The Witchs Head

This eBook edition of "The Witch's Head" has been formatted to the highest digital standards and adjusted for readability on all devices. Sir Henry Rider Haggard (1856-1925) was an English writer of adventure novels and dark fantasy stories set in exotic locations, predominantly Africa, and a pioneer of the Lost World literary genre. "Ernest did not sleep well that night: the scene of the evening haunted his dreams, and he awoke with a sense of oppression that follows impartially on the heels of misfortune, folly, and lobster-salad. Nor did the broad light of the summer day disperse his sorrows; indeed, it only served to define them more clearly. Ernest was a very inexperienced youth, but, inexperienced as he was, he could not but recognise that he had let himself in for an awkward business." (Extract)

The Witch's Head is the second novel by H. Rider Haggard, which he wrote just prior to King Solomon's Mines. Haggard wrote the novel following his debut effort Dawn. He was unable to find any magazine that would serialise the story, but it was accepted for publication by the firm that had put out Dawn. Haggard later wrote that "although, except for the African part, it is not in my opinion so good a story as Dawn, it was extremely well received and within certain limits very successful." The book was a minor success, earning Haggard a profit of fifty pounds.