History Main / SalemIsWitchCountry

Well, more accurately, it's famous for the Witch ''Trials'' of [[UsefulNotes/TheThirteenAmericanColonies 1692–63]], in which bizarre behavior amongst the town's children led to a massive outbreak of hysteria, which led to townspeople [[WitchHunt accusing their neighbors of being witches]], which led to various arrests and trials, which led to a number of hangings. The episode is often held up as one of the greatest instances of mass hysteria and moral panic in American history, and the search for a reasonable explanation behind it has pointed to everything from an outbreak of ergotism to "People just be crazy, y'all."

[[caption-width-right:350:An actual Salem postcard]]
So what is Salem, Massachusetts famous for? Witches. Well, more accurately, it's famous for the Witch ''Trials'', a period when bizarre behavior amongst the children led to a massive uptick in hysteria, which led to everyone accusing their neighbors of being witches, which led to a number of hangings. It's often held up as one of the greatest examples of mass hysteria and moral panics in American history, and the search for a reasonable explanation behind it has pointed to everything from an outbreak of ergotism to "People just be crazy, y'all."

However, one way or another, Salem has become associated with witchcraft. These days, it means the city enjoys a renaissance amongst the [[UsefulNotes/NeoPaganism neo-pagan]] community, who have set up shop there en masse. But in popular culture, it means that there are {{functional magic}} users, for good will or ill, who have been in Salem for quite a time, perhaps even dating back to the time of the Witch Trials.

If the author [[CriticalResearchFailure does not do any research]] about the trials, the people that were tried as witches will be shown as being [[BurnTheWitch burnt at the stake]][[note]] those convicted were hanged while [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giles_Corey Giles Corey]] was crushed to death because he refused to plead to the charges[[/note]] or only women will be depicted as the victims of the WitchHunt[[note]] more of the victims were women but several men were also arrested and/or killed[[/note]].

Some overlap with LovecraftCountry may occur; in fact, Lovecraft himself set some stories in Salem and in [[NoCommunitiesWereHarmed Arkham]], a fictional town that's suspiciously like it. Will often involve a NewEnglandPuritan, as these were the ones running the witch trials. RoswellThatEndsWell is very similar, only with {{alien|Tropes}}s instead of witches.

* Creator/HPLovecraft was fond of dropping references to the Salem Witch Trials into his works, implying that characters such as Richard Upton Pickman had familial connections to genuine Salem witches.

* Another ''Scooby-Doo'' project ''WesternAnimation/ScoobyDooAndTheWitchsGhost'' does something similar. It uses a Salem stand-in named Oakhaven with its own witch trials that, up to and including the entire town being in on [[ScoobyDooHoax the hoax of the day]]. However thing is though, witches are still real in this movie's universe (more specifically there are evil witches and good ones called "Wiccans", with a good helping of ArtisticLicenseReligion for good measure) and the titular witch's ghost even shows up for real in the climax. [[spoiler: It's also best described as sort of the inverse of ''Paranorman'''s twist (see below), since she was presented as a misunderstood Wiccan at first...[[UnreliableNarrator but that turns out to be a lie]]. ]]

* ''Series/MotherlandFortSalem'': In the show, there really were at least some witches in Salem. They made a pact with the Massachusetts Colony to end persecution, fighting with the militia. It then carried over with the USA, and now in modern times they serve with the US Army, their basic training being done at the titular fort.

* The main character of ''Literature/ADiscoveryOfWitches'' is Diana, the last witch in a long line of Bishop witches who can trace their history back to the first woman executed in Salem. Her father, Stephen Proctor's ancestor John was also executed in Salem. Diana's aunt Emily Mather is a descendant of Cotton Mather, who played an influential role in the trials.

** One history assignment Harry had to work on during summer features a witch who not only could resist being burned but enjoyed it so much she intentionally exposed herself as a witch to experience it at least ''70'' times.

* Creator/StephenKing's Jerusalem's Lot (or Salem's Lot for short) also seems to be based on Salem, at least in name. The short story ''Jerusalem's Lot'' shows occult things going on in the town, while it's main appearance in ''Salem's Lot'' is more focused on vampires.

* In ''Series/TheAddamsFamily'' episode "Halloween—Addams Style", Wednesday is crushed to hear from a neighbor that witches aren't real. So the family holds a seance in an effort to summon the spirit of Aunt Singe, an ancestor and a real witch who was burned at Salem.

* This [[http://youtu.be/Uj0VtiGp4Hw sketch]] from ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'' plays the [[KangarooCourt unfairness of the trials]] for laughs. [[spoiler: Then at the end, the hand of the accused starts [[HolyBurnsEvil burning at the touch of a bible]] and he starts [[ShockAndAwe throwing lightning bolts]]. He is quickly found not guilty as the court runs away in fear.]]

* Ironically subverted by the RealLife Salem, Massachusetts, in that the historical Salem Witch Trials did ''not'' take place there. They happened in Salem ''Village'', now called Danvers, which is about 14 miles from the city of Salem. (Hasn't stopped Salem from cashing in on its "witchy" reputation's tourist value, though.)
** Danvers would still gain some spooky history to undeniably call its own, though. Namely, it's the site of the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danvers_State_Hospital Danvers State Hospital]], a mental hospital that was designed to ''not'' be a BedlamHouse but, due to lack of funding and overcrowding, degenerated into one anyway. It's said to have been the birthplace of the {{lobotomy}}, as well as the inspiration for Creator/HPLovecraft's Arkham Sanatorium (which in turn inspired Arkham Asylum from the ComicBook/{{Batman}} comics), and it has a very storied reputation for being haunted (the film ''Film/{{Session 9}}'' was set there). Incidentally, it was built on the hill where John Hathorne, the judge of the Salem witch trials, had once lived. The place was progressively shut down between 1969 and 1992; what's left has since been renovated into an apartment complex.

Some overlap with LovecraftCountry may occur; in fact, Lovecraft himself set some stories in Salem and in [[NoCommunitiesWereHarmed Arkham]], a fictional town that's suspiciously like it. RoswellThatEndsWell is very similar, only with {{alien|Tropes}}s instead of witches.

* The "The Witch is Back" episode of ''Series/{{Charmed}}'' shows that one of the Halliwell ancestors was [[CriticalResearchFailure lined up to be burned at the stake in Salem]].

* In the YA ReincarnationRomance novel [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin ''Reincarnation'']], one of the two lovers' lifetimes takes place in Salem during the witch trials. The girl is accused of witchcraft and [[ArtisticLicenseHistory burned at the stake]], giving her a fear of fire throughout the rest of her lifetimes.

* Mentioned in various {{Noodle Incident}}s on ''Series/SabrinaTheTeenageWitch'' including the name of the [witch which is being punished by having [[BalefulPolymorph been transformed into]] a] cat, Salem. Although ironically enough when Sabrina's high school has a FieldTrip to the actual Salem in "The Crucible" episode, the fact that there were no witches in Salem is hammered home.

* ''Film/HocusPocus'' is about three witches, hanged in Salem, who are resurrected in TheNineties. Their backstory really doesn't fit with the historical record at all, unless they were supposed to be some separate case of suspected witchcraft.

However, one way or another, Salem has become associated with witchcraft. These days, it means the city enjoys a renaissance amongst the [[UsefulNotes/NeoPaganism neo-pagan]] community, who have set up shop there en masse. But in popular culture, it means that there are actual magic users, for good will or ill, who have been in Salem for quite a time, perhaps even dating back to the time of the Witch Trials.

[[AC:AnimeAndManga]]

[[AC:ComicBooks]]

[[AC:{{Film}}]]

* In ''Film/TheSorcerersApprentice'', one of Morgana's followers is Abigail Williams, one of the original accusers at the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abigail_Williams witch trials]] and herself a sorcerer.

[[AC:{{Literature}}]]

[[AC:LiveActionTV]]

[[AC:TabletopGames]]

[[AC:{{Theatre}}]]

[[AC:VideoGames]]

[[AC:WebComics]]

[[AC:WebOriginal]]

[[AC:WesternAnimation]]

[[AC:RealLife]]

** The miniseries ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spellbinders Spellbinders]]'' is set around a fictional Salem high school called John Hawthorne High School where magic is accepted as a fact. A large part of the plot revolves around the rivalries between magical students (wicks) and non-magical students (blanks), and between the various covens.
** ''Comicbook/TheTombOfDracula'' depicted the events in Salem as the result of the [[VampireMonarch Lord of the Vampires]] manipulating the villagers into killing one another in order to avenge {{Drac|ula}}'s mistreated former love interest.

* ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 4}}'', taking place in and around UsefulNotes/{{Boston}} and eastern Massachusetts, has Salem as a location on the map, and the local witch trial museum is the subject of [[NightmareFuel one of the scariest sidequests in the game]].

* Averted in ''Webcomic/SomethingPositive'': a girl from a UsefulNotes/{{Wicca}}n coven [[http://somethingpositive.net/sp04242002.shtml claims to remember]] her [[{{Reincarnation}} past life]] of being burned at the stake at Salem. Davan calls her out on it.

* The ''Salem's Daughter'' series published by Zenescope Entertainment is a [[WeirdWest supernatural western]] that features [[http://www.comicvine.com/anna-williams/4005-78765/issues-cover/ Anna Williams]], a witch living in Salem who hides her inherited powers in the fear of sparking another WitchHunt two hundred years after the original trials.