Devil Books and a Ride from Hell: Susannah Shelden Names Her Tormentors

Mysterious specters harass Susannah Shelden with the Devil’s Book. The strangers then identify themselves as Sarah Buckley, her daughter Mary Whitteredge, and another woman calling herself Goodwife Whits, insisting she touch and sign. Our story turns grotesque as Susannah reports Sarah Buckley confessing to ten years of witchcraft and describing the Devil giving her two cat-like creatures to suckle. Refusal brings pinching, blows, and escalating threats until Sarah Buckley’s specter silences Susannah and carries her nearly a mile, claiming power over her and promising death if she won’t comply. A sudden, frantic rescue follows when William Shaw hears terrified cries in the woods and finds Susannah screaming and struggling. We trace it all to Susannah’s May 17, 1692 statement preserved in the Peabody Essex Museum’s Salem Witch Trials Collection.

00:00 Kittens And Devil Books

00:47 Buckley Confession Tale

02:04 Strangers Name Themselves

02:38 Pinching And Abduction

03:21 Rescue In The Thicket

03:43 Sources And Subscribe

Statement of Susannah Shelden v. Philip English, Sarah Buckley, Mary Whittredge, Bridget Bishop, Giles Cory, Mary English, and Martha Cory