America’s first settlers were afraid of a lot of things and when they were afraid of something they reflexively connected it to the Devil – whether it was places like forests and woods or people, like the Native Americans who had predated their arrival on these shores by hundreds of years. In other words, whatever they didn’t understand, they feared, and whatever they feared, it must be the work of the Devil.

But it wasn’t just the indigenous people they feared and disliked – it was also the Africans. Small groups of them began arriving in the British colonies as early as 1619. They weren’t immigrants, though. They had been kidnapped from their homeland and transported to America against their will. Their numbers grew at a gradual pace throughout the seventeenth century, before increasing dramatically in the century that followed. Nearly every African in America at that time was held in bondage by white settlers, who, while perhaps not terrified by the slaves themselves, were terrified by their persistence in upholding the traditions and beliefs they brought to the country with them.

At home, magical practices had been central to the supernatural beliefs of the slaves. When they were brought to American in chains, their beliefs may have changed somewhat but they still included a legion of spirits who influenced their daily lives. And not all those spirits were benevolent ones – especially toward the white slave owners.

The Puritans and the early colonists found more monsters in America than just witches. The Devil had birthed a variety of what were often called “monstrous births” and they became signs and omens for the believers in an angry god. Spectral, shape-shifting dogs, along with demonic, giant black bears, haunted the woods around the settlements. They believed they were surrounded by evil spirits in the sea, the rivers, lakes, forests, and swamps around them.

But the Puritans were not the only ones finding monsters on the American frontier. Sea serpents swam in our waters and strange beasts populated the wilderness that loomed over most new American settlements. But the response to the beasts the settlers met were not always the same and didn’t always share the Puritan desire to destroy all monsters or cleanse the American landscape – no matter how devilish the monsters might be.

Instead, they turned them into legends.

A special “Very Scary Christmas” Episode!

Traditional Christmas celebrations in colonial American were much different than they are today. It was a public celebration in the streets and the pubs. Few people celebrated in church and even fewer celebrated with family at home.

And for good reason. The winter nights were cold and dark. It was a time of snow, ice, and being trapped indoors with that family. The coming days – and weeks – were going to be spent around the fire, waiting for better weather to return. That fire, along with candles and oil lamps, were the only way to stay warm – and to keep away the shadows that were creeping outside your door.

This made it the perfect time for stories and storytelling, especially stories of ghosts, hauntings, spectral travelers, and the night folk. In those days, the cold winter months were considered the spookiest time of the year. It was a dark season that began with Halloween and lasted until the spring thaw. In centuries past, the holiday season was not just a time of celebration – it was a time to be afraid.

It's that time of year again! Join us as we attempt to avoid going off on wil tangents while we discuss our favorite Horror films of the year.

The Devil didn’t confine his shenanigans to Salem Village or even the Massachusetts Bay colony in the 1600s. A penchant for hanging and persecuting those believed to be in league with him swept through the colonies in those days, leading to many tragedies and deaths. But the madness the Puritans introduced in that period drained America of its lust for religions mania and fanaticism for many years to come.

The hardship, brutality, and war that followed over the next century and a half sent the broken and the disillusioned in search of enlightenment. In the 1820s and 1830s religious excitement began to sweep the country, and soon new churches, sects, and cults began to emerge. This new age would be dubbed “The Great Awakening” and while none of these new groups would compare with the strictness of the Puritans, a devout belief in the works of the Devil remained.

As did an unhinged belief in doomsday, the Antichrist, and the end of the world.

The terrible incident at Salem was not the last American witch hunt. It was also not the end of Puritan oppression in the region. They would leave a last impact on both New England and American history.

And no aspect of the Puritan experience remains as vivid in American memory as their fear of monsters, specifically the fear of witches that led to the trials of hundreds of settlers during the 1600s. For most of us today, the witch trials seem to be a brief flirtation with an irrational past.

But there was nothing irrational about Salem to the Puritans. They hunted monsters for a generation before Salem, believing that strange creatures lurked in the “howling wilderness.” They imagined their religious experience as a war with monstrous beings birthed by the Devil. It was a struggle with the forces of darkness that turned the New World into a place teeming with such monsters in the minds of the Puritans.

In the past on this podcast, we have often asked the question of whether a monster is born or are they made? This might be the episode that finally answers that question. The story that follows suggests that monsters are NOT born; they’re made – often by the very people who should protect them.

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This episode was written by Troy Taylor

Produced and edited by Cody Beck

The fires of the witchcraft allegations burned through the towns and villages of New England during the 1600s, leading to accusations, trials, and even hangings. Many communities regretted the belief that the Devil was at work in their own until it was too late and near the end of the century, the fires that had burned so hot began to cool.

But not before the events at Salem Village occurred in 1692, spawning the most infamous witchcraft panic in American history. The town was a hotbed of gossip, hostility, and family squabbles and when religious fanaticism was added to the mix, accusations of the Devil’s work soon followed.

But not just in Salem. Most don’t realize that another witchcraft panic was occurring at the same time, a short distance away, and that Salem’s so-called “Afflicted Girls” had a starring role in that terror, too.