Ministers Of The Mystery: Where PTSD and the Salem Witch Trials Meet

The Crossroads Where PTSD and the Salem Witch Trials Meet

Contributor: BookTrib
BookTrib
February 6, 2023 

Kathie Costos and Murray

The Scribe of Salem by Kathie Costos

Most people who have the slightest interest in the occult, hard-to-believe historical occurrences or early settlers of North America will be familiar with the Salem Witch Trials. In The Scribe of Salem: Ministers of the Mystery, the first book in the Ministers of the Mystery series, Kathie Costos takes readers on a wild fictional journey that has one foot in reality. Filled with suspense, historical intrigue, magic, and scripture, this supernatural thriller discusses the horrors of those legendary trials and how they impact the town to this day.

We spoke to Katie Costos about her inspiration for The Scribe of Salem, as well as her own personal connection with the infamous town.

Q: What first drew your attention to the Salem witch trials?

A: I grew up near Salem and at least once a year, I’d go there to visit the museums and walk what I called the trail of tears knowing so many innocent people were accused of witchcraft, imprisoned, tortured and 20 of them were legally murdered because of hatred by people claiming to be Christian. That most of the accusers were dealing with what we now call Post Traumatic Stress Disorder — PTSD.

Q: What kind of research did you do in writing this book?

A: The witchcraft trials have been a lifetime hobby but PTSD has been my vocation for 40 years. It is a battle between what is good within us that leaves us asking if God did it to us or if God saved us. I tried to look at the trials in a different way and discovered that they had to find something or someone to blame for the calamities they could not explain. They blamed Satan and outcasts at first but then greed and hatred took over so no one was safe. It made me wonder what finally got through to the people and the trials ended, as much as if God tried to prevent it from happening ahead of time.

Q: What can you tell us about Chris’s character and his journey?

A: Chris was brilliant but his mind could not stop his soul from being wounded after surviving a bomb blast leaving him covered with scars on the right side of his body, and the scars in his soul. He could begin to lose his faith in God and friends as PTSD was eating away at hope and was pushed over the edge after his wife tried to kill him. By the 7th anniversary of the blast, he had given up, and with no hope left, he decided to end his suffering on his terms but God had other ideas. The time had come for the reason he was sent to this world to begin. His friends came back into his life, strangers came into it and he followed where he was being led. He met a woman named Mandy, a Master Minister of the Mystery, able to see into his soul and guided by God to bless his healing so he could do what she was unable to do. read more here