EPISODE · May 14, 2026 · 11 MIN
Friday the 13th in Salem: Witchcraft Accusations and a Courtroom Clownshow: May 13, 1692
from Salem Witch Trials Daily · host Josh Hutchinson and Sarah Jack
Friday the 13th: Abigail Soames, Mary Warren, and the Courtroom “Touch Test” CircusWe head straight into a Friday the 13th examination where Abigail Soames is hauled to a tavern, searched, and pressed under relentless questioning while Mary Warren’s dramatic fits drive the room. A stray needle, whispered biographical “facts,” spectral accusations, and the infamous touch tests turn the hearing into a performance that reveals how easily a proceeding could be shaped by expectation and fear. The tension escalates as claims multiply—pins, bites, threats of murder, and even courtroom observers treating eye contact like proof of guilt—before the record widens to eerie depositions against Susannah Martin and Thomas Hardy, featuring night terrors, strange meetings, and disturbing transformations. It’s a fast, unsettling look at how testimony, spectacle, and superstition fed the Salem crisis.00:00 Welcome and Hosts00:10 Abigail Soames Arrest00:37 Examination Begins01:00 Needle and Accusations03:05 Touch Test Drama04:58 Courtroom Circus06:22 Other Specters Named06:58 Rings Depose Martin07:32 Sleep Paralysis Explained08:41 Joseph Ring Secret Party09:36 Hardy Hauntings Continue11:12 Mute and Devil Book11:42 Closing and Next EpisodeLinksSalem Witch Trials History YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCliis4vjMIUgg3wcA0pXeYQ/Salem Witch Trials Daily Hub: https://aboutsalem.com/salem-witch-trials-daily/The Thing About the Salem Witch Trials: https://aboutsalem.comThe Thing About Witch Hunts: https://aboutwitchhunts.comMary Beth Norton, In the Devil’s Snare: The Salem Witchcraft Crisis of 1692: https://bookshop.org/a/90227/9780375706905Bernard Rosenthal, ed., Records of the Salem Witch-Hunt: https://bookshop.org/a/90227/9781107689619Emerson W. Baker, A Storm of Witchcraft: The Salem Trials and the American Experience: https://bookshop.org/a/90227/9780190627805Marilynne K. Roach, The Salem Witch Trials: A Day-by-Day Chronicle of a Community Under Siege: https://bookshop.org/a/90227/9781589791329High Quality Scans of Original Court Documents - Peabody Essex Museum Salem Witch Trials Collection: https://pem.quartexcollections.com/collections/salem-witch-trials-collection
What this episode covers
Friday the 13th: Abigail Soames, Mary Warren, and the Courtroom “Touch Test” CircusWe head straight into a Friday the 13th examination where Abigail Soames is hauled to a tavern, searched, and pressed under relentless questioning while Mary Warren’s dramatic fits drive the room. A stray needle, whispered biographical “facts,” spectral accusations, and the infamous touch tests turn the hearing into a performance that reveals how easily a proceeding could be shaped by expectation and fear. The tension escalates as claims multiply—pins, bites, threats of murder, and even courtroom observers treating eye contact like proof of guilt—before the record widens to eerie depositions against Susannah Martin and Thomas Hardy, featuring night terrors, strange meetings, and disturbing transformations. It’s a fast, unsettling look at how testimony, spectacle, and superstition fed the Salem crisis.00:00 Welcome and Hosts00:10 Abigail Soames Arrest00:37 Examination Begins01:00 Needle and Accusations03:05 Touch Test Drama04:58 Courtroom Circus06:22 Other Specters Named06:58 Rings Depose Martin07:32 Sleep Paralysis Explained08:41 Joseph Ring Secret Party09:36 Hardy Hauntings Continue11:12 Mute and Devil Book11:42 Closing and Next EpisodeLinksSalem Witch Trials History YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCliis4vjMIUgg3wcA0pXeYQ/Salem Witch Trials Daily Hub: https://aboutsalem.com/salem-witch-trials-daily/The Thing About the Salem Witch Trials: https://aboutsalem.comThe Thing About Witch Hunts: https://aboutwitchhunts.comMary Beth Norton, In the Devil’s Snare: The Salem Witchcraft Crisis of 1692: https://bookshop.org/a/90227/9780375706905Bernard Rosenthal, ed., Records of the Salem Witch-Hunt: https://bookshop.org/a/90227/9781107689619Emerson W. Baker, A Storm of Witchcraft: The Salem Trials and the American Experience: https://bookshop.org/a/90227/9780190627805Marilynne K. Roach, The Salem Witch Trials: A Day-by-Day Chronicle of a Community Under Siege: https://bookshop.org/a/90227/9781589791329High Quality Scans of Original Court Documents - Peabody Essex Museum Salem Witch Trials Collection: https://pem.quartexcollections.com/collections/salem-witch-trials-collection
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Friday the 13th in Salem: Witchcraft Accusations and a Courtroom Clownshow: May 13, 1692
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