The Last Witch

Cooke (The Book of Witching) offers a rare historical horror novel where the historical elements are more horrifying than the supernatural ones. In the 15th century, Helena Scheuberin can afford to be outspoken. She lives a life of privilege, married to the wealthy Sebastian. Her only responsibility is to bear him children. But Helena’s luck runs out when her lover, Leopold, is found dead and she is accused of being a witch, putting her in the path of the notorious (and historically accurate) witch-hunter Heinrich Kramer. Her body is tortured, her will is broken, and Helena is tempted by real magic that may save her, but is the price she must pay too high? Based on a true story, the terrors revealed by Cooke come not from the spellcasting but from the tortures inflicted upon Helena and other women as Kramer tries to cast out witches. Listeners will squirm as narrator Vinall not only describes torture devices such as the thumbscrews and the strappado but also portrays Olivia’s anguish as she’s subjected to these and other horrors.