THE WITCH HERSELF

Is Mrs. Tuggle's witchcraft all in Lynn's head, as Mother had suggested in The Witch's Sister (1975), or is the old woman really on the way to capturing Mother for her coven? Naylor almost seems to be having it both ways in this last of three adventures, each of which has Lynn worried about Mrs. Tuggle's influence on a close friend or family member, each of which climaxes in a scary midnight confrontation. Here, hypnotized by friend Mouse, Lynn does discover an alter ego just waiting to be possessed—but the actual evidence against Mrs. T. stacks up too, and the fright quotient rises as Lynn sneaks about, spying on the old woman and stealing her charms, and prying free her spellbound mother just in time to see Mrs. Tuggle and her house go up in flames. Formula shivers—but followers of the series won't be disappointed.