I wanted to retell the stories of people who were wrongfully killed in a way that people would process and digest, but also not make light of tragedy. I did this by setting it in a fictional town with fictional characters while tapping into some of the real history. Witch hunts happened all over the world over a span of hundreds of years, and those weren’t funny at all. 

Most of the accusations you hear are from legal records of witch trials: “slamming a church door,” “vomiting up knives and scissors,” “having a strange look about her.” Witch pricking was real, and witch hunters were paid for this service. Blunt and retractable prickers have been found, by the way.(nationalarchives.gov.uk)

This is a story to remind us that the odds were never in our favor. We’ve experienced so much injustice and power imbalances all throughout history. We’ve gotten through them by rescuing each other and being brave enough to do the right thing when the time comes. The witch hunts ended when the people in power began to push back against what they knew to be wrong. Judges stopped ruling in favor of the madness and hysteria, and that finally led to witch hunting being outlawed. 

There is always hope, even when it’s really hard to see.  

- Kelly