Blair Witch Book of Shadows

D.A. Stern's Blair Witch Book of Shadows is something of a companion to the second Blair Witch film, supplementing the story with a collection of faked photocopies of news clippings, documents, short stories, and more. That said, it's an extremely quick read seeing as how, with the exception of a 20 page short story and a few 3-4 page articles, most pages range from a three or four paragraph news clipping, report, or letter to a two sentence e-mail. Most of the book is dedicated to information on the book Stephen and Tristen were working on and background on Jeff's prior psychiatric committal and treatment. Information on Kim and Erica is a bit sparse here and comes primarily in the form of a few news clipping and supposed reproductions of the background files Jeff had on them hidden in a drawer in the film.

Overall, the book largely plays to the psychological side, cross-referencing ideas and stories that factored into Tristen and Stephen's work with the stories that factored into Jeff's psychological problems and institutionalization. There really isn't a whole lot of history or information on the witch legend (much of that can be found in other books, including another by Stern) aside from a few tales related to the witch and Burkittsville. Rather, most of the articles and documents "reproduced" here discount the supernatural in favor of a rational psychological explanation for the events in the film, playing to the mass hysteria rationalization that Stephen and Tristen were fictionally exploring in their book. It certainly places an interesting spin on the events that occurred in the second Blair Witch film, albeit one that my slightly disappoint those looking for more of a supernatural background rather than a historical/psychological reference point.

While a bit on the sparse side and also out of print, it's certainly a book that will please most Blair Witch fans as well as an exceptional supplement to the film and a great companion to the Blair Witch Experience box set. Granted, it's a little silly at times, especially when it DOES delve into the supernatural (one document involving Erica's mysterious appearance in a Wicca chatroom is particularly off-the-wall). However, Blair Witch fans looking for a quick read and more background on what happened before/after Blair Witch 2 will likely find Blair Witch Book of Shadows very worthwhile.