The Wicked Witch: Origins of an Enduring Worldwide Belief

By Gregory Forth

A worldwide survey of witches that reveals universal patterns in how we perceive witchcraft.

Few figures haunt the human imagination like the witch. While existing books and media have largely focused on the trials of Early Modern Europe and America, far less explored is the enduring global belief that certain people secretly wield destructive supernatural powers. Drawing on the author's own field research and a wealth of cross-cultural evidence, this book examines how societies across the world imagine witches in strikingly similar ways: flying by night, shapeshifting into animals, inverting ordinary behavior, and committing horrifying acts like ritual murder, cannibalism, and the abuse of children. By tracing these recurring ideas across vastly different cultures, the book uncovers remarkable patterns in human thought, fear, and other emotions, and it asks why such concepts persist, pointing to deep social and psychological roots in human evolution.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 183639358X
• ISBN13: 9781836393580
• Release Date: May 2027
• Publisher: Reaktion Books
• Length: 320 Pages