At last she came to a little house, and an old woman was peeping out of it, but she had such great teeth that the girl was terrified and about to run away, only the old woman called her back. “What are you afraid of, my dear child? Come and live with me, and if you do […]
Were witch’s gardens used by witches and herbalists in the middle ages?
To answer that question, you first have to answer the question “what is a witch?” If your concept of a witch is Miss Almira Gulch and her alter ego The Wicked Witch of the West from the Wizard of Oz, the answer is no. Besides, witches would have ridden their broomsticks naked and greased up.Witch […]
The Witches’ Field in Salem Village, Where the Wicked Gathered When George Burrough blew his horn
From the Salem Witchcraft Papers, Boyer and Nissenbaum, 1977 1st June 1692 Abigaile Hobbs then confessed before John Hathorn & Jonathan Corwin Esq’rs That the generall meeting of the Witches in the feild near Mr Parrisse’s house she saw Mr George Burroughs, Sarah Good, Sarah Osborne Bridgett Bishop als. Olliver & Giles Cory, two or […]
A Salem Walking Tour in Three Miles
Salem is a walking town, with Essex Street acting as the main pedestrian artery. If you’re spending the night in Salem, haunted hotels are the way to go. This walking tour assumes you’re staying at either the Hawthorne Hotel, or the Salem Inn, which lie at opposites ends of this walk. Both are historic, with […]
A Field Guide to visiting Salem, Massachusetts: From Witches to the Maritimes, to literary fame, a history lover’s dream
I’ll admit it, the first time I saw the sign announcing that I had arrived in Salem, I got chills up my spine. The Salem witch hunt was a real-life horror story, and usually the first one we learn as school children. If you grew up in the sixties, there’s a good chance that mood […]
The Bell Witch Cave and Cabin: An American haunting in the hills of Tennessee turns up tales of Kate, Betsy and old John Bell
“When we were kids, Jerry used to make fun of Doug Bell, making different names up based on Bell. Mainly Buggy Dell, along with hell’s bells. Dougie’s belly, shit like that. Anyway, one day here comes Doug and his dad, who informs us that Doug is going to kick our asses for making fun of […]