Books About The Salem Witch Trials

Salem Witch Trials Books

Salem’s literary legacy is woven into some of America’s most significant works. Nathaniel Hawthorne, often regarded as the nation’s first great novelist, set several of his masterpieces in Salem, including The Scarlet Letter (1850) and The House of the Seven Gables (1851). The Salem Witch Trials also served as the inspiration for Arthur Miller’s acclaimed play The Crucible (1953). These titles form the foundation of any Salem reading list, particularly those exploring the city’s history and the Witch Trials.

Here are additional works connected to Salem’s literary tradition:

Salem Witch Trials

• Six Women of Salem: The Untold Story of the Accused and Their Accusers in the Salem Witch Trials, by Marilynne K. Roach
• More Weight: A Salem Story by Ben Wickey
• A Storm of Witchcraft: The Salem Trials and the American Experience by Emerson W. Baker
• A Modest Enquiry into the Nature of Witchcraft by Derby Square Press
• A Delusion of Satan by Frances Hill
• The Salem Witch Trials: A Day-by-Day Chronicle of a Community Under Siege, by Marilynne Roach
• A Storm of Witchcraft: The Salem Trials and the American Experience by Emerson Baker
• In the Devil’s Snare: The Salem Witchcraft Crisis of 1692 by Mary Beth Norton
• Tituba, Reluctant Witch of Salem: Devilish Indians and Puritan Fantasies by Elaine G. Breslaw
• The Witches: Salem, 1692 by Stacy Schiff
• The Devil in Massachusetts by Marion L. Starkey
• The Witchcraft of Salem Village by Shirley Jackson

Modern Witch

• Intention Obsession: Rituals and Witchcraft for Every Season. Conjure an intention-filled life with this practical guidebook of magical rituals for every season of the zodiac from Erica Feldmann, the founder of HausWitch, the popular Salem, Massachusetts, store and online lifestyle brand.
• HausMagick: Transform Your Home with Witchcraft. Harness the power of magic to create a beautiful, healing living space with this unique illustrated guide from Erica Feldmann, the founder of HausWitch, the popular Salem, Massachusetts, store and online lifestyle brand.

Cookbook

• Now available at the Destination Salem Visitor Center! Fire up your cauldron and get witchy in the kitchen with Hocus Pocus: The Official Cookbook! Featuring more than 50 spooky, family-friendly recipes inspired by the beloved Halloween classic, this delightfully creepy collection includes favorites like Ring of Salt Pretzels and Witch’s Broom Donuts. With full-color photos and easy-to-follow instructions, it’s perfect for cooks of all ages. A must-have for fans of the Sanderson sisters — and the perfect Halloween gift for anyone who loves a little Salem magic.
• Salem’s Cookin’, by The Salem Chamber of Commerce, The Salem Chamber has published The Official Salem Chamber of Commerce Cookbook titled Salem’s Cookin’, just in time for Haunted Happenings, Halloween and the Holiday Season! Local chefs, bakers, bartenders, celebrities, and others have provided the Salem Chamber with their best recipes for inclusion in the cookbook. The recipes are complemented by several Salem stories that are fun to read, including a brief culinary history of Salem, VIP recipes, and some anecdotes and special stories as well.
• What Salem Dames Cooked, by Derby Square Press, The Esther C. Mack Industrial School of Salem, Massachusetts compiled this book in 1910. Included are selections from ‘The Compleat Cook’ (1683); ‘The Frugal Housewife’ (1730); ‘Our Grandmother’s Cook Book’ (1800); and ‘Our Own Cook Books’ (1900). Literary quotations from Shakespeare, Byron, Cervantes, and more are scattered among the recipes for baked goodies, meat dishes, and beverages.

Non-Fiction

• Our Silent Neighbors: A Study of Gravestones in the Old Salem Area, by Betty J. Bouchard, Visit the most interesting gravemarkers of Salem, Marblehead, Danvers, and Beverly Massachusetts with this handy book. Includes revised and updated information on area gravestone carvers and additional gravestone photos.

Young Adult Novels & Fiction

• The Daughters of Temperance Hobbs by Katherine Howe, a descendant of three women who were tried for witchcraft in Salem, returned to the beloved territory of her first book, The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane, with this 2019 novel. Protagonist Connie Goodwin, a New England professor, must race against time to break a family curse.
• How to Hang a Witch by Adriana Mather, a 12th-generation descendant of Cotton Mather, infamous for his role in the Salem Witch Trials. How to Hang a Witch follows the story of Samantha Mather, a descendant of Cotton Mather who is forced to move to Salem when her father falls into a coma and is treated in a Boston area hospital. Samantha endures bullying and abandonment by her classmates, some of which being descendants of the victims of the witch trials, while finding herself wrapped up in a centuries old curse that surrounds living descendants in Salem.

For Children

• The Good Witch of Salem. The magic begins when the Good Witch of Salem glares into her crystal ball to find that someone is in need of kindness and love. With the help of her cat Aura, the Good Witch creates colorful potions in her gleaming cauldron.
• Piece by Piece, words by Susan Tan, pictures by Justine Wong, Exploring the museum’s Chinese house, Yin Yu Tang, she finds a place reminiscent of her grandmother and their special bond. But will she find her blanket before it’s too late? Remembering Nainai’s wisdom, she has not only good luck but the love of her family, too.

Local Authors

• Black Cat Tales: History and Haunting of Old Salem. An in depth look at the history behind Salem’s most chilling legends and mysterious hauntings. This book is filled with the efforts of over fifteen years of research by local historians Daniel and Lara Fury, owners of Black Cat Curiosity Shoppe. Delve into the details behind the macabre afflictions of the Witchcraft Hysteria of 1692, and the unexplained phenomena of ghostly apparitions that have appeared for centuries in buildings and locations cursed with madness and murder.
• If These Stones Could Speak. A provocative and comprehensive chronicle of the varied lives, loves, and deaths of those who rest eternally in Salem’s Old Burying Point, and who are commemorated by the Salem Witch Trials Memorial written by local Daniel Fury, co-owner of Black Cat Curiosity Shoppe. With additional information about the history of the cemetery and Memorial, along with maps, historic photos, lore, a complete index of burials, and advice about how to respectfully document these sites, this book is ideal for visitors, researchers, and those who wish to take a piece of Salem home to tour in the tablets of their memory.
• Historic Streets of Salem, Massachusetts. Witchcraft, Nathaniel Hawthorne and Samuel McIntire made this seaside town famous. But echoes of lesser-known tales linger along its lanes and avenues, from mysterious Chestnut Street to the founding Quakers of Buffum Street. Essex Street is one of the oldest in town, and the crooked street has carried several different names over the years, confusing tourists to this day. The Gedney House on High Street dates back to 1665 and was built by a shipwright, while the neighboring Pease and Price Bakery was a family-owned store that served the community for more than eighty years. Local historian and Salem News columnist Jeanne Stella recounts these and more stories of well-worn paths.
• Death of an Empire: The Rise and Murderous Fall of Salem, America’s Richest City by Robert Booth. Most readers know Salem only for the city’s notorious witch trials. But years later it became a very different city, one that produced America’s first millionaire (still one of history’s 75 wealthiest men) and boasted a maritime trade that made it the country’s richest city. Westward expansion and the industrial revolution would eventually erode Salem’s political importance, but it was a shocking murder and the scandal that followed which led at last to its fall from national prominence.