I enjoy reading alternate-viewpoint spins on well-known myths, so this "bad girls of fantasy" anthology appealed to me. Got this slightly-battered ex-library paperback from Better World Books.

It's got an interesting variety of tales - and "bad girls" too, as some of the main characters are much more sinned against than sinning. Among my favorites:

"The Light of Ra" by Phaedra M> Weldon looks at the Isis/Osiris/Set relationship as a love triangle, with an interesting twist involving the bit of Osiris that went missing after his murder and dismemberment.

"Band of Sisters" by Allan Rousselle is a darkly humorous take on the Sirens - it opens with "Here's why the band broke up," so you can tell it's a bit tongue-in-cheek. The sirens'-eye-view of the ships that wrecked on their shores - and the ones that did not - add an interesting touch.

"Mother of Monsters" by Greg Beatty has Echidna being judged by Hades as to where she'll spend eternity. As a half-woman/half-snake creature who bore many of the legendary monsters slain by the Greek heroes, there's some question as to whether she has a soul at all, and I enjoyed the deconstruction - or is it reconstruction? - of her story. (There are some nice moments with her surviving offspring, Cerberus, as well as with the shade of one of the trickier of the Greek heroes.)

"Tsonoqua" by Nathaniel Poole is a Haida myth from the Pacific Northwest, about a gigantic wild woman of the woods who devours those who stray from the tribe. Here, she's greatly diminished, living in a city - until someone seeks her out and asks her help.

"Black Annie" by Jean Rabe features an actual hag - only this one has become rather sedate, dining only on sheep - and even limiting how many of those she takes, to avoid putting the farmers to too much trouble. But when some obnoxious villagers decide to try and lure her out with the reputed sure-fire bait - a dead cat doused with aniseed - she decides to take vengeance; you see, she actually likes cats quite a bit... (While the vengeance she takes is on the excessive side - she's nothing if not thorough - I admit I was sympathetic!)

"Dust" by Michael Hiebert should be whimsical, as it deals with a tooth fairy and with clouds of glittering fairy dust. But when the fairy accidentally wakes her subject when trying to pay for two teeth at once (courtesy of the little girl's brother), she uses a lullaby to soothe her - and gives away her real name, becoming the child's new toy. Without freedom to do her work she can't afford more fairy dust, and as it's essential to life (and, apparently, rather addictive), she's one wretched little fairy. Her method of getting out of this predicament makes sense, but is... well, painful! [This one reminded me of Hogfather, in which the doings of the tooth fairies is a major subplot.]

Other stories feature Medea, Lilith, Hera, Medusa, the step-mother to Cinderella, harpies, and more.

I set out to complete the multi-stage Salem Witch Trials of 1692 geocache today, an exploration of historic sites throughout old Salem Village (now Danvers). I released a book at or near each of the six stages, and I really appreciated the tour - seeing how close most of the sites are made it all the more clear how this was neighbor-against-neighbor...

I left this book propped against a historical marker near Ingersoll's Ordinary, one of the landmarks of the hysteria. Hope the finder enjoys it!

*** Released for the 2014 Spook-tacular Halloween Challenge, for "hag". ***