I first read this at university as part of my gothic module for English. It’s a story I’ve gone back to multiple times since. Lois, an English girl who is sent to live with her Puritan uncle in Salem after the death of her parents, is of course not a witch. The title foretells that Lois is going to be a fish out of water in that schismatic community, who follow beliefs and practices so alien to the Christianity she knew in England.

Lois is tolerated by her aunt and cousins to begin with, but gradually, as witch-fever spreads through the town, they learn they can use an accusation of witchcraft to get rid of anyone that threatens their ways or desires. Lois watches in horror as a young Native American girl called Hota is accused of witchcraft, not realising her fear of the girl and whatever powers she might have is misplaced. Jealous of the male attention Lois has been receiving, her cousins begin mimicking fits and attacks in a bid to pin the blame on Lois. Lois is like the frog, slowly being boiled alive, as her situation becomes more and more hostile. This is a powerful story about how the true horrors are found in human cruelty, rather than in anything supernatural. Although this was published in 1865, this story feels like it could have been written a hundred years later. Indeed, maybe it was… (cough, Crucible, ahem…)

First published in Cousin Phyllis and Other Tales, 1865