Is it a simple beast? A nature spirit? A forest god? A demon, or even the Devil himself? The potential for mass slaughter is only tempered when he meets, and eventually befriends, the farmer's young widow, Abitha, a woman from England who is not of Puritan stock and who secretly holds a bit of magic in her soul.

For a time, he -- she names him Samson, for lack of a better name -- seems to be discovering a good, almost godly nature, reveling as a benign earth spirit, ripening crops and summoning bees to make honey. And he forms a close bond with Abitha, a solitary figure in a brutal landscape who is left alone after her husband's death and who suffers the scorn of the townsfolk who mistrust a woman alone in the wilderness.

But there are other spirits, weird and unsettling, that urge him to bathe the land in blood. And he catches glimpses of a past that suggest that blood is his destiny. Or, perhaps, as a Native American shaman seems to be telling him, his destiny is to sleep, to rest and escape the horrors of long ago.

But the Puritan folk of nearby Sutton Village are easily led into accusations of witchcraft, especially when Abitha's greedy brother-in-law seeks to claim her land for his own. When she is threatened and tortured in God's name, Samson's inner rage is ignited.

Slewfoot is a fascinating book, rich in historical detail from a place and time when people did horrible things in the cause of their religion. Brom borrows heavily from the Salem playbook, with young girls having hysterical fits -- possibly playacting -- in order to make accusations (and gain a bit of notoriety in the process) and an accused witch being pressed under the weight of heavy stones to elicit a confession.

The plot moves at a slow and steady pace for much of the book. The last act is, perhaps, a bit too frantic, but it certainly embraces the book's horror element.

Ultimately, Slewfoot raises the question whether, when people torment and torture another in the name of God, is it possible they will summon -- or even create -- the devils they fear?

A gallery of eight lush, highly detailed illustrations by Brom depict several of the key characters. It's a nice, if unnecessary, touch.