Did you know...
The Salem Witch Trials really happened! In 1692 two hundred people (and one dog) were accused of being witches. Thirty people were found guilty, nineteen were killed by hanging and one was pressed to death, while others died in the unhealthy conditions of the dungeons. The Salem Witch Trials are still known as one of the largest cases of mass hysteria in American History.
Did you know...
That Mal and his friends went to real locations in Salem that you can visit too! Check them out!
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Samuel Parris was the minister during the trials and many in Salem ultimately blamed him for inflaming the hysteria. He was the father to one of the afflicted girls and uncle to another. Tituba, the enslaved woman he owned, was one of the first accused. When she pled guilty and was released in payment for her jail fees Parris refused to pay, and Tituba was sold. Prior to the trials, Samuel Parris further caused consternation by buying expensive gold candlesticks and chalices…
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Sarah Good was one of the first three women accused of witchcraft, along with Tituba and Sarah Osborne, and was the first to testify in the courts. Many of her own words are found in Grounded, and you can still read her court transcript. Sarah was an outcast and an easy target. Her sentence of hanging was delayed because she was pregnant at the time of her trial. Her 4-year-old daughter, Dorcas, was also accused of witchcraft and spent nine months in the dungeons. Dorcas was never the same again, and Sarah was hanged.
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Giles Corey was pressed to death by large stones when he refused to participate in his own trial, but as stones were added all he would say was “More weight.” Giles Corey died without ever finishing his trial.
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Dante Alighieri was an Italian poet who wrote the Divine Comedy in 1308-1321. This long narrative poem consisted of three books: Inferno, Purgatorio and Paradiso. The nine circles in the Pit of Malachi’s home are in reference to the circles in Inferno. Dante wrote himself as the main character and some of the people he encountered in Hell were people he didn’t like in real life!
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Samhain (pronounced Sow-in) is an ancient pagan holiday that is the origin of today’s Halloween celebration. It is said to be the time when spirits, fairies, gods and other mythological creatures roam the mortal realm. Sean and Charity refer to Halloween as “Samhain,” because they and their families practice a somewhat fantastical form of Wicca, a modern pagan religion. Like it was for the ancient celts, Samhain marks the New Year and represents the biggest holiday of the year for Malachi.
