Witch: A Tale of Terror
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Witch: A Tale of Terror Audible Audiobook – Unabridged

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For centuries in Europe, innocent men and women were murdered for the imaginary crime of witchcraft. This was a mass delusion and moral panic, driven by pious superstition and a deadly commitment to religious conformity. In Witch: A Tale of Terror, best-selling author Sam Harris introduces and reads from Charles Mackay's beloved book Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds.

Previous page
  1. Listening Length
    3 hours and 4 minutes
  2. Author
    Charles MacKay, see all
  3. Narrator
    Sam Harris
  4. Audible release date
    January 13, 2017
  5. Language
    English
  6. Publisher
    Four Elephants Press
  7. ASIN
    B01NASNEQT
  8. Version
    Unabridged
  9. Program Type
    Audiobook
  10. See all details
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Product details

Listening Length 3 hours and 4 minutes
Author Charles MacKay, Sam Harris - introduction
Narrator Sam Harris
Audible.com Release Date January 13, 2017
Publisher Four Elephants Press
Program Type Audiobook
Version Unabridged
Language English
ASIN B01NASNEQT
Best Sellers Rank #24,255 in Audible Books & Originals (See Top 100 in Audible Books & Originals)
#159 in European History (Audible Books & Originals)
#357 in European History (Books)

Customer reviews

4.5 out of 5 stars
4.5 out of 5
12 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Mark Guay
5.0 out of 5 stars So relative to our lives now. She’s a witch! Burn her! (Facepalm)
Reviewed in the United States on October 29, 2017
Verified Purchase
Great listen, especially in light of the hysteria we can easily perpetuate via media in our current time.
3 people found this helpful
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Tony
5.0 out of 5 stars Equal parts horrifying, fascinating. and comical.
Reviewed in the United States on October 28, 2023
Sam Harris' voice is so soothing.
Personally, I'd rank him just below Sir David Attenborough. If only this was as long as an episode of "Planet Earth."
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Neuron
3.0 out of 5 stars Only witches talk to themselves…
Reviewed in the United States on December 28, 2017
This is an excerpt from the book Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds by Charles Mackay. He wrote this book in 1841, almost 200 years ago. Based on the excerpt, the title more or less says it all. The book, which has a slightly catalog-esque feel to it, describes a number of cases where a person, usually a woman or a girl, was accused of being a witch. It also gives you a brief history of witch hunts - from its peak in the beginning of the 17th century to the end in the late 18th century (although in some countries people still believe in witches).

It is entertaining in - a macabre kind of way – to read about the witch trials. Although I have read a fair amount about witches, I am still amazed every time I read about the trials. Witness accounts in which someone claimed to have seen a cat that looked like the accused were taken seriously. Experts claimed that if you talk at loud to yourself then you are definitively possessed by a demon and must, therefore, be a witch. I am guessing that to some extent the witch hunts were a way to satisfy the crowd's lust for blood and their desire for vengeance over the extreme hardships in their life. We should keep this in mind today when people on social media seem to think that they are better jurors than the people working within the judicial system.

If you want a brief introduction to the history of the witch-hunt, with a European bias, then this book is a good buy. However, you can get more detailed accounts (remember that this is an excerpt) and while the book has a Sam Harris feel to it, only small parts of it were actually authored by him.
3 people found this helpful
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Kendall L. Vaughan
5.0 out of 5 stars Insane history of what religious belief can lead to
Reviewed in the United States on February 25, 2017
Sam refers to the events in the opening of this book being comedic. In a very twisted way they are. The craziest story in the book to me (if I can remember it right) was when a man was going to show another man the paw of an animal he hunted but when it went to pull it out he pulled out a woman's hand instead. Recognizing the wedding ring as belonging to his wife the two men promptly went to his home to find his wife hiding her arm. When it was discovered that her arm had been severed she was put to death. The rest of this book is story after story like this. Sam touched on history like this in his other books (particularity The End of Faith) but spending an entire book on it in depth was certainly needed. The more benign version of religion we often have today comes about by ignoring absurd parts of the Bible like witchcraft.
7 people found this helpful
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aimee mayer
5.0 out of 5 stars Terrifying... to think we are still like this.
Reviewed in the United States on January 24, 2017
If he were still alive today, would Charles Mackay write about radical Islam (and more!!) ? Definitely!! Thank the universe for Sam Harris. I am on my way to the bookstore for the rest of this piece, originally written in 1841...just look how far we have not come as humans. I think we are actually worse. I wish he could have read the whole thing, but this was definitely the most important section!
8 people found this helpful
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Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars If you have a interest in the power of dogma or just enjoy history, this book will be an alarming reminder ...
Reviewed in the United States on February 26, 2017
In Witch: A Tale of Terror, Sam Harris reminds us of the horrors of the belief in witches. Charles MacKay does an incredible job laying out all of the ways the belief in Witches has terrorized the people of Europe and, to a brief extent, the US. If you have a interest in the power of dogma or just enjoy history, this book will be an alarming reminder of how a society can fall under the spell of bad ideas.
3 people found this helpful
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Dustin
5.0 out of 5 stars Sam Harris is amazing. Narrate more audiobooks!
Reviewed in the United States on March 20, 2017
Sam Harris is amazing. Love that he edited and read this audiobook (in fact its the only reason I used an audible credit on it). Thank you Charles for an amazing story and Sam for telling it!
7 people found this helpful
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chris
5.0 out of 5 stars Definitely recommend. I had no idea just how insane a ...
Reviewed in the United States on March 23, 2017
Definitely recommend. I had no idea just how insane a story this is, incredibly depressing, hilarious, and horrifying!
and Sam Harris does an excellent job of reading it. Witch: A Tale of Terror
2 people found this helpful
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