‘Buffy: The Bewitching Hour’ (2023) a treat for Tara fans

It’s always difficult for a new actor/character to enter an established show, but Amber Benson and Tara managed to do it with ease in “Buffy” Season 4 – even though she “replaced” Oz in a beloved coupling. I think it’s largely because Tara doesn’t feel entitled to befriend Willow and join the Scooby Gang. She is shy; she looks up to them and is no threat to usurp the spotlight.

Book casts a spell at first

In addition to showing the modesty we appreciate in a new character, her traits are relatable and endearing. Only once is Tara the focal point of an episode: Season 5’s “Family,” wherein her father, brother and cousin (played by not-yet-famous Amy Adams) visit Tara during her sophomore year at UC-Sunnydale and attempt one last surge of gaslighting.

Tara’s not the first character who comes to mind for a prequel story, but for much of Ashley Poston’s “The Bewitching Hour: A Tara Prequel” (2023), I was thinking “But she should have been.” Shy people aren’t usually main characters, and the oddity value is a delight for most of the book, but especially the first half.

---

---

Poston captures Tara’s stuttering speech (and how it goes away once she’s comfortable with a person), her thoughts about how she’d prefer if people didn’t notice her, her secretive dabbling in witchcraft (outlawed by her family), and a romance with Daphne that catches her off guard.

As for the plot: Students are being literally scared to death at Hellborne Academy; a magical marking on their arm gives early warning but is of no help. Witch hunter Daphne and Tara, who doesn’t admit she’s a witch, team up to investigate, probing the town’s Red Witch legend via the local historical society and Daphne’s family’s library of books about magic. (But interestingly, witch hunters don’t use magic; they aim to use the knowledge in their timeless battle against witches.)

As “Bewitching Hour” goes along, Poston runs into a prequel problem: It’s so tempting to make Tara grow. So she does. Tara sneaks out of her home, openly participates in her relationship with Daphne (which is hampered by Tara’s secret, not shyness) and fights evil.

A family without much value

So then you think about how Tara is painfully introverted at UC-Sunnydale, despite being free of her family’s bad influence, and you have to wonder why she backslid. “Bewitching Hour” seems to leave her as a confident young woman who is not ashamed of being a witch nor of being gay. Willow then draws Tara out of her shell the same way Daphne does. Not at impossible arc, but not the most smoothly explained.

That quibble aside, this novel should please fans as we learn more about Tara’s close relationship with her late mother and the coldness left after her passing from cancer. Her relationship with her father is only the slightest notch less toxic than Carrie’s with Mrs. White. Plus Mr. Maclay has son Donald and niece Beth to help oppress Tara. It’s mainly the fact that they don’t expect Tara to try anything that she’s able to find enough freedom to participate in the plot.

Early on, it’s pleasant to follow Tara’s bond with Daphne – a fellow new student with whom she must share a copy of “Macbeth” in English class – and with a group of popular kids led by Baz, who calls Tara “New Girl” and seems to be genuine. Poston communicates the autumn vibe in Vermont as the town works up to the Red Witch “burning at the stake” re-enactment on Halloween. The author finds a clever way to give Tara a path to UC-Sunnydale despite the lack of family support.

The downside is the mystery isn’t particularly deep. Some entity is killing these students and it’s just a matter of learning who. There aren’t any significant red herrings or shocks. Gradually, “Bewitching Hour” becomes rather rote, as we know our heroes must defeat the villain in a showdown of magic powers. There’s a little something with the Buffy-and-Angel-esque witch-and-witch-hunter romance, but not as much nuance as there could’ve been.

Overall, I’m impressed that a Tara prequel even exists. I’m happy that it takes place within the original canon, giving me a feeling of connection that the “Frankie the Vampire Slayer” “what if” trilogy doesn’t achieve. It’s admirable that Poston does not force ties to the core Buffyverse outside of a slight off-page connection to one character; Tara’s knowledge of the Scooby Gang and the Sunnydale Hellmouth happens later, and Poston is OK with that. She’s here for Tara only, and I think readers will be too.

Click here for an index of all of John’s “Buffy” and “Angel” reviews.