More Weight: A Salem Story - by Ben Wickey (Paperback)

About the Book

"In Salem, Massachusetts, 1692 is a year of terror. When accusations of witchcraft plunge the community into paranoia and death, curmudgeonly farmer Giles Corey and his great-souled wife Martha are forced to confront their troubled pasts, fighting to hold onto their principles even at the cost of their lives. In the 1860s, famed writers Nathaniel Hawthorne and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow stroll the streets of Salem together, reflecting on their own dark connections to those wicked days. Today, graphic novelist Ben Wickey wrestles with the complex legacy of "the Witch City" and what it shows us about the best and worst of humanity. Based on true events, set in three centuries, and hand-drawn over a decade, More Weight is a stunning visual symphony -- a unique and profound inquiry into the infamous Salem witch trials and the long shadows they still cast on us all."--Provided by publisher.

Book Synopsis

"Every word is an accusation...and every whisper kills." This staggering graphic novel explores the infamous Salem witch trials and the long shadows they cast more than 300 years later.

In Salem, Massachusetts, 1692 is a year of terror. When accusations of witchcraft plunge the community into paranoia and death, curmudgeonly farmer Giles Corey and his great-souled wife Martha are forced to confront their troubled pasts, fighting to hold onto their principles even at the cost of their lives. In the 1860s, famed writers Nathaniel Hawthorne and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow stroll the streets of Salem together, reflecting on their own dark connections to those wicked days. Today, graphic novelist Ben Wickey wrestles with the complex legacy of "the Witch City" and what it shows us about the best and worst of humanity.

Based on true events, set in three centuries, and hand-drawn over a decade, More Weight is a stunning visual symphony -- a unique and profound inquiry into the infamous Salem witch trials and the long shadows they still cast on us all.

Review Quotes

"The most insightful, beautifully crafted, and impressively researched dramatization of America's founding frenzy that exists in any medium, and a perfect illustration of why bloody-minded Northampton men should never set foot in the New World. An appalling masterpiece." -- Alan Moore

★ "Shot through with tragedy and dark humor, this ambitious volume makes readers feel the weight of history." -- Publishers Weekly (starred review)

★ "A monumental graphic storytelling achievement." -- Foreword Reviews (starred review)

"Blending one century into another, Ben Wickey's gorgeous and stylized More Weight explores the Salem Witchcraft trials of 1692 and their subsequent meaning and message. This powerful graphic novel both intrigues the eye and strikes the heart, revealing the full horrors of what only seem to be familiar stories." -- Marilynne K. Roach (Six Women of Salem, The Salem Witch Trials: A Day-by-Day Chronicle)

"More Weight is wonderful! Ben Wickey's visual feast tells the poignant story of Giles and Martha Corey and Salem's witch trials, with some surprising twists and turns." -- Emerson W. Baker (A Storm of Witchcraft: The Salem Trials and the American Experience)

"Ben Wickey's graphic novel More Weight immerses the reader in the tragedy of the Witch-Hunt. His text and captivating illustrations show the reader that Salem's story did not end in 1692, examining how Hawthorne, Longfellow, and we today are all attempting to understand and find meaning in the nightmare." -- Daniel A. Gagnon (A Salem Witch: The Trial, Execution, and Exoneration of Rebecca Nurse)

"With the accuracy of an historian, Ben Wickey wields the texture and rhythm of his graphics to offer a cinematic panorama of the horrors and legacy of Salem through the centuries. This epic masterpiece deserves its place alongside the works of Spiegelman, Bechdel, and Gorey." -- Margo Burns (Records of the Salem Witch-Hunt)

"A searing, visually arresting reimagining of the Salem Witch Trials that dives headfirst into the psychological and societal tensions of 1692 and brings a fresh, visceral energy to an important historical event that's often been reduced to moral allegory." -- Comics Beat

"The art style shifts for each time period, tapping into the visual traditions of the respective eras to showcase Wickey's versatility as well as his commitment to historical detail. He drew this over the course of 10 years, and all of that work shines through in the final product: strong graphic composition, characterization that leaps off the page, immersive environments enhanced by evocative coloring and grayscale work, and expressive lettering that brings the voices to vivid life." -- AV Club

"Stunningly illustrated and meticulously researched... As it spirals toward its inevitable conclusion, the reader is forced, again and again, to confront the true costs of abandoning logic, reason, mercy, and justice." -- Book Riot

About the Author

Ben Wickey is a Massachusetts-born artist, writer, and animator who graduated from the California Institute of the Arts. He is one of the contributing illustrators of Alan Moore and Steve Moore's The Moon and Serpent Bumper Book of Magic, the illustrator of Ki Longfellow's The Illustrated Vivian Stanshall, and the director of several stop-motion animated short films, including the award-winning The House of the Seven Gables. In 2025, after a decade of development, he made his solo graphic novel debut with More Weight: A Salem Story. He lives in California with his beloved wife and cats.