We sat down with historian Samantha Misa in the Frisbee family cemetery to uncover some witchy tales from our collective Catskills past.
Just in time for Halloween, Samantha shares some haunted encounters from Delaware County's Frisbee House and recounts tales from her book, Witches of the Catskills, including Molly Meyers, "witch cat," in Gilboa area's "Spook Woods."
Misa recounts the challenges of researching historical witchcraft, using old newspapers and archival records to reconstruct the tales.
---
00:00 Introduction: Do You Believe in Witches?
00:20 Halloween Costumes and Modern Witches
00:56 Historical Witches in the Catskills
01:42 The Frisbee Family Legacy
03:45 Haunted Tales of the Frisbee House
04:55 Researching Witches of the Catskills
08:16 Challenges in Witchcraft Research
09:56 Witchcraft and Cats: A Historical Perspective
11:59 The Dark Mysteries of the Catskills
12:53 Chilling Tales and Skepticism
15:17 Molly Myers and Spook Woods
18:50 The Esperance Witch
19:48 Modern Beliefs and Halloween
20:46 Closing Remarks and Credits
---
Thanks to this week's sponsors: Briars & Brambles Books and The Mountain Eagle.
Popular Podcasts
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com