A novel that bleeds across the genre of horror and historical fiction. A dual timeline that portrays the unravelling of a woman psyche who believes she has been cursed while the narrative follows a series of memories unspooling like a thread. A very unsettling tale that asks questions about ones own complicity in events that may haunt you across lifetimes.

𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐤 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐨 𝐒𝐢𝐥𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐝𝐢𝐠𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐚𝐝𝐯𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐨𝐩𝐲 𝐯𝐢𝐚 𝐍𝐞𝐭𝐆𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐑𝐞𝐝 𝐑𝐮𝐧𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐖𝐢𝐭𝐜𝐡'𝐬 𝐓𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐕𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐚 𝐖𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐚𝐦𝐬𝐨𝐧

5 stars — haunting, atmospheric, and unforgettable

This book completely devoured me. Set against the chilling backdrop of the Paisley witch trials, it weaves historical fiction with gothic horror in the most mesmerizing way. Christian Shaw is a complex, tormented protagonist whose descent into obsession and madness had me turning pages long into the night.

Ravens, visions, guilt, and a devil’s bargain—this story is drenched in eerie atmosphere and historical depth. The line between ambition and damnation has never been so razor-thin. I highly recommend this to fans of dark, feminist historical fiction with a supernatural twist.

An absolute must-read.

It was short, interesting and a bit unsettling. The atmosphere and setting were great. The suspensions of the town people towards Christian was written very well and understandable. But the book also has its flaws. The book works with flashvacks to a much younger Christian, yet character wise she acts the same. As if she had no character growth in all this time. I also wished her mother and her sisters would have gotten a bit more character. They feel like they aren't people but are only there for the plot. Sadly the word repetitions were also something that got annoying quite quickly. I understand why they were there (showing how far gone she was into her madness) but they were overused to the point where they lost the impact.

'Red Runs the Witch's Thread' is very intense for its short length. There's a dual timelime. In 1696, Christian Shaw is a young girl who believes herself bewitched by a group of people. In 1722, she is now grown up and a widow, haunted by the choices she made as a child. I liked the trope of who the true monster(s) were in the book. The blending of reality and an unstable mental state was done very well. Due to its short length, it can easily be read in one sitting.
4 stars.

Rate : 3.7

Paisley, Scotland, 1697. Thirty-five people are accused of witchcraft. All of them died. All of them were accused by eleven-year-old Christian Shaw. Bargarran House, 1722. Christian Shaw returns home, spending hours perfecting the thread bleaching process that will revive her family’s fortune. She thought by making it the purest white, her past sins would purify too. But her white thread is not enough to stop the dark force from consuming her sanity day by day.

This story has strong relatives related to historical events. The FMC, Christian, is seeing illusions of her guilty past. She is just shameful of what she has become and making those lies become someone else's tragedy. To be honest, I don’t like Christian, who is not responsible and just madly insane and full of guilt after what she has done.

Also, this story feels like reading Christian Shaw's unfortunate dear diary. Because this story is strongly related to historical events, it is lacking in world building and adventure. I couldn’t say I enjoyed this story, since I’m not unto the FMC. But if you curiously about it, it is not wrong to try reading this book.

Thank you to Netgalley for providing this digital book! I am leaving this review voluntarily.

This was short and interesting, but overall uninspiring for me. The timeline jumps between past and present, and while different in age, I couldn't distinguish between Christian's present and past self. She talked and acted the same at the different ages. It surprised me at one point when in one of her past points of view that she was only 8 years old. Her voice was startlingly mature and I didn't quite believe it.

I struggled to find the exact conflict. Was it her first period, the ravens, the boys in the woods, her visions, her lying? I got the sense that I should be concerned or held in suspense, but I just wasn't. This was a strange mix of potentially undiagnosed mental illness and genuine spiritual warfare, but the main parallel between what she did out of a sense of justice and her own severe guilt is what struck me the hardest.

I found her confusing but also pitied her. She was under a lot of strain, mental and emotionally. The ending was not as clear as I'd hoped it would be.

Red Runs the Witches thread uses the real life burning of 7 people accused of witchcraft, most likely the last in the Uk, in 18th century. It follows the 11 year old, Christian at the centre of this case who accesed 35 people of witchcraft. We see her as a widow in her 30s and as the 11 year old girl struggling with the changes in her body.

The story was compelling and it felt like a fresh version of a historical witch hunt story. I am wary of insinuating real witchcraft amongst the innocent women killed at this time, but I do think the story doesnt diminish that at all. Those killed were innocent!

I do think this makes for an atmospheric read to evoke a gothic atmosphere. I was absolutely absorbed in Christian's story and left disturbed in the way you should after reading a spooky tale...if you dare.

Christian Shaw, at 11 years old, condemns 7 townsfolk to be hanged and burned as witches after her first period leaves her hysterical and in a bout of momentary madness. On the Twenty-fifth anniversary, something wicked comes to Bargarran House as ravens circle the house while Chrisitan obsesses over creating the most perfectly white thread.

I absolutely loved this book. Victoria Williamson weaves an intriguing and horrific story of what life was like for a young girl learning what it is like to transform into a woman with a single bleed, in a time where one accusation would have you branded a witch. Interestingly, Williamson merges this tale with a narrator who is also the accusor. It very much feels like The Crucible was as much laced in the inspiration as was the last witch execution in Scotland.

Williamson makes Chrisitan such a relatable character that it's hard to hate her fully, despite the horrific things her words have done. However, because she acknowledges her wrongdoings, she stands out from other accusors in historical fiction centered around the horrific witch hunts.

Overall, Red Runs the Witch's Thread was an intriguing, horrific read into the mind of a young girl who's lack of information lead to disaterous consequences and a bout of madness that sends chills down your spine. I thoroughly recommend Williamson's novella to anyone fascinated with stories centered arounf the witch hunts or who wants to see this narrative from a different perspective.

Thank you, NetGalley and Silver Thistle Press, for sending me an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this Arc in exchange for an honest review.

I absolutely loved every second of this book. It is a slow start as it’s spends time building up the atmosphere and plot. The chapters change between past and present to explain the past and what is leading her to slowly lose her mind in the present,

If there’s a story about witchcraft, sign me up. This was chilling, well written, the atmosphere was incredible; I felt like I was in the story with the characters.

Christian Shaw, at 11 years-old, condemned 7 people to the gallows to be hanged and burned as witches. Her decent into madness was caused by her first period and lack of information made her paranoid and hysterical. This lead to her family believing she was bewitched which lead to the townspeople being tried and charged for witchcraft.  However,  adult Christian now knows that what she did is wrong and when her bleeding comes back after years of having stopped, her madness and visions return. While she is also perfecting her bleaching thread technique to help her family fix their  fortune, Christian will have to figure out if she is still indeed cursed or her madness has come back to claim and punish her for her sins.

Red Runs The Witch's Thread is based on the true story of the last witch trials in Scotland and the thread that brought the Shaw family fortune but that also came with a heavy price! 💫💫💫💫💫

Set in 1697, Scottland, Christian Shaw works to perfect the art of bleaching thread in hopes to revive her family’s fortune while also purifying her past sins.

Rating: 4/5 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

When I saw this book was about witch trials, I was immediately excited! I loved the mix of historical fiction and horror.

Christian was an interesting main character. I enjoyed seeing her past and how she was dealing with it.

My only issue was sometimes I was lost between when it was the present and the past. The switch seemed a bit too quick.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review

This novella was decent but I didn’t find it interesting enough to ever read again.

This is a historical fiction with a dark spin on Christian Shaw, who created Bargarran Thread (a quality thread company) as well as being responsible for accusing over 20 women of witchcraft, at age 11!

7 of the people were hung and burned, talk about an evil girl!

Based on a true story, Red Runs the Witch’s thread is a cool gothic horror.

We follow Christian both as a child and as an adult in two different timelines. She was responsible for accusing 7 townspeople of being witches which resulted in them being hanged.

The story centres around her complete descent into madness.

Quick read, excellent writing and keeps you engaged.

Thanks to Silver Thistle Press and NetGalley for the arc in exchange for an honest review

I thought this was very good and I will have to add this to the shop shelves. Thank you for the chance for us to review.

Thank you to Silver Thistle Press and NetGalley for the e-arc!

The premise of this book is rooted in the real-life witch trials which took place in Paisley in 1697, the last mass burning of witches in Europe and the main character, Christian Shawn, was actually a real weavesmith, who became hugely successful. Witch trials and burnings are fascinating to me and while I loved this story in the beginning, about two-thirds of the way through, I lost interest in the story for a myriad of reasons, chiefly, the period horror being underwhelming when it was revealed.

What saved the story for me in the end was the writing style, Victoria Williamson writes really well, but as far as plotting goes, this story fell a little flat and overall wasn't as compelling as I thought it would end up being.

Red Runs the Witch's Thread is an interesting take on a witch trial story - in these pages, we hear from the accuser. Based on true events that took place in Scotland, we are introduced to Christian Shaw, who's accusations at eleven years old sent seven to be burnt at the stake. Christian is now a businesswoman and the breadwinner of her family, seeking to perfect the bleaching process for her thread. Haunted by stirred up memories, Christian is thrown into her past and the madness is creeping back in. Will she make a deal with the devil in exchange for her success?

At times I felt this story really worked, but the repetitiveness of repeating things three times was not for me. I understood what the author was doing and I liked it at first, but it's over-use took away its effect. I wasn't invested in the story as time went on, but I do think many will appreciate this story. If you like horror-light stories about witch trials, I'd recommend this!

I didn't love this one but it definitely fit the bill of gothic and creepy. Inspired by Scotland’s final witch burning in 1697 and alternating timelines between 1697 and 1722 , it was definitely a new plotline for me to read from the mind of the accuser - not the accused witches. Especially interesting that the accuser is an 11-year-old girl who is basically having a mental breakdown after starting her 1st period (if anyone could benefit from sex ed, it's this girl). I liked the novella-style length and how it invoked the fear and hysteria of that time period, but really did not like the repetition of triplet phrases ("run, run, run," "red, red, red") and the ending needed to be more fleshed out, IMO. I also would've liked another POV, as Christian is insanely hard to root for, and it would've been nice to switch it up a little.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC!

I absolutely adore a good witch story and this was as chilling and haunting as you’d imagine a book on the last witching burning in Scotland to be.

An 11 year old girl makes accusations of witchcraft leading to the death of 35 people, the story is told from various points of her life.

I really enjoyed the writing style, the book flowed well and from what I know of the Paisley witch trials seemed well researched and historically accurate. Would definitely recommend to anyone with an interest in these dark chapters of history.

Red Runs the Witch's Thread by Victoria Williamson

Paisley, Scotland, 1697. Thirty-five people accused of witchcraft. Eight condemned to death. Seven strangled and burned at the stake. All accused by eleven-year-old Christian Shaw.

Bargarran House, 1722. Christian Shaw returns home, spending every waking hour perfecting the thread bleaching process that will revive her family’s fortune. If only she can make it white enough, perhaps her past sins will be purified too.
Whilst I enjoyed it I did find myself occasionally thinking of skipping a few pages here and there but I'm glad I carried on .
Great plot and I,enjoyed the character Christian .