A History of Terrifying Women: Author Eleanor Johnson on Her New Book, Monstrous Bitch

Medievalist and Columbia professor Dr. Eleanor Johnson joins us to trace the 4,000-year lineage behind her new book, Monstrous Bitch, connecting ancient Mesopotamian demon Lamashtu to Greek and Roman lamiae, medieval and early modern witch persecutions, and modern horror cinema. We follow how patriarchal cultures repeatedly weaponized a recurring “triptych” of accusations—women’s voices, sexuality or predation, and reproductive autonomy—turning mythic monstrosity into the idea that any woman could be a witch, and later reshaping the figure into the vampire. We also confront the terror of heritable witchcraft accusations, including Salem’s Sarah Good and Dorothy Good, and discuss the devil-contract conspiracy framework in Christian witch ideology, alongside historical opponents who challenged it. Johnson highlights recent films that reinterpret the “monstrous bitch” as feminist resistance, and shares release details for Monstrous Bitch (Oct. 6), her Eleanor’s Horrors Substack, and the paperback edition of Scream With Me.

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A History of Terrifying Women_ Author Eleanor Johnson on Her New Book, Monstrous Bitch Download

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A History of Terrifying Women: Author Eleanor Johnson on Her New Book, Monstrous Bitch

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