The Strange Case of Hellish Nell: The Story of Helen Duncan and the Witch Trial of World War II

by Nina Shandler

The fascinating story of Britain's World War II witchcraft trial of Helen Duncan, the grandmother who conducted seances, and had a knack for revealing military secrets

Genres: Nonfiction, True Crime, Biography, History, Witchcraft

312 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 25, 2006

Reviews

[Jo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Helen Duncan, a Scottish medium, was the last woman to be tried for witchcraft in Britain. In 1944!! When she started revealing Allied secrets whilst in a trance, authorities knew they had to do something to stop her. It's a fascinating case and you can see both sides of the story. I didn't totally get on with the author's writing and there were one or two niggles but, overall, Nell's story was put across well.

[Kathleen McRae · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book not terribly well written but full of interesting information

[Kate · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this after I finished Erik Larson's Devil in the White City, which in retrospect was a mistake--Shandler's project is similar, i.e., to recount a true event as accurately as possible but in a more readable novel-type format, but Larson is vastly better at this and Shandler's book suffers all the more by comparison. From the incredibly distracting endnote format she chose to the poor editing of the book (there are several grammatical errors that any competent high-school English teacher would've caught) to the lack of clarity about some of Shandler's methods of sorting fact from fiction (Larson did well to try to set out his plan in the introduction to his book), the reader is left constantly distracted and the story itself suffers tremendously. What could have been a fascinating recounting of a twentieth-century witchcraft trial becomes, instead, a second-rate mishmash. Very unsatisfying.

[Sally · Rating 2 out of 5]

A disappointing read. The story, about a woman who was tried and convicted under an 18th century witchcraft law, is interesting, but the writing isn't very good. It seems as though Helen Duncan, the Hellish Nell of the title, was psychically gifted and exploited by her husband as a medium so he wouldn't have to work. As part of her mediumship she was often stripped naked and examined to make sure she hadn't secreted anything up one of her bodily cavities. "Hellish Nell" was what her mother called her, especially after she bore a child out of wedlock, and was not a name associated with her adulthood. She ran afoul of the law when she accurately told some of her customers that a British ship had sunk recently (this was during WWII) and the government was trying to keep it quiet. She was basically tried and convicted so none of her other presentiments might cause embarrassment to the government. The writer may have done a lot of research bur her "recreation" of the trial is annoying as is her continuously denigrating how heavy Helen Duncan was, always describing her as lumbering or waddling. I wouldn't recommend it.

[Joan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Surprisingly detailed about the many secrets of Winston Churchill and how he used the Power Brokers to conttol the masses. Nothing has changed in 100 years. What’s old is new, and what’s new is old. Authentic gifted Nell was abused by her husband and forced into the public for cash. But it backfired because she was revealing messages from newly deceased soldiers with accurate descriptions of how awful war is. What war is good?

[Jane · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nina had obviously done some research and good on her and I found a few facts that I didn't know. Wasn't taken with the book. More of a diary book.

[William · Rating 5 out of 5]

A curious story.

[Peter Lindsay · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book about a Scottish Spiritualist took time to appreciate. At first I felt that the author was writing a script with the kind of cliched imagery she was using from WWII, but eventually that feeling faded to the background. It's true merit is in the appraoch. Shandler has done a great deal of investigation and deserves credit for piecing together an interesting (the last British witch trial) story from so many disparate sources.

[Laurel Kathleen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had no idea this woman even existed: who could have possibly thought that in the midst of a world war a psychic medium would be put on trial for witchcraft? The descriptions of her abilities are compelling, and the wartime intrigue factor is high. You couldn't make this stuff up!

[R. Jr. · Rating 5 out of 5]

loved the book, read it a couple of years ago. great imagery of the bombing of London, and excellent descriptions of the psychic scene of the time. this is an excellent history, and a good summer read. better than some paranormal fiction because this actually happened in WWII London.

[Ainsley · Rating 1 out of 5]

I have no doubt that the story of a woman prosecuted for witchcraft in World War II Britain would make a fascinating study. Unfortunately, this poorly written book is not it.

[Kenneth Flusche · Rating 5 out of 5]

an easy read of a crazy story......The flashbacks make since.....a good read thanks to the person who recomended this one as I would not have choosen it for myself.