Pyewacket was said to be one of the familiar spirits of a convicted witch accused by the claimed Witchfinder General Matthew Hopkins in March 1644 in the town of Manningtree, Essex, England.
Hopkins claimed he spied on the witches as they held their meeting close by his house, and heard them mention the name of a local woman.
She was arrested and deprived of sleep for four nights, at the end of which she confessed and called out the names of her familiars, describing the forms in which they should appear.
Fantasy author Dianne Sylvan’s “Shadow World” series features a Wiccan character, Stella, whose cat is named Pyewacket after the film.
In “Death at a Dive Bar”, a mystery game by Hunt-a-Killer, the cats of a local woman described as a witch are named Pyewacket and Vinegar Tom.