“After soaking his father with three gallons of gasoline, Olm lit a match and tossed it …” How's that for the very first sentence in Water Witch. Right from the very first page, you know this tale is not for the squeamish.
Is that not an opening sentence that jolts? But terror and suspense are what Water Witch is all about. As the story begins, Olm is a Pawnee Indian who is offering the body of his dead father to Tirawa in order that this god of the spirit world will instill in him all the knowledge and particularly the powers of his warrior-like ancestors.
But Olm is mad. In his crazed mind, he stupidly decides to overwhelm Tirawa to make certain the god will grant his wish to become powerful, rich, attractive, and abundant with knowledge he so evidently lacks. In addition to the body of his dead father, he will offer Tirawa the life of a young girl and boy by slowly burying them alive. He lures the two into his car then forcibly takes them to a remote area on an island-like plateau deep in the densely tangled swamps of a Louisiana Bayou.
Olm buries the two horrified children in holes up to their waists with their hands shackled behind them. Bit by bit for several days, he fills the two holes with sludge-like swamp mucous so that the terrified children can see what will eventually happen: the slimy goo imprisoning them will eventually cover their faces.Demented Olm believes that the more the children scream and suffer the better will be his offering. He must keep his victims alive for several days to complete what he morosely thinks is a sacred tryst with Tirawa. The children must urinate and defecate in place. Olm gives them only occasional drinks of murky water.
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