Podcast

After the witch trials were over, Salemites had to resume life as normal and come to terms with what had happened. Suspected witches had to go back to living alongside those who had accused them.

Fourteen of the 19 people hanged for witchcraft at Salem were women. So could their gender – or perhaps their transgression of gender norms – be part of the reason they were targeted?

Salem was made up of a dense web of social connections – not all of which were harmonious. In fact, it was a community riven with fault lines that threatened to open up into great chasms of conflict.

The list of failings that could be levelled against the Salem justice system is substantial – from the acceptance of so-called ‘spectral evidence’ to the chaotic scenes that unfolded in the courtroom.

From flying witches to demonic familiars and translucent cats, the Salem villagers believed themselves plagued by a spectrum of supernatural terrors.