Witch Hunts

For three centuries, as the Black Death rampaged through Europe and the Reformation tore the Church apart, tens of thousands were arrested as witches and subjected to torture and execution, including being burned alive. This graphic novel examines the background; the witch hunters’ methods; who profited; the brave few who protested; and how the Enlightenment gradually replaced fear and superstition with reason and science. Famed witch hunters Heinrich Kramer, architect of the infamous Malleus Maleficarum, and Matthew Hopkins, England’s notorious “Witchfinder General,” are covered as are the Salem Witch Trials and the last executions in Europe.

Rocky Wood is the Bram Stoker Award–winning author of many books about Stephen King. He is president of the Horror Writers Association and lives in Victoria, Australia.

Lisa Morton is a playwright, fiction and reference book author and screenwriter. A Bram Stoker Award winner for superior achievement in horror writing, she lives in North Hills, California.

Greg Chapman is a fiction writer and horror illustrator, specializing in comics and graphic novels. Two horror novellas were published in 2011. He lives in Central Queensland, Australia.

Written by Rocky Wood and Lisa Morton

Illustrated by Greg Chapman

Format: softcover (7 x 10), graphic novel
Pages: 192
Bibliographic Info: b&w illustrations, bibliography
Copyright Date: 2012
pISBN: 978-0-7864-6655-9
eISBN: 978-0-7864-9151-3
Imprint: McFarland

I. Before the Trials      1
II. The Trials Begin      9
III. The First Witch Hunter      17
IV. The Contagion Spreads      24
V. Joan of Arc      31
VI. The Trials in Arras      41
VII. The Hammer of Witches      47
VIII. Witchcraft and the Reformation      80
IX. The Trials in Würzburg      89
X. King James and the North Berwick Trials      97
XI. Matthew Hopkins, Witchfinder General      126
XII. The Salem Witch Trials      136
XIII. The Frenzy Fades      160

Bibliography      185

• Winner, Bram Stoker Award—Horror Writers Association
• “Chapman’s illustrations are gorgeous…do yourself a favor and pick up this absolutely stunning nonfiction graphic novel, it is eye opening and meticulously presented. It will linger with you long after you put it down and I give it my highest recommendation”—Famous Monsters of Filmland
• “What is special to this graphic novel is the authors’ vast, in-depth personal knowledge of their topic and subject(s). Provided in a clear and compelling voice, with stunning illustrations to help involve the reader…an engrossing, compelling book”—Shock Horror Magazine
• “Wood and Morton did a lot of research…and it shows. The novel is succinct yet informative and the accompanying artwork brings the history to life.”—The Horror Fiction Review
• “The graphic novel digs deeper into the issues with graphics and dialogue that bring the witch-hunts to life”—Digital Journal
• “This superstitious era is thoroughly examined…enlightening, entertaining, and marvelously illustrated…a splendid and comprehensive guide to the Burning Times”—The Tomb of Dark Delights