Why Do Witches Wear Pointy Hats? The History Behind the Costume

America’s obsession with witches is older than the country itself. At first, it was rooted in fear, fueling false accusations of witchcraft, including those that led to the Salem witch trials. Beyond the courtroom, witches have been a steady presence in American culture through folk legends and local lore, fairy tales, Halloween traditions, and eventually,

The Salem Witch Trials 1692

With October just around the corner, Halloween and Salem Massachusetts often comes to mind. The city of Salem Massachusetts has a global perception for being a town of Halloween and witch related festivities. Part of this perception is tied to the Salem Haunted Happenings celebration that takes place here in Salem Massachusetts every October. This

Salem Tour Guide Recalls Spooky Encounter at Town’s Oldest Burial Ground

Life as a tour guide in Salem, Massachusetts has got to be quite the adventure. Even the mainstream history of that town is chock full of witches and evil spirits, and folks coming to visit are more likely to be looking for the spooky stuff than simple stories of maritime imports and hardworking colonists. For

Top Ten Ghosts and Cryptids Based on Witches

Among other magical abilities, witches in history have long been thought to consort with the dead. Be it with a Ouija Board at the height of the spiritualism movement or via the old, alleged maleficium, it’s easy to put witches and ghosts in a similar, mystical camp. However, every now and then, supposed witches do

Before America Had Witch Trials, Europe Had Werewolf Trials

Some 200 years before the witch trials in Salem, Massachusetts, courts in Europe were convicting men—and some women—of transforming into werewolves and mutilating and eating children. The punishments were sometimes as gruesome as the alleged crimes. In Germany in 1589, executioners strapped accused werewolf Peter Stumpp to a cart wheel, removed his skin with hot

Do You Know the Legend of New Hampshire Witch Eunice ‘Goody’ Cole?

New Hampshire’s Only Convicted Witch is Memorialized in Hampton I know we all know the history of Salem, Massachusetts, and it’s a popular tourist destination. But did you know that many, many years before the Salem Witch trials, the residents of New Hampshire tried a Eunice “Goody” Cole for witchcraft not once, but three times?

Celebrating The 400th Birthday Of Salem Witch Trials Victim Rebecca Nurse

In Arthur Miller’s “The Crucible,” the playwright notes that “gentleness exudes from” a sick, elderly woman named Rebecca Nurse. At age 71, Nurse became the oldest woman killed at the Salem witch trials of 1692 and 1693. About 200 people were tried for witchcraft in Puritan New England and 19 of them, mostly women, were

Preserving the maritime history of Swampscott and Salem, Massachusetts

Swampscott was historically a fishing village; founded in 1629, it was one of the country’s first coastal settlements. Heading north on Route 1A will bring you to Salem, which was once home to one of the most vital waterfronts in the country. NEEDHAM, Mass. Many of the towns of Boston’s upper North Shore have become

Witches on trial: Peabody Essex Museum displays rare documents and artifacts from Salem’s infamous past

“The Salem Witch Trials 1692,” which opened in late September at the Peabody Essex Museum, puts extremely rare and original witch trials documents on display for the first time in nearly 30 years. Tens of thousands, perhaps as many as 100,000 people accused as witches were burned at the stake in Europe between 1400 and

Peabody Essex Museum’s Gripping New Exhibition Shines a Spotlight on Salem Witch Trials

Drawing on rarely seen items from PEM’s sprawling collection, “The Salem Witch Trials 1692” tells the tragic, true stories behind one of New England’s most notorious events. The Salem witch trials threatened the very core of the early Massachusetts Bay Colony. The extraordinary hysteria involved more than 400 people and led to the deaths of