The Witch's Sabbath Apr 2026

Below, the village of Brocken was a mere smudge of orange light. She was not alone in the sky; shadowy figures mounted on goats and broomsticks streaked across the dark hemisphere, all drawn toward the same remote peak far from civilization.

Elspeth joined the dance, her feet barely touching the earth. In this "fell hour," time seemed to lose its meaning. But as the first hint of gray touched the eastern horizon, the ecstasy began to curdle into a nightmare. The Great Goat stood, his single eye glowing, and with a deafening screech that sounded like the tolling of a funeral bell, the gathering vanished into the mist. Witches' Sabbath - Nightmare Magazine

: A crowd of thousands—some say as many as 10,000—milled about in the firelight. Contorted faces, more possessed than human, expressed a terrifying joy. The Witch's Sabbath

: Small cauldrons bubbled with pseudo-runes etched into their sides, while black cats and frogs flitted through the shadows. The air vibrated with a dissonant music—a "Dream of a Witches’ Sabbath"—where screeching laughter replaced melody.

As she landed on the windswept summit, the was already in full, chaotic swing: Below, the village of Brocken was a mere

: They feasted and danced with "joyful abandon," a dark inversion of the somber church rites they had fled.

: At the center sat a colossal figure with black fur and symmetrical, twisted horns—the Great Goat. Witches approached to offer personal sacrifices or perform the osculum infame (the shameful kiss) beneath his tail as a sign of loyalty. In this "fell hour," time seemed to lose its meaning

The moon hung like a jagged bone over the Harz Mountains as Elspeth applied the foul-smelling ointment—a mixture of grease and "nasty ingredients"—to her skin. The world shifted, the air thick with the scent of pine and something ancient. With a sudden, sickening jolt of weightlessness, she felt herself ascending above the treetops.