Bewitched, Bothered and BeVampyred, by various authors

Bewitched, Bothered and BeVampyred is a charity anthology with stories by 20 different authors. It was written this year to benefit the International Red Cross after last year's tsunami.

Welcome to Brokenoggin Falls, where the housewives are not only desperate, they're Witches! (And one of them might be a Harpy) The spells cast by moonlight frequently go awry. And there are times when toads and Chihuahuas seem abundant as black flies in the summer, the dragons are a little touchy, the Forest Trolls are in danger of extinction from teeny-boppers, the Gryphons need help conceiving and...the scientist are crunchy and good with ketchup...

As one would expect, given the number of authors, this ended up being very uneven. All the authors seem to be trying for over-the-top, silly fun, but only some of them succeed in being something more than plain silly.

Stories that stood out for me:

Patricia Rice's Feed Your Head (or: The Flaming Faery Queen Closeted at the Bottom of the Garden Closet Tool Shed), featuring a fairy queen (in every sense of the word) in love with the town vet. Surprisingly romantic.

A Dance Through the Garden Of Good and Evil, by Susan Grant, the story of a former demon from hell and Harmony Faithfull, the pastor of Brokenoggin Falls' only church. This one actually left me wishing for more (did I mention all the stories are very short?).

Candy Cox and the Big Bad (Were)Wolf , by PC Cast, in which teacher Candy Cox finds a werewolf lover, feels betrayed and gets even. This one was fun in an "I can't believe she's actually going to do that!" way.

The others range from silly, to blah, to WTF? My grade: an A+ for the initiative and the idea, but a C+ for the actual book.

(If you'd like to read what each story is about, go here and scroll down for short summaries)