s Honey
Betsy Rose’s Spell/Blessing: May You Walk in your life
posted by childofTethys at 6:51 PM on January 3, 2020 [3 favorites]






I really, strongly recommend the movie The VVitch.

Or Carrie, frankly. The not-great but not-terrible 2013 remake focused a lot on the arc you're describing.
posted by ZaphodB at 7:54 PM on January 3, 2020 [4 favorites]


Can’t link on my mobile device but Kate Bush’s song and video “Babooshka” is perfect for this.
posted by cakelite at 8:06 PM on January 3, 2020




Mountain Goats, “Grendel’s Mother” and “Hebrews 11:20” (though the gender of the narrator in the latter is not specified).
posted by praemunire at 1:18 AM on January 4, 2020


Currently reading and deeply enjoying: Becoming Dangerous: Witchy Femmes, Queer Conjurers and Magical Rebels.
posted by pazazygeek at 4:43 AM on January 4, 2020


Come Alive by The Jezabels
posted by castlebravo at 6:38 AM on January 4, 2020


A lot of PJ Harvey has this feeling for me. For example, Rid of Me.

For something to read: N.K. Jemisin’s Broken Earth trilogy. Sort of magical-cyberpunk with earth bending, with tone, themes, and characters that fit the feeling you described.

(Note that this series does contain some graphic descriptions of physical abuse of children, which I mention because I have some friends who are super-sensitive to that particular thing. It’s not gratuitous — there’s a point to it being there. And my mentioning it is not intended as criticism. Just intended as an FYI for people who know in advance they can’t emotionally handle that particular thing.)
posted by snowmentality at 8:13 AM on January 4, 2020 [1 favorite]


Loreena McKennitt scratches that itch for me. Here’s The Highway Man, from Book of Secrets.
posted by MexicanYenta at 8:20 AM on January 4, 2020 [1 favorite]


Possibly Judy Grahn's poetry.
posted by clew at 2:56 PM on January 4, 2020


Feels obvious as it sits firmly in the gothic tradition of literature, but We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson scratches this itch nicely as well.
posted by chronic sublime at 4:57 PM on January 4, 2020 [1 favorite]


Halestorm: I happen to adore "Do My Dirty Work"; also "The Familiar Taste of Poison", "I Miss the Misery"; and "I'm Not an Angel". Innocence is good too.
posted by annieb at 5:02 PM on January 4, 2020


Bury You by Vita and the Woolf.
posted by sepviva at 5:13 PM on January 4, 2020


Shilpa Ray and her Happy Hookers, Stick it to the Woman. Plus other songs from that album, Teenage and Torture, share a languid, haunted vibe with "Silver Springs" ... "Venus Shaver" and "Genie's Drugs" come to mind.
posted by Rube R. Nekker at 11:10 PM on January 4, 2020


Songs:
Sunny Came Home - Shawn Colvin
bury a friend - Billie Eilish

Film & Television:
Suspiria
Chilling Adventures of Sabrina
posted by BusyBusyBusy at 6:48 AM on January 6, 2020 [1 favorite]


Hedningarna - Täss'on Nainen is suuuuuper witchy/threatening feeling.

Someone above mentioned Vienna Teng, she also did a song My Medea that might fit with your reading material.
posted by foxfirefey at 4:41 PM on January 6, 2020


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