On this date in 1692 the famous Salem witch trials executed five people, one woman and four men, who were convicted of witchcraft (even though that’s open to debate…let’s ask Christine O’Donnell for her expert opinion). The accusations continued into the next month as eight more people were hanged. What’s worse than a public execution you ask (or say a public pressing)? Well, let me tell you! I’d rather be falsely accused of witchcraft than say, I don’t know…have to visit the Salem Witch Museum again. Yes, about 10 years ago I was not yet bitter and still a bit naive to the world, which explains why I fell for this godawful tourist trap. Actually the whole town is bad with the Witch Dungeon Museum, Spellbound Museum, Wax Museum of Witches & Seafarers and New England Museum of Pirates. One memory that sticks out in my mind is painfully standing in a room full of mannequins and strangers listening to pre-recorded audio of the witch trial history. It felt like it was never going to end, but it finally did when some dude burned a witch mannequin. Paying money to “hear” mannequins tell stories in a room with no real collection to speak of makes me want to call the museum police so their “museum” title can be taken away. Yeah, that’s all I could come up with. I’m not a witch! I’m not a witch!
Salem Witch Museum, Massachusetts
