Bell, Book and Candle DVD Give-Away

"Ring the bell, open the book, light the candle."

It's October, and when October rolls around...I start slowly working my way through my favorite Hallowe'en movies. And although I enjoy a lot of different types of Halloween movies...I do think I like 'Witch' movies best of all. What can I say, they just resonate with me. So one of my favorite 'Witch' movies to watch at Halloween is a 'Vintage Witch' movie. Yep, 50+ years 'vintage' to be exact. A friend of mine said that for her, it's more of a Christmas movie because it's set in the Winter around Christmas time. But for me, it's still a Halloween movie for the mere fact, that it has a wonderfully magical Witch in it.
Maybe you've heard of it? It's the 1958 movie, "Bell, Book and Candle", starring the ultra lovely and beguiling Kim Novak as Gillian, along side Jimmy Stewart and Jack Lemmon. The basic synopsis is that "a modern-day witch likes her neighbor but despises his fiancee, so she enchants him to love her instead... only to fall in love with him for real." And she is aided in her enchantments by the feline star of the show, Pyewacket. Pyewacket is Gillian's Siamese familiar who helps her perform all of her 'not so evil' bidding.
Now Pyewacket is an unusual name for a cat, don't you think? But it turns out to be sourced from something 'Witchy' indeed. Pyewacket was one of the familiar spirits of a witch, detected by the self-proclaimed "Witchfinder General", Matthew Hopkins, in March of 1644, in the town of Maningtree, Essex, UK. This was during the heightened times of the Witch Hunts in Europe. He claims to have overheard a coven of witches discussing their pact with the Devil. So upon torturing one of the women through sleep deprivation, she not only confessed, but also named her 'familiars.'And as it turns out, one of those familiars was named 'Pyewacket'! Although, it's not ascertained whether Pyewacket was actually a cat or not however. But the witch hunts and prosecutions led by Matthew Hopkins were chronicled in a 1647 published pamphlet titled, "The Discovery of Witches". (which can be read by clicking on the link) So it turns out that 'Pyewacket' may very well have been a true 'witches familiar' after all. And now, since it's officially Hallowe'en month, and because I enjoy spreading Hallowe'en magic...I purchased a new copy of "Bell, Book & Candle" for one of my October Give-Aways. I'm sure there will be many of you who've already seen this movie. But surely there are a few out there who haven't seen or heard of it before now, and who might genuinely like to win a free DVD copy. So here are the rules. Please only throw your name into my witch's cauldron if you have NOT seen the movie before, but would really like too. And that's it...nothing too spooky. Just leave a comment saying you'd like to be entered. Previous winners of other Halloween Tree Blog Give-Aways are welcome to participate, as long as you don't already own the movie, and haven't seen it yet. Someone in my house will draw the name of the winner from my cauldron on Tuesday, and your 'Bewitching' new 'retro' video will be mailed out as soon as the winner emails me with a mailing address. I want to send it out early in the month!