Book Review: Killing The Witches by Bill O’Reilly & Martin Dugard – Disjointed, but Informative

In Killing the Witches: The Horror of Salem, Massachusetts, Bill O’Reilly and Martin Dugard pull back the curtain of history to showcase the harrowing saga in a colonial-era Massachusetts village north of Boston. They paint a vivid portrait of a town gripped by hysteria, grief, and a miscarriage of justice.

This is the latest installment in the wildly popular “Killing Series,” a set of now thirteen nonfiction books that chronicle the demise or tragedies associated with major historical figures. They are written in a style known as creative non-fiction. The emphasis is on the story and the reader’s immersion. The writers employ a combination of past and present tense and creative license to add details to flesh out the characters being profiled and the times in which they live.

Whether it was intentional that their book focused on witchcraft (or at least alleged witchcraft) happens to be number thirteen in their famous series, I cannot say. But it’s something that those with superstitious leanings probably won’t miss.

I can safely be counted as a fan of the series. I’ve read or listened to most of them:

• Killing Lincoln: The Shocking Assassination that Changed America Forever
• Killing Kennedy: The End of Camelot
• Killing Jesus: A History
• Killing Patton: The Strange Death of World War II’s Most Audacious General
• Killing Reagan: The Violent Assault That Changed a Presidency
• Killing the Rising Sun: How America Vanquished World War II Japan
• Killing England: The Brutal Struggle for American Independence
• Killing the Mob: The Fight Against Organized Crime in America
• Killing the Witches: The Horror of Salem, Massachusetts

I’ve yet to read:

• Killing the SS: The Hunt for the Worst War Criminals in History (started it but couldn’t get into it)
• Killing Crazy Horse: The Merciless Indian Wars in America (will likely read in 2024)
• Killing the Killers: The Secret War Against Terrorists
• Killing the Legends: The Lethal Danger of Celebrity

Some of them (Killing Lincoln, Killing Kennedy, Killing the Rising Sun) are top-notch. Others (Killing Reagan, Killing England) are so-so. There is one (Killing Jesus) I definitely would not recommend. I’d have to say that Killing the Witches is above so-so, but not top-notch. I’d give it 3 1/2 stars. (Yes, I know the blog header image only shows 3 stars, but that’s because I couldn’t find a 3 1/2 star graphic on Canva).

The book itself is somewhat disjointed. The first part delves into Salem, Massachusetts which is the promise of the book itself. Then, it skips to the Constitutional Convention and talks about the religious views of the Founders. Then, we get time-machined to 1949 with an in-depth look at the demonic possession saga (a story attested to by multiple eyewitnesses and newspaper reports of the day) which inspired The Exorcist. And then, we’re treated to a warning about cancel culture and modern-day “witch hunts.”

I see what they are trying to do, but it was a somewhat clumsy attempt. Yes, there is a through-line, but the skips are jarring and the tangents or asides sometimes detract from that through-line and confuse the reader. The book came across to me as disjointed.

Granted, who am I to critique multiple New York Times bestselling authors? Nevertheless, I think the book could have been structured a bit differently and smoothed out much more effectively.

Before I get into commenting on the book’s content, let me pause and address objections some may have to Bill O’Reilly. He is a controversial figure — both for his political views as well as sexual misconduct allegations that forced him out of Fox News where he helmed a popular talk show. By reviewing this book, I’m not getting into the weeds of O’Reilly’s political views, nor am I going to attempt to weigh in on the allegations that ended his time at Fox. I’m not qualified to do so.

However, O’Reilly and Dugard make a great writing team. Their writing is generally excellent. Their books are (for the most part) captivating and extremely interesting. In some cases, entertaining. And unlike many in today’s Age of Outrage and era of “cancel culture,” I read widely — including from authors I don’t fully agree with. I see that as very much consistent with the teachings of the Book of Proverbs.

That said, and moving into the book’s content itself, I disagree with O’Reilly and Dugard when it comes to much of their theological outlook. While I won’t speculate on the details of their personal faith or relationship with the Lord, it’s clear from some of this book and certainly Killing Jesus that we are not in alignment.

They both publicly identify as Catholic and were each taught in religious schools. Nevertheless, their portrayal of Jesus in Killing Jesus was decidedly not messianic or supernatural. They show him primarily as a first-century itinerant Jewish teacher who runs afoul of Roman authorities, especially on matters of taxation. As I said, I don’t recommend Killing Jesus, though it does have some interesting information on the historical setting of Jesus’ times, as well as some interesting information on Herod.

As with Killing Jesus, O’Reilly and Dugard are at times, in Killing the Witches, very guarded, even timid, when it comes to affirming the supernatural. However, they do seem comfortable talking about the near-irrefutable supernatural elements that surrounded the case which inspired the novel and film The Exorcist. More on this shortly.

For O’Reilly and Dugard, the alleged witchcraft that instigated and surrounded the Salem Witch Trials was all the product of imagination, fear, and deceit. To them, there was nothing real, except the miscarriage of justice that resulted in the suffering and grief of hundreds of innocent people — in the case of 20, death.

To be clear, I mostly agree with them. I deplore the antics in colonial-era Salem. I think what happened in Salem between February 1692 and May 1693 to be one of the most tragic and embarrassing chapters in both colonial American as well as church history.

Most of the accusations in the Salem Witch Trials were baseless. The decision to admit claimed ‘spectral’ evidence (i.e., girls testifying to seeing ghostly apparitions) as evidence against the accused was among the worst examples of judicial malfeasance in history. O’Reilly and Dugard do an excellent job of bringing to life the fear, paranoia, and ridiculousness of this sad period in colonial history.

However…

Are we to believe that nothing supernatural happened…at all!?

First, O’Reilly and Dugard treat as fact a theory that (if indeed true) may shed light on how things got started. Tibuta was an indigenous South American woman from the West Indies. She was held in slavery by Salem minister Samuel Parris. (Yes, it is sad but true that many Christian pastors and preachers participated in slavery in colonial America). It is believed Tibuta came from Barbados (where she was initially enslaved). It is likewise thought that she brought with her a knowledge of (and perhaps some experience with) voodoo (or some form of it).

O’Reilly and Dugard treat seriously the theory that Tibuta told the Parris children tales associated with voodoo. The alleged nightmares and demonic experiences began shortly thereafter.

It should be noted that the consensus opinion among historians today is that Tibutha was falsely accused and that she was forced to confess to witchcraft. I have no desire to contest that consensus, as I regard Tibuta as a victim of history. Nevertheless…

If there is any truth — any truth at all — to somehow, someway Salem children hearing about exotic and mysterious voodoo stories or practices from Tibuta, it is certainly plausible that these kids took it upon themselves to explore further, thus opening themselves up to possible demonic attack.

That could have started the ball rolling. O’Reilly and Dugard tell of just such an event when they skip ahead in their book to 1949 Maryland to tell the story of teenager Ronald Edwin Hunkeler. The chilling story of young Ronald was covered by The Washington Post and was the basis for the novel and film The Exorcist.

Anyone who doubts the reality of demons or of Satan should read the above Post article as well as Playing With Fire: A Modern Investigation into Demons, Exorcism, and Ghosts by Billy Hallowell. (I reviewed that book here).

Could there have been one or two true-to-life episodes or stories like that of young Ronald Hunkeler in Salem, Massachusetts in 1692?

I don’t know. But it is possible.

For those who read this blog and who know me (at least a little), you know that I regard the supernatural as being real. Not all those who claim to have experienced the supernatural are telling the truth. But there is truth to the supernatural.

God is real. Satan is real. Angels are real. Demons are real.

To their credit, O’Reilly and Dugard don’t deny any of that. They are resistant to the possibility of some genuine supernatural elements to the Salem saga of 1692-93 but are more than comfortable talking about the multiple-eyewitness-attested supernatural occurrences surrounding the story of Ronald Hunkeler as well as some of the strange things that happened on the movie set of The Exorcist.

Even if you aren’t comfortable accepting the possibility that some supernaturalism may have happened in 1692-93 Salem, there is other evidence of demonic influence. It’s something that James points to in his epistle:

Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you? let him shew out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom. But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth. This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish. For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work. But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy. And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace.

James 3:13-18, KJV

The more you study the Salem Witch Trials (and the first part of O’Reilly and Dugard’s book is a great introduction to that study), the more you can’t help but conclude that “confusion and every evil work” defined Salem during this tumultuous period. Most of Salem’s political and religious leaders (they were often one and the same) could not, in any reasonable way, be described as “peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy.”

Rather, the dominant drivers and influencers behind the Salem Witch Trials conducted themselves in a manner that reflected wisdom that “descendeth not from above” but was rather “earthly, sensual, devilish.”

All that should lead us to wonder: What kind of wisdom drives us?

It’s a question all Christians today should take to heart.

Recommended Reading:

• “Satan, Demons, and Spiritual Warfare: My Review of Billy Hallowell’s ‘Playing With Fire'”
• “When Your Political Views Become Toxic or Demonic”