The Witches of Worm

The Witches of Worm is a 1972 fantasy novel for children by American author Zilpha Keatley Snyder. The story follows Jessica, a little girl whose cat, Worm, compels her to wreak havoc on her neighbors. Jessica, suspecting that Worm is possessed by an evil spirit that is controlling her, sets out to save both herself and her pet. While Jessica worries that she is a witch, the plot pivots around the ambiguity of whether Worm and Jessica are magical at all. The novel won the Newbery Honor, one of the highest awards in American fiction, in 1973.

At the beginning of the novel, Jessica discovers a recently born kitten, so new it is still blind, in her neighborhood. She decides to name him Worm for his pale, scrunchy skin and lack of eyesight. Mrs. Fortune, a neighbor known for her hermetic lifestyle, helps Jessica feed and take care of Worm. Meanwhile, Worm exerts a psychic hold on Jessica, convincing her to carry out destructive and harmful deeds. Jessica pushes her brother Brandon’s trumpet out a window, tells terrifying stories to her fragile neighbors, and destroys her mother’s fur dress by throwing it in the washing machine. Jess, feeling that she has no control over her actions, starts to think she is an evil witch. Her mother, meanwhile, resents her and tries to send her to counseling for a quick fix. Few people in Jessica’s life read her behavior as a cry for help and a sign of loneliness— things that are only natural considering that Jess’s parents have recently divorced.

After investigating Worm and Mrs. Fortune, Jessica starts to believe that Worm is being possessed by a clan of witches, one of whom is Mrs. Fortune. Before she knows it, Jessica is plotting to kill Mrs. Fortune to end her meddling in her life. She then realizes that murdering Mrs. Fortune would make her an even worse witch. Jessica resolves to give Worm an exorcism to purge him of Mrs. Fortune’s spirit. She performs an exorcism on a stormy night, which causes Worm to bolt from her house in fright.



When Worm is recovered, he miraculously becomes a normal, well-adjusted cat. Afterward, Jessica makes amends with her mother and Brandon. She hypothesizes that her exorcism worked on herself as well as Worm. An allegory about a child’s yearning to belong and the antisocial behaviors that can crop up when one feels that their belonging has been thwarted, The Witches of Worm shows that all little girls have the potential to be good and kind.