Hygge and Halloween Spirit in Hallmark's Good Witch on The Hallmark Channel: Essays on Faith, Race, and Feminism

Hallmark viewers put aside the troubles and stresses of the day to escape reality and appreciate an environment that provides some comfort. This collection of new academic essays explores the network’s problematic relationship with race, the dominance of Christianity and heteronormativity, the significance placed on nostalgia, and the hiring and rehiring of a group of women who thrived as child stars. In my chapter, I focus on how the increased popularity of the Hallmark Channel; the increased appreciation of Hygge; and the increased readership of cozy mysteries, which provide connectable characters in a world with little to no violence, sex, or gore, all converged during a time when Americans appeared to need it most.