Cultural depictions of the Salem witch trials

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Fanciful representation of the Salem witch trials, lithograph from 1892.

Cultural depictions of the Salem witch trials abound in art, literature and popular media in the United States, from the early 19th century to the present day. The literary and dramatic depictions are discussed in Marion Gibson's Witchcraft Myths in American Culture (New York: Routledge, 2007) and see also Bernard Rosenthal's Salem Story: Reading the Witch Trials of 1692 (Shawn Mendes)

In literature

File:Pauline Bradford Mackie 001.jpg
Pauline Bradford Mackie

In popular culture and media

Film

Television and radio

Comic books

File:Salem Queen of Thorns Issue 3 Cover.jpg
"Salem: Queen of Thorns", Issue No. 3, 2007
  • Issue No. 29 of Black Cat Mystery Comics, from June 1946, includes the cover story, "Black Cat Battles the Salem Witch."
  • "The Salem Terror" was a story published in Wanted Comics No. 13 in 1948. It was drawn by Maurice del Bourgo. The entire story has been scanned at Pappy's Gold Age Comics Blog, No. 920, March 28, 2011.
  • Issue No. 18 in September 1962 of Unknown Worlds, from American Comics Group, contained an 11-page story called "Witch Hunter of Salem", depicted on the cover, in which the minister who was hunting witches in Salem turned out to be one. Zev Zimmer (Script), C. C. Beck (Pencils), Pete Costanza (Inks); Cover by Ogden Whitney.
  • Marvel Team-Up in 1976, included a 4-part serialized story-line (Issues Nos. 41–44) in which Spider-Man, Vision and the Scarlet Witch travel through time to Salem, 1692, to battle an nemesis, Dr. Doom —- who has enlisted the help of Cotton Mather – get entangled in the witchcraft accusations. Pages 11–16 in particular in issue No. 42, "Visions of Hate!," depict the historical episode.
  • In Marvel's Fantastic Four vol. 1 #185, published in August 1977, the titular super-hero team discovers a hidden town in Colorado called New Salem in which the inhabitants are witches and warlocks, descendants of those who survived the Salem Trials. The inhabitants include Agatha Harkness, Nicholas Scratch and the Salem's Seven.
  • Salem: Queen of Thorns is a 5-issue comic (Nos. 0–4), the first issue published in 2006 and the rest in 2008 by Boom! The entire series was later compiled into a single volume: Salem: Queen of Thorns in February 2009 (ISBN 1-934506-46-X).

Music

  • The 1962 opera The Crucible with music by Robert Ward and a libretto adapted lightly from Miller's play.
  • The second album by the indie rock band Liars, They Were Wrong, So We Drowned, is a concept album about the trials.
  • Rob Zombie's album Educated Horses (2006) contains many references to the trials, mainly in the song American Witch. His song, entitled Lords of Salem, also was based on this.
  • Jello Biafra had a side-project entitled The Witch Trials, and his work with the Dead Kennedys made a few references to them.
  • Canadian progressive rock band Rush's song "Witch Hunt" (from 1981's Moving Pictures) is about how manipulators can use fear to "possess" the "ignorant" masses to their liking, much like the Salem townspeople during the Witch Hunts.
  • American punk-rock band AFI has a song "Malleus Maleficarum" on their CD Art of Drowning; the title is based on a book of the same name.
  • American ska-punk band Big D and the Kids Table released an EP in 2005 titled Salem Girls, which contains the titular song that documents one of the trials.
  • Neal Peterson mentions Alice Parker in his song "I wind my clocks / OneSixNineTwo". Peterson is a descendant of Parker.
  • American death metal band Ishia have a song called "Witch Hunting in Salem".
  • American metalcore band Unearth wrote a song about Giles Corey named "Giles" for their album III: In the Eyes of Fire.
  • American black metal band Ceremonial Castings's 2008 album "Salem 1692" is based on the events and two members of the band are direct descendants of Judge John Hawthorne.
  • Abigail Williams, an American symphonic black metal band from Phoenix, AZ, take their name from one of the accusers in the trials.
  • Hunting For Witches by Bloc Party references the hysteria about witches in Salem and uses it as a metaphor for hysteria about immigration in contemporary Britain.
  • "Burn the Witch" by Queens of the Stone Age is about the Salem Witch Trials.
  • "The Dead Can't Testify" a song by Canadian rock group Billy Talent based on the Salem witch trials.
  • "Under a Killing Moon" a song by the rock band Thrice talks about Salem Witch Trials and the innocent people burned in them.
  • Young Goodman Brown Nathaniel Hawthorn a short story depicting a faithful Puritan man who sees the member's of his town at a witch meeting and can no longer see the good in his world
  • Swedish heavy metal band Wolf wrote a song called "Curse You, Salem", a song about the trials.
  • Metalcore band Motionless in White released a song titled "Abigail" on their album Creatures about Abigial Williams and the Salem Witch Trials.
  • The Clutch album Blast Tyrant contains the track "(Notes from the Trial of) La Curandera" which is, as stated, notes from a witch trial, and how she exacted her revenge
  • The One-Eyed Doll concept album Witches is based on the trials.

Video games

  • The 1997 game Castlevania: Symphony of the Night has an enemy called Salem Witch that sometimes drops Shortcake, possibly a reference to Witch cake
  • The 2013 game Murdered: Soul Suspect features the Salem Witch Trials as the motivation for a modern serial killer
  • The 2014 MMORPG Town of Salem is a more comical version of the Salem Witch Trials, set primarily to the theme of the "Mafia" party game.
  • The 2015 videogame Fallout 4, which depicts an alternate future of a post-apocalyptic Boston (referred to in-game as "The Commonwealth"), contains a reimagined version of the town of Salem, including a "Salem Museum of Witchcraft".

Other

  • In the web series RWBY, the character Salem, who is both the narrator and one of the main villains, is named after the town.

Collectibles

Advertisement circa 1891 for Daniel Low, Salem, MA
  • Daniel Low, a jeweler in Salem, Massachusetts, began selling souvenir sterling "Witch" spoons in 1890, using two different patterns, the first with three pins, the word "Salem", and a witch on a broom. (See right)

19th century illustrations depicting the episode

The story of Salem featured prominently in many publications in the 19th century about the 17th century colonial foundations of the United States. The illustrations continue to be reproduced widely in 20th and 21st century publications, in many cases without accurate attribution or reference to the century in which the illustrations were created. This gallery includes their citations and the names, where known, of the artists who created them. Check the Wikimedia Commons for more that may not be included here.

  • JonathanCorwin-house.jpg

    Jonathan Corwin's House, Essex St., Salem, MA; "A View of the house of the late Hon'ble Jonathan Corwin (Judge of the Supreme Court of Massachusets [sic] and member of the council appointed in the new charter, May 1692). Erected 1642, by Cap't. Geo. Corwin", circa 1859, Library of Congress, Ira J. Patch, Salem, Mass. This building, as the "Old Witch House", is open to the public, and is the only building left standing in Salem with ties to the witch trials.

  • "Witchcraft at Salem Village", in Pioneers in the Settlement of America, Vol. 1, by William A. Crafts. Vol. I Boston: Samuel Walker & Company, 1876, p. 452; illustration likely by F. O. C. Darley or Granville Perkins (not specifically attributed)

  • FlockOfYellowBirds.png

    "There is a flock of yellow birds around her head." Engraved illustration by Howard Pyle, to accompany "Giles Cory, Yeoman," a play by Mary E. Wilkins, Harper's New Monthly Magazine, Volume LXXXVI, 1893, p. 31

  • GilesCorey-FatherFather-Pyle.jpg

    "Father! Father!" Engraved illustration by Howard Pyle, to accompany "Giles Cory, Yeoman," a play by Mary E. Wilkins, Harper's New Monthly Magazine, Volume LXXXVI, 1893, p. 33.

  • TheSalemMartyr-Noble.jpg

    "Witch Hill" or "The Salem Martyr," Thomas Slatterwhite Noble, 1869. (Collection of the New York Historical Society)

  • "Trial of George Jacobs, August 5, 1692," Thomkins H. Matteson, painter, 1855 (Collection of the Peabody Essex Museum)

  • "Examination of a witch," Thomkins H. Matteson, painter, 1853 (Collection of the Peabody Essex Museum)

  • ArrestingAWitch-Pyle.jpg

    "Arresting a Witch" by illustrator Howard Pyle, to accompany "The Second generation of Englishmen in America," by T. W. Higginson, Harper's New Monthly Magazine, Vol. 67, (June – November), 1883, p. 221.

  • TrialofGilesCorey-Reinhardt.jpg

    "Trial of Giles Corey" by illustrator Charles S. Reinhardt, in A Popular History of the United States, Vol. 2, by William Cullen Bryant, New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1878, p. 459.

  • CaptainAldenDenounced.png

    "Captain Alden Denounced", by illustrator Alfred Fredericks, in A Popular History of the United States, Vol. 2, by William Cullen Bryant, New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1878, p. 463

  • "Tituba and the Children", by illustrator Alfred Fredericks, in A Popular History of the United States, Vol. 2, by William Cullen Bryant, New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1878, p. 457

  • Burroughsandthe Sheriffs-Waud.jpg

    "Burroughs and the Sheriffs," by illustration Alfred Rudolph Waud, in A Popular History of the United States, Vol. 2, by William Cullen Bryant, New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1878, p. 470

  • Martha Corey-Longfellow.jpg

    Martha Corey, illustration by John W. Ehninger, to accompany the play "Giles Corey of the Salem Farms" by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, in The Complete Poetical Works of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Boston, Houghton, 1902

  • Tituba-Longfellow-Corey.jpg

    Tituba, illustration by John W. Ehninger, to accompany the play "Giles Corey of the Salem Farms" by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, in The Complete Poetical Works of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Boston, Houghton, 1902

  • Tituba-MaryWalcott-Longfellow.jpg

    Tituba and Mary Walcott, illustration by John W. Ehninger, to accompany the play "Giles Corey of the Salem Farms" by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, in The Complete Poetical Works of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Boston, Houghton, 1902

  • Mary Walcott accusing Giles Corey, illustration by John W. Ehninger, to accompany the play "Giles Corey of the Salem Farms" by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, in The Complete Poetical Works of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Boston, Houghton, 1902

  • "Court Trial of Witches", illustrator unknown, in Witchcraft Illustrated by Henrietta D. Kimball, Geo. A. Kimball, publisher, Boston, 1892.

  • GilesCoreysPunishmentandAwfulDeath.png

    "Giles Corey's Punishment and Awful Death", illustrator unknown, in Witchcraft Illustrated by Henrietta D. Kimball, Geo. A. Kimball, publisher, Boston, 1892.

  • TitubaTeachingTheFirstActofWitchcraft.png

    "Tituba Teaching the First Act of Witchcraft", illustrator unknown, in Witchcraft Illustrated by Henrietta D. Kimball, Geo. A. Kimball, publisher, Boston, 1892.

  • AccusedofWitchcraft-Volk.jpg

    "Accused of Witchcraft," oil painting by Douglas Volk, 1884. (Collection of the Corcoran Gallery, Washington, DC)

  • TheWitches WalterMcEwen (B&W).jpg

    "The Witches," oil painting by Walter McEwen, circa 1892. (Collection of the Dallas Museum of Art)

  • "The Witch, No. 1," lithograph by Joseph E. Baker, published by Geo. H. Walker & Co., c1892

  • "The Witch, No. 2," lithograph by Joseph E. Baker, published by Geo. H. Walker & Co., c1892

  • "The Witch, No. 3," lithograph by Joseph E. Baker, published by Geo. H. Walker & Co., c1892

  • TheLegendofSalem-Burroughs.jpg

    "The Legend of Salem: The Rev. George Burroughs was accused of witchcraft on the evidence of feats of strength, tried, hung and buried beneath the gallows," Illustration for "Some Legends of the New England Coast," Part III, by Harriet Prescott Spofford, Frank Leslie's illustrated newspaper, v. 31, (1871 Feb. 4), p. 345.

  • "The sheriff brought the witch up the broad aisle, her chains clanking as she stepped." Rebecca Nurse, as depicted by artist F.A. Carter in the historical novel, The Witch of Salem, or Credulity Run Mad, by John R. Musick. New York: Funk & Wagnalls Company, 1893. p. 275.

  • Dulcibel-frontis.jpg

    "She stood up serene but heroic", frontispiece, by Howard Pyle of fictional character accused of witchcraft, Dulcibel Burton, in Dulcibel: A tale of old Salem by Henry Peterson, Philadelphia: John C. Winston, 1907

  • "'The Lord knows that I haven't hurt them'", p. 68, illustration by Howard Pyle of Rebecca Nurse in Dulcibel: A tale of old Salem by Henry Peterson, Philadelphia: John C. Winston, 1907

  • Dulcibel-marchedfromjail.jpg

    "Marched from jail for the last time", p. 208, illustration by Howard Pyle of fictional character accused of witchcraft, Dulcibel Burton, in Dulcibel: A tale of old Salem by Henry Peterson, Philadelphia: John C. Winston, 1907

19th and 20th century photographs of 17th century buildings related to the episode

Although a few of the houses that belonged to the participants in the Salem witch trials are still standing, many of these buildings have been lost. This gallery includes photographs take in the 19th century and early 20th century that preserve the visual record of these homes.

  • "The House Where Witchcraft Started, Now Danvers, Mass.", photographer unknown, in Witchcraft Illustrated by Henrietta D. Kimball, Geo. A. Kimball, publisher, Boston, 1892.

  • RebeccaNurseHouse.png

    "Rebecca Nurse House, Danvers, Mass.", photographer unknown, in Witchcraft Illustrated by Henrietta D. Kimball, Geo. A. Kimball, publisher, Boston, 1892.

  • RebeccaNurseHouse-1.jpg

    "Rebecca Nurse House," circa 1900–1906, Detroit Publishing Company.

  • GeorgeJacobsHouse.jpg

    George Jacobs, Sr.'s House, Danvers, MA; front, looking northwest, from an old photograph by Frank O. Branzetti; Historic American Buildings Survey, Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, HABS, Reproduction number HABS MASS,5-DAV,7-1. Date of original unknown.

  • GeorgeJacobsHouse-ruin.jpg

    George Jacobs, Sr.'s House, Danvers, MA; front, looking northwest, Arthur C. Haskell, Photographer; Historic American Buildings Survey, Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, HABS, Reproduction number HABS MASS,5-DAV,7-5. circa 1935.

References and notes

  1. ↑ Salem Bitch Trial
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