About the author
Laura Levine is the author of Afterlives of Endor: Witchcraft, Theatricality, and Uncertainty from the Malleus Maleficarum to Shakespeare, published by Cornell University Press. The book examines how early modern English literature and drama engaged with anxieties about witchcraft and theatrical performance, asking what determined whether a demonologist or playwright presented a trial or a possession as spectacle, and what assumptions shaped those choices. It reads witchcraft accounts alongside the era's stagecraft, tracing a line from the witch-hunting manual the Malleus Maleficarum through to Shakespeare's treatment of witches and the supernatural. The book is an academic literary study rather than a general history or practice guide, aimed at readers of early modern English literature, drama, and the cultural history of witchcraft and its representation on stage.
📖 Where to start with Laura Levine
💬 What our editors say about Laura Levine's books
“Levine delivers an incisive study that meticulously dissects the interplay between literature and demonology, offering a compelling look at how early modern writers defined the supernatural. However, readers seeking accessible…”
Esoterica Books editorial team, Occult literature desk · on Afterlives of Endor: Witchcraft, Theatricality, and Uncertainty from the Malleus Maleficarum to Shakespeare
“Levine provides a rigorous academic exploration of the rhetorical strategies shaping perceptions of the supernatural in early modern England. While the text is intellectually stimulating for specialists in demonology or literary…”
Esoterica Books editorial team, Occult literature desk · on Afterlives of Endor: Witchcraft, Theatricality, and Uncertainty from the Malleus Maleficarum to Shakespeare
