(PART ONE)

Tonight, I will take you to frontier town in Springfield, Massachusetts. The year is 1651, and strange things are starting to occur…livestock are dying, crops are struggling, and food is starting to spoil. Locals are even having strange seizures, and at night, as they try to sleep, they are haunted by terrifying nightmares. Then, the children of the village start to die…

Are they just going through a terrible season…or might this be the season of the witch.

I’m Peter Laws, and tonight on Frightful, we head back to the 17th century, to a town that is so gripped with suspicion and fear, they will go to any lengths to keep the evil at bay. This is part one of the little known story of Hugh and Mary Parsons - The Witches of Springfield, 1651 .

Note: I first learned about this case from the excellent and in depth book, 'The Ruin of All Witches' by Malcolm Gaskell. If this podcast intrigues you, do grab the book as it has far more detail.

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