Gragg makes use of the work of previous researchers, while rejecting their reductionism. He gives a detailed account of the witchcraft accusations, with descriptions of the individuals and the nature of the evidence, enabling the reader to draw his own conclusions. We also see how members of the community struggled understand what was happening. The utility of the book for Reformed readers is that it compels us to take a long hard look at a people and time that is often overpraised and idealized. The appearance of a severe crisis exposes and tests the qualities of a society, making manifest both strengths and weaknesses that it is otherwise easy to overlook or deny.
Missionaries tell of the paralysis which grips superstition ridden pagan societies.
All manner of ills are attributed to witchcraft attacks by jealous or vengeful neighbors. Fear and suspicion govern behavior, and no one wants to risks drawing the hostile attentions of those adept with dark powers. It is something of a surprise to find this situation in Puritan New England. When a child became ill, or a cow ceased to give milk, the neighbor was suspected of magic. An accusation of witchcraft brought into court all the accused's enemies and rivals with stories of the mishaps and disputes of the last ten to twenty years, interpreted in the light of malignant occult powers.