Witches and Warlocks of Massachusetts is a collection of legends and historical accounts about witches and warlocks from the Bay State. Organized by region, city and town, the book's dozens of stories include the earliest Puritan accounts of 17th century witches, urban legends about desolate locations haunted by ghostly witch hunt victims, tales of Cape Cod sailors battling witches, and other stories of sinister (and sometimes sympathetic) spellcasters. Massachusetts has a rich history of witchcraft that spans nearly four centuries. Most people are aware of the Salem witch trials but fewer know about the Dogtown witches, the Pepperell farmer who hired a hypnotist to save his bewitched daughter, or Half-Hanged Mary, the witch who died twice and inspired The Handmaid's Tale. These stories are known locally in the towns where they occurred but have never been collected into one book before.

"Funny and fearful true stories of witches, innocent victims and their accusers in the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries. Curses that seemingly worked their magic and cures by healers that begot them the gallows. Emphasis is on Salem Village in 1692, where 20 accused of witchcraft were executed."

1936. The author tries to examine some aspects of sorcery, mainly in England, in order to arrive at an idea of what witches actually did, what they were supposed to do, and what, the clearest part of the affair, they suffered for it. Contents: Part I. Concerning Witchcraft: Fancy and Fact, The Short Way with Witches; Part II. The Witch-Hunters: Lancashire, Essex, Salem, Modern Instances; Part III. Warlocks Weird: Magician in Spite of Himself, The Conjurers and the Crystal, The Kissing Witch; and Part IV. Oddments: Lady Witches, Hoodoo, Not Witches.

Tells the story of the victims, the accused witches, and the scheming officials that turned a mysterious illness into a witch hunt.

For over three hundred years, stories of witches, sea serpents and pirates have amazed and terrified residents of Massachusetts's North Shore. In the summer of 1692, phantom men were spotted in the fields of Gloucester. Farther north, "A" marks the spot for pirate treasure in the marshes of Newbury, while to the east, full moons might bring out the werewolf of Dogtown. The devil himself has burned his mark on the boulder-strewn landscape, while shaggy humanoids have been sighted loping along the coast. From Boston to New Hampshire, Massachusetts's North Shore is filled with remarkable stories and legendary characters. Join author Peter Muise and discover the North Shore's uncanny legends and tales of the paranormal.

Witch trials in the European or American sense were not common in Ireland although they did occur. In this book the stories of four remarkable court cases that took place from the fourteenth to the nineteenth century are told; other chapters chronicle the extraordinary lives of individuals deemed to be practitioners of the black arts – hedge witches, sorcerers and sinister characters. The book gives a unique insight into the fascinating overlap between witch belief and the vast range of fairy lore that held sway for many centuries throughout the land.