WITCHES!: The Absolutely True Tale of Disaster in Salem

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Oct 7, 2011 ARCHIVES  |  Entertainment  |  COLUMNS

Rosalyn Schanzer
National Geographic
ISBN 978-1426308697
NA pages
$16.95

Reviewed by Abby McGanney Nola

It stands as one of the more unsettling episodes in American history, a Colonial outbreak of hysteria that took more than 20 innocent lives, ruined those of hundreds more and made a mockery of the nascent legal system. Rosalyn Schanzer's latest book is a welcome initiation into a strange world of Salem Village, Mass., a sharp and succinct account that features black-and-white scratchboard art in the style of 17th-century woodcuts; an eye-catching smattering of red lends the illustrations the perfect air of menace. Distilling a large body of research, Schanzer touches upon all of the forces -- including Old World superstitions, New World diseases, Puritan mores, neighborly resentments, greed and even boredom -- that may have fed the frenzy in the early 1690s. She introduces readers to the major players in the tragic drama, and transcript excerpts (modified for clarity) reveal the fervor of the accusers, the bewilderment of the accused and the nearly complete absence of fairness in the legal proceedings. Amid stunning accusations involving convulsions, torture and sightings of the Devil, Schanzer manages to fit some wry touches into the dark story (one accused witch ran a tavern where "the evil game of shuffleboard" was played), and her chapter-opening illustrations -- full of red eyes, forked tongues and possessed creatures - cast their own captivating spells.

-- Abby McGanney Nolan

Copyright 2011 Washington Post Writers Group
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