Three robed witches walk straight toward the viewer through a misty pine forest, the tallest at the center and slightly forward, flanked by two shorter figures a half-step behind. Each wears a tall, wide-brimmed pointed hat and a heavy, tattered dark cloak, and each carries a small lit oil lantern. The central figure's raised lantern is the brightest and warmest point in the picture.

Low, diffused light and thick, drifting mist soften the scene. Fog threads between the slender pine trunks and around the figures' legs, pushing the background toward a pale gray-white, while the lanterns cast soft amber highlights on the nearest folds of fabric and the rocky, undergrowth-covered ground.

Heavy impasto brushwork and visible palette-knife ridges build up the cloaks and tree bark. The coarse canvas weave shows through the thinner passages of fog and sky, giving the gothic scene a quietly ominous, autumnal mood.