In researching our upcoming book, Spectral Evidence, my co-author Jude Pittman and I are coming face-to-face with a subject that has fascinated me since I twice appeared in theater productions of Arthur Miller's play, The Crucible-- the Salem Witch Trials.
How does the infamous American tragedy connect to a mystery set in Newfoundland of the same 1692 period? Well, the waterways..be they ocean, lake, river, or coastal were the highways of commerce then. Did you know there was a healthy trading network between the cod fisheries of Newfoundland and their American cousins in New England? Our story is of literal cousins, whose connected merchant families are from St. John's, Newfoundland, and Salem, Massachusetts.
Today's Salem is seeped in history. It's now a small, thriving town that has survived the infamy of its early history of puritan-on-puritan violence, pirates, whalers, murders, a great fire and several Hollywood invasions to become a destinations of thousands of tourists during the month of October. As if making amends for the intolerance of its earlier residents, Salem is also a welcoming home for all, including modern witches, historians, artists, writers, and the LGBTQ+ community.
Spending a witching hour in Salem might mean feeling the darkness gather about you as you tour one of the Witch trial judge's home, of feel a tug as your shawl from the ghost of Dorcas, the youngest of the accused, a 4 year old imprisoned girl said to be still searching for her hanged mother.
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| The Witch House, home of Judge Corwin, where the accused were questioned |
Visit the world-class Peabody Essex Museum to hear haunting melodies as you sit under beautifully carved sailing ships' mastheads, and the home that inspired Nathaniel Hawthorne to write The House of the Seven Gables. There are two (count 'em) pirate museums!
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| The Real Pirate Museum, where I learned what "Matelot" is |
There's even a tribute to actress Elizabeth Montgomery, who endeared herself to locals when she filmed the seventh season of her TV sitcom "Bewitched" in Salem.
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| (Almost) everybody loves the "Bewitched" bronze sculpture! |
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