- Critical Dissonance: The reaction of the actual Inquisition to most of the practices and theories detailed in the book was basically You Have GOT to Be Kidding Me! Even the Pope who at first endorsed the attempt roundly condemned it once he actually got around to reading it. However, laymen who got a hold of it were so impressed (and terrified) that they took it to heart.
- Older Than They Think: As said in the main article, the Malleus Malleficarum was actually a sort of Genre Relaunch for the witch-hunting manuals of its time. There were already books like Practica inquisitionis heretice pravitatis (1324), Directorium Inquisitorum (1376), Formicarius (1435) and Fortalitium Fidei (1458) which explained what witchcraft was (often considered a form of heresy) and how to counter it through inquisitorial work.
- Values Dissonance: This book was very misogynistic for its day, to the point of considering any independent and unmarried woman to be in league with the Devil.
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