The Thing About Salem presents an exclusive three-part series with Massachusetts-born author Ben Wickey, whose highly anticipated debut graphic novel "More Weight: A Salem Story" releases next week. This Alan Moore-praised "appalling masterpiece" tells the harrowing tale of Giles Corey, the only person pressed to death under stones during the 1692 Salem Witch Trials.
In Part 1, we dive into Wickey's extraordinary background as an Edward Gorey Award-winning artist whose stunning visual storytelling brings historical horror to visceral life. What makes this upcoming graphic novel release so personal? Wickey is a descendant of Salem Witch Trial victim Mary Easty, bringing deeply intimate perspective to this decade-long project that Publishers Weekly compared to "From Hell."
We explore Wickey's artistic journey, his pre-release excitement, and how his animation background shaped this groundbreaking work. Using the graphic novel format, Wickey cuts through pop culture mythology to restore the genuine horror and humanity of Salem's history. Don't miss this insider look at the creative process behind 2025's most important historical horror graphic novel.
Keywords: Ben Wickey More Weight Part 1, Salem artist interview, graphic novel pre-release, Mary Easty descendant, Edward Gorey Award, Salem Witch Trials artist
Buy the Graphic Novel "More Weight"
Read the Alan Moore World Blog: Ben Wickey An Extraordinary Enchanter
More Weight Preview Page on TopShelfComix.com
Sign the Petition: MA Witch Hunt Justice Project
www.massachusettswitchtrials.org
The Thing About Salem Patreon
Episode Transcript
Welcome to the Thing about Salem.
I'm Josh Hutchinson. And I'm Sarah Jack, today we
begin a three-part series with author and illustrator Ben Wiki
about his amazing new graphic novel More Weight, a Salem story
which focuses on the story of Giles Corey, the only victim of
the Salem witch trials to be pressed to death under large
(00:20):
stones. Welcome to the podcast Ben Wiki.
Today we get to talk with you about your new graphic novel,
More Weight. Please tell us a little bit
about you and your. Work.
Thank you. I am a Massachusetts born
illustrator and comic book artist and animator.
(00:41):
I'm originally from he band of Rockport and Gloucester, about
30 minutes north of Salem. But all my friends live in
Salem. So I grew up, you know, going
there constantly, soaking up slowly over my whole life the
history of that place. I am a graduate of Cal Art.
I did a stop motion animated version of The House of the
(01:03):
Seven Gables by Hawthorne as a short 30 minute short film that
premiered at the Gables in 2018.I have been an illustrator.
I worked on a book called The Illustrated Vivian Stenshaw, but
with Kai Longfellow in 2017. I am a contributing artist of
(01:24):
Alan Moore's and and Steve Moore's grimoire, The Moon and
Serpent Bumper Book of Magic andfor 10 years and I've been
working on this depressing Behemer more weight, which is
finally out and I'm very relieved and thank you for
having me. So I understand that we're
actually all cousins through Mary Eastie.
(01:46):
Is that true? Yes, and I didn't actually know
that I was a descendant of Mary Estie until I was halfway
through the book doing this. I think it was 2018 or something
like that. But my cousin Holly in Michigan
messaged me out of the blue and said, oh, did you know that
we're related to somebody from the Salem witch trials?
(02:09):
She didn't even know that I was doing this book.
It was under my hat for so long.Little thing I had on the back
burner, little passion project. And so I think that really
changed my attitude towards whatI was doing.
It heightened my convictions in what I was doing.
And then we talked a little bit more and then she provided the
genealogy. I get them her 10th great
(02:31):
grandson on the Ellis side. So yeah, it's, it's very, it's
very moving, very moving revelation.
Yeah, I had known that I descended from Rebecca Nurse
since I was a teenager. But then about six years ago or
(02:53):
seven years ago, I discovered that Mary and Rebecca had
grandchildren that married. And then that's the line.
It's all these Brussels out of Massachusetts that ended up in
Iowa when I was born. There's something about Mary,
because of her petition with such a proclamation and such,
(03:13):
you know, so I can imagine, since she was the one that you
found yourself tied to and you're giving such a message
with your project, how that musthave struck you.
Yeah. It really struck me.
I mean, I hadn't drawn, thankfully, I hadn't drawn her
scenes until I found that out. So it really infused a lot of
(03:35):
emotion. And yeah, I really felt like I
was portraying a family member. You know, it's kind of, it might
seem silly to some people 330 years on, but no, I really
identified with her. And yes, the book is about child
Martha Corey. And I still think they are such
(03:55):
an interesting duo to focus on when you consider child's
obvious flaws and his sort of our semi path to redemption and
his death, which I still think is one of the first documented
protests in American history. I think that's very important to
to look at just drawing Mary Estie.
(04:17):
I kind of bait her a little bit off photographs of my great
grandmother Bessie, who I never met, but I gave her her nose and
her cheeks and based Marriott Estie off of Bessie.
That's awesome. That's.
Great. And her petition never failed to
make me very emotional and tearyeyed.
(04:37):
Yeah, and it's very similar to, I mean, in the book, I do have
quotes side by side of Mary Bradbury's petition with her
descendant Ray Bradbury message to the Republican Party that he
put in a he paid for a Pagan variety in the 1950s at the
(05:00):
height of the McCarthy years, where he said, let's send
McCarthy and his goons back to Salem in the 17th century.
The ripples in time of generations trying to say the
same thing. Let's not accuse the innocent.
Let's protect people. Let's not give in to fear and
hysteria. The paranoia, yeah.
(05:21):
Yeah, what do we need to know about the early life of Giles
Gory? Or about him.
That was fun. That was very fascinating.
It's only really Upham's book that kind of touches on the
records of Giles's 50 years in Salem before the witch trial.
(05:43):
I went into the now digitized quarterly court records of Essex
County and I just went through the index.
I found all the references to Charles Corey and I just made
lists of all the shenanigans that he was getting into.
And I'm pretty much convinced that he did murder a guy in the
60s, seventies. Like this isn't a sugar coated
(06:05):
version of child in my portrayalof him, but there is a
character, composite kind of character profile that I created
over time of oh God, this is a guy that got away with
practically everything except for the one thing that he didn't
do, which was sorcery. Very colorful, fascinating guy.
(06:26):
You look at his times. It's a watchman in Salem Town,
which is now the city of Salem, above the Salem Town
meetinghouse, which I think probably be where Rockefeller
the restaurant is now in Salem. And he's part of a firewood
heist on the South River and allthis crazy stuff.
(06:46):
Stealing from George Corwin, Jonathan Corwin's father that
sacks loads the household goods and owing people and just debt
and just all these sort of things that really create a a
colorful, entertaining rogue, a roguish figure, and then
obviously a murderer. Obviously somebody who had a
(07:10):
very dangerous and checkered past.
That sort of it all came to a head by the time we were accused
of witchcraft. It was almost as if it was the
one thing that they could finally use to dispose of them.
Because. And this is the same in places
where witch hunt still exist in India and Africa at the moment
(07:32):
as we're sitting here talking accusations of witchcraft have
always been the easiest way to dispose of people for the petty
not for supernatural reasons at first or not for anything for
the petty mundane human reasons of jealousy land left petty
vengeance. It always happens in times of
(07:53):
socio economic pressure and bad economy, things like that.
It was sort of, you know, matterof time for all that to come
fighting Giles in the bone. My own version of Giles can
write the whole beginning of this book, which is simply a
kind of graphic novel adaption of this point that I found by
(08:13):
Henry Wisewith Longfellow calledCharles Corey of the Salem
Farms, in which he gives a portrayal of this man.
This Charles Corey is very, veryunlike any character that you
see in anything from Longfellow.Even his version of Miles
Standish is more you know how Standish you impale the head of
(08:34):
indigenous people on pipe is less grim and angry than version
of Charles Court. Part of what the book became
with an examination into why didthis character of Charles Court
speak to Longfellow in the this very tumultuous decade of the
1860, which not only the horrific dancer of Longfellow's
(08:59):
wife, but also the Civil War, which it suddenly listed in and
barely survived and social issueslavery that he was very, very
publicly immersed in. And so the book became over.
At the beginning, it was sort ofme going, Oh, well, I'll just do
a historically accurate version of Longfellow's play because as
(09:25):
I was looking at it, I was thinking, Oh, well, I have
access to all sorts of historical material that
Longfellow didn't have the agentpictures when all he had was, I
think booked witchcraft by Charles went with upper.
And so I was going through it and I thought, well, Charles
Cory didn't live on the Ipswich River.
Well, I'll just change that. And then over time, the
Longfellow bits got smaller and smaller.
(09:48):
My own bits got bigger and bigger.
Thanks. And no small part to realizing
that Mary FT was my ancestor. And the more you research, the
more you have an opinion of thatwhich are extremely troubling
and relevant and infuriating. You read the facts and you're
infuriated. Even the basic human level, the
(10:12):
injustice and the atrocity of itall and the the ways in which it
is still extremely politically relevant to these despotic
times. That's my rambling answer to
very simple question, sorry. No, we like, we don't consider
that rambling, so thanks. I've been working on this book
(10:34):
without talking about it, but it's kind of weird talking about
it. But thanks, yeah, I bet, I bet.
A lot of fun. Pre-order your copy of More
Weight from bookshop.org/shop/inWitch Hunts.
More Weight is intended for mature audiences.
And remember to meet us here next week for the next
installment of our interview with Ben about this incredible
(10:54):
work.
Popular Podcasts
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.
Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang
Ding dong! Join your culture consultants, Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang, on an unforgettable journey into the beating heart of CULTURE. Alongside sizzling special guests, they GET INTO the hottest pop-culture moments of the day and the formative cultural experiences that turned them into Culturistas. Produced by the Big Money Players Network and iHeartRadio.
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.