The Role of Animals in the Salem Witch Trials

In this episode of 'Salem Witch Trials Daily,' hosts Josh Hutchinson and Sarah Jack delve into the unique role animals played in the Salem Witch Trials. They explore instances of livestock being bewitched, animals as manifestations of the devil, and the spectral creatures that haunted the courtroom testimonies. From Elizabeth Howe's bewitched mare to Dorothy Good's snake familiar, they discuss how animals were central characters in the accusations and served as evidence of witchcraft. The episode highlights the complex belief systems that made such spectral evidence not just believable, but legally actionable.

The Thing About Witch Hunts / About Salem YouTube channel

⁠Salem Witch Trials Daily Hub

Week 3 Course Work: Salem Witch Trials Daily Course Week 3: Legal Limbo and the Road to Trial – The Thing About Salem

⁠The Thing About Salem

⁠The Thing About Witch Hunts

⁠Emerson W. Baker, A Storm of Witchcraft: The Salem Trials and the American Experience⁠

⁠Bernard Rosenthal, ed., Records of the Salem Witch-Hunt

⁠Marilynne K. Roach, The Salem Witch Trials: A Day-by-Day Chronicle of a Community Under Siege

Mary Beth Norton, In the Devil’s Snare: The Salem Witchcraft Crisis of 1692