You’ve seen the blonde hair. You’ve heard the siren song. Maybe you’ve even chanted "Amuck! Amuck! Amuck!" in your living room every October since 1993. On the surface, Sarah Sanderson is just the "pretty one" of the Sanderson sisters. She's the ditzy, flirtatious, spider-eating witch who seems more interested in playing with her "lucky rat tail" than actually helping Winifred secure immortality.
But let’s be real for a second. If you look past the corset and the hop-skipping, Sarah Sanderson is arguably the most lethal member of the coven.
She isn't just comic relief. While Winifred has the brains and Mary has the nose, Sarah has the power that actually gets the job done. Without her, the Sanderson sisters would have been three hungry hags stuck in a cottage with no life force to harvest.
The Siren of Salem: More Than Just a Pretty Face
Most people write Sarah off as an airhead. Winifred certainly does. But Sarah possesses a unique, innate magical ability that her sisters lack: hypnotic vocal manipulation.
When she hops on her broom (or a mop, or a vacuum) and sings "Come Little Children," she isn't just performing a catchy Disney tune. She is casting a wide-net mind control spell. In the original Hocus Pocus, we see her lure Emily Binx to her death in the prologue. Later, she hypnotizes the entire child population of Salem.
Think about that. One woman’s voice paralyzed the willpower of an entire city’s youth.
That’s not "airheaded" magic. That’s high-level sorcery. Fans often debate who the "strongest" sister is, and while Winifred has the manual of spells (the "Book"), Sarah is the one who functions as the coven's primary harvester. Without her song, they don't have the "raw materials" for their potion.
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Why she's "pure evil" (according to SJP)
Interestingly, Sarah Jessica Parker herself has described the character as "fundamentally evil." In various interviews over the decades, SJP has noted that while Sarah seems whimsical, she is "covertly scary." She doesn't have the ego of Winifred or the anxiety of Mary. She just wants to play, and in Sarah’s world, "playing" usually involves torture or soul-sucking.
The Weird Connection to Real Salem History
Here is something wild that sounds like a fake internet rumor but is 100% true.
While filming or researching her role, Sarah Jessica Parker discovered that she has a direct ancestral link to the real Salem Witch Trials. Her 10th great-grandmother was a woman named Esther Elwell.
In late 1692, a 17-year-old girl in Gloucester claimed she saw the "specters" of Esther and two other women choking a neighbor. Esther was arrested for witchcraft. Luckily for SJP’s family tree, the court was dissolved before she could be tried or executed, and she was released.
It makes the role of Sarah Sanderson feel a bit more like destiny than just a casting call.
The Deleted "Candy Crow" Plot
Ever wondered why the kids in 1693 were so easily lured, but in 1993 it seemed to take a bit more effort? There's a bit of "lost lore" here.
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Originally, the writers had a subplot involving "candy crows." The idea was that the witches would create magical sweets, and any child who ate one would be susceptible to Sarah’s siren song.
You can actually see remnants of this in the way Sarah interacts with children—she’s always tempting them. In the final cut, they leaned harder into the idea that her voice alone was the catalyst. It makes her more formidable, honestly. It turns her into a literal siren of the night.
Breaking Down the Iconic Look
Sarah’s aesthetic is a mess of textures that shouldn't work but somehow became the most popular Halloween costume of the last thirty years.
- The Hair: Platinum blonde, wildly wavy, and constantly changing length (a classic continuity error that fans now treat as "magical shifting").
- The Corset: A dusty pink and plum ensemble that was meant to look "seductive" in a 17th-century Puritan nightmare sort of way.
- The Beauty Mark: It moves! Look closely at the original film—the mole on Sarah's face changes sides. While some call it a mistake, it fits her chaotic, flighty personality perfectly.
She’s the only sister who truly embraces the "pretty" side of witchcraft. While Mary and Winnie look like they’ve been dragged through a hedge backwards, Sarah looks like she’s ready for a night out at the graveyard.
Sarah in Hocus Pocus 2: The Origin Story
The 2022 sequel gave us a glimpse into why Sarah is the way she is. We see the sisters as children in 1600s Salem, fleeing into the Forbidden Woods.
We learn that the sisters weren't born with their powers; they were "gifted" them by The Mother Witch (played by Hannah Waddingham). Young Sarah is shown as being just as playful and slightly detached as her adult counterpart.
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The sequel also reinforces the "coven" dynamic. A witch is nothing without her sisters. This explains why Sarah, despite being powerful enough to hypnotize a city, never strikes out on her own. She’s the heart—or maybe the libido—of the trio.
Actionable Takeaways for Superfans
If you're looking to dive deeper into the world of Sarah Sanderson, don't just stop at the movies.
- Check the Genealogy: If you’re a history buff, look into the case of Esther Elwell. It gives a chilling backdrop to SJP's performance.
- The "Come Little Children" Mystery: For years, people thought the lyrics were written by Edgar Allan Poe. They weren't. They were actually written specifically for the film by Brock Walsh. If you see a "Poe" poem with those lyrics, it's a modern misattribution.
- Costume Details: For cosplayers, notice the "spider" motifs. Sarah is often seen eating spiders or having web-like lace on her sleeves. It’s a subtle nod to her predatory nature.
Sarah Sanderson isn't just the "third sister." She’s the one who makes the Sanderson legacy possible. She’s the trap that the children of Salem never see coming because they’re too busy listening to her song.
Basically, don't let the "Amuck" chanting fool you. She’s the most dangerous person in the room.
To fully capture the Sarah Sanderson vibe for your next rewatch or event, focus on the details of her "Siren" abilities rather than just the airhead tropes. You can study the Brock Walsh lyrics to "Come Little Children" to understand the rhythmic hypnosis used in the film's arrangement, or research the 17th-century "Puritan onomastics" that influenced the naming of the sisters to see how "Sarah" (meaning princess) reflects her vanity.