The Witch of Hagstone Hill
By (Author) Johanna van Veen
Illustrated by Raquel Lagartos
Simon & Schuster
Margaret K McElderry Books
26th August 2025
United States
Children
Fiction
Childrens / Teenage personal and social topics: Families and family members
Childrens / Teenage fiction: Traditional stories
Childrens / Teenage fiction: Horror and ghost stories, chillers
Hardback
272
Width 140mm, Height 191mm, Spine 14mm
After an evil witch steals their aunt in a deal gone wrong, Nell and her sisters must embark on a fantastical journey to take the beldam down in this first book in a middle grade trilogy for fans of Coraline and the Sinister Summer series.
Although triplets Nell, Annet, and Hannah were born only minutes apart, Nell is the eldest, which means its her job to protect the others. But she doesnt know how to defeat an enemy like the typhoid draining her sisters of life. Desperate, Nell will do whatever it takes to save them, even going to Hagstone Hill and making a deal with the evil witchthe beldamwho lives inside it.
Beldams are slippery to bargain with, known to cheat to get what they wantsouls to feast onbut Nell has no choice. She and the beldam strike a deal: the beldam will save Nells sisters in return for something precious. Nothing Nell owns matters more than Annet and Hannah, so shes prepared to give up whatever it isespecially once she sees her sisters getting healthy again. But when its time to pay, the beldam acts true to her nature and cheats. She doesnt take something precious, but someone: the girls Aunt Lena.
Nell and her sisters must embark on a dangerous journey full of ghosts, goblins, and other dangers to save the only mother theyve ever known from becoming the beldams next meal.
Johanna van Veen grew up in the Netherlands and is the author of adult horror novels My Darling Dreadful Thing and Blood on Her Tongue as well as the middle grade novel The Witch of Hagstone Hill. She earned both an MA in English literature and an MA book and digital media from Leiden University. When not writing, she enjoys spending time with her wife, her sisters, and her dog, though not necessarily all at the same time.