Was This Child-Eating Witch Based on a Real Woman?
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Deep in the English countryside lurks Black Annis, a blue-faced hag said to devour children. But behind the terrifying legend lie real historical clues, a mysterious cave, and a medieval recluse named Agnes Scott. What’s the truth behind this infamous monster?
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Written and Hosted by: Dr. Emily Zarka
Creative Director: David Schulte
Executive Producer: Amanda Fox
Executive Producer: Dr. Emily Zarka
Producer: Thomas Fernandes
Editor/Animator: Steven Simone
Illustrator: Samuel Allan
Executive in Charge (PBS): Maribel Lopez
Director of Programming (PBS): Gabrielle Ewing
Assistant Director of Programming (PBS): John Campbell
Additional Footage: Shutterstock
Music: APM Music
Produced by Spotzen for PBS Digital Studios.
Follow us on Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/monstrumpbs
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Bibliography
“Black Annis.” Encyclopedia of Fairies in World Folklore and Mythology, 2013.
Cobbett, William Au. History of the Protestant Reformation in England and Ireland. Loreto Publications, 2019.
Chalk, Mike. Leicestershire and Rutland Folk Tales. The History Press Limited, 2013.
Hutton, Ronald. The Triumph of the Moon: A History of Modern Pagan Witchcraft. Oxford University Press, 1999.
Jones, Karen, and Michael Zell. “‘The Divels Special Instruments’: Women and Witchcraft before the ‘Great Witch-Hunt.’” Social History, vol. 30, no. 1, February 2005, pp. 45–63.
Mackenzie, Donald A. Myths of Crete and pre-Hellenic Europe. Gresham Publishing Company, 1917.
Mulder-Bakker, Anneke B. Lives of the Anchoresses: The Rise of the Urban Recluse in Medieval Europe. University of Pennsylvania Press, 2005.
Parish, Debra. Prophets and Witches: Witchcraft, Gender and Politics in Revolutionary England. Routledge, 2026.
Phillips, Tom. “Black Annis.” Leicestershire Folk Tales for Children, The History Press Limited, 2018.
Stringer, Helen M. “The ‘Secret Closet of My Soule’: The Role of the Anchoritic Impulse in Protestant Female Spirituality in Late Reformation England.” The Sixteenth Century Journal, vol. 56, no. 3, September 2025, pp. 513–33.
Williams, M. A. Ireland’s Immortals: A History of the Gods of Irish Myth. Princeton University Press, 2016.
Salisbury, Chris. Folk Tales of the Night: Stories for Campfires, Bedtime and Nocturnal Adventures. The History Press Limited, 2023.
Deep in the English countryside lurks Black Annis, a blue-faced hag said to devour children. But behind the terrifying legend lie real historical clues, a mysterious cave, and a medieval recluse named Agnes Scott. What’s the truth behind this infamous monster?
*****
PBS Member Stations rely on viewers like you. To support your local station, go to: http://to.pbs.org/DonateStoried
*****
Written and Hosted by: Dr. Emily Zarka
Creative Director: David Schulte
Executive Producer: Amanda Fox
Executive Producer: Dr. Emily Zarka
Producer: Thomas Fernandes
Editor/Animator: Steven Simone
Illustrator: Samuel Allan
Executive in Charge (PBS): Maribel Lopez
Director of Programming (PBS): Gabrielle Ewing
Assistant Director of Programming (PBS): John Campbell
Additional Footage: Shutterstock
Music: APM Music
Produced by Spotzen for PBS Digital Studios.
Follow us on Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/monstrumpbs
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bibliography
“Black Annis.” Encyclopedia of Fairies in World Folklore and Mythology, 2013.
Cobbett, William Au. History of the Protestant Reformation in England and Ireland. Loreto Publications, 2019.
Chalk, Mike. Leicestershire and Rutland Folk Tales. The History Press Limited, 2013.
Hutton, Ronald. The Triumph of the Moon: A History of Modern Pagan Witchcraft. Oxford University Press, 1999.
Jones, Karen, and Michael Zell. “‘The Divels Special Instruments’: Women and Witchcraft before the ‘Great Witch-Hunt.’” Social History, vol. 30, no. 1, February 2005, pp. 45–63.
Mackenzie, Donald A. Myths of Crete and pre-Hellenic Europe. Gresham Publishing Company, 1917.
Mulder-Bakker, Anneke B. Lives of the Anchoresses: The Rise of the Urban Recluse in Medieval Europe. University of Pennsylvania Press, 2005.
Parish, Debra. Prophets and Witches: Witchcraft, Gender and Politics in Revolutionary England. Routledge, 2026.
Phillips, Tom. “Black Annis.” Leicestershire Folk Tales for Children, The History Press Limited, 2018.
Stringer, Helen M. “The ‘Secret Closet of My Soule’: The Role of the Anchoritic Impulse in Protestant Female Spirituality in Late Reformation England.” The Sixteenth Century Journal, vol. 56, no. 3, September 2025, pp. 513–33.
Williams, M. A. Ireland’s Immortals: A History of the Gods of Irish Myth. Princeton University Press, 2016.
Salisbury, Chris. Folk Tales of the Night: Stories for Campfires, Bedtime and Nocturnal Adventures. The History Press Limited, 2023.
