Plot Synopsis

Based upon original transcripts from witnesses at the Salem Witch Trials and using expert interviews from historians and authors, WITCHES OF SALEM is a four-part docuseries that chronicles the mass hysteria that gripped Salem at that time, revealing how extreme beliefs can completely change how communities collectively think while unraveling the true story of palpable evil that the residents of this otherwise sleepy Massachusetts village endured in 1692. From reports of possession by the devil, to mass arrests, sensational trials and public hangings, each hour-long episode is an in-depth account of the eight months of fear, panic and horror that overtook Salem, revealing the truth behind this dark legacy in America's history.

When Puritan minister Samuel Parris' daughter, Betty, becomes afflicted with unexplainable fits, doctors try everything they can to heal her. But after medical measures don't work and the affliction appears to spread out of the Parris household to other young girls in the community, they assume that the cause is something far more sinister. Betty's claim that Parris' indentured servant, Tituba, was a witch and responsible for her suffering, started a mass hysteria that led to 20 men, women and children being killed in connection with the Salem Witch Trials. From 4-year-old girls to elderly women, from poor to privileged members of society, no one was safe from being named as a witch by the afflicted girls, whose words became more trusted than anyone else's in the community. WITCHES OF SALEM captures the events that unfolded and put the New England community under siege, as the delusion of demonic conspiracy spread.
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On Sunday, October 27, 2019 at 10pm ET/PT, Travel Channel premiered "Pray for Mercy," the season finale of WITCHES OF SALEM. Salem Village's former minister, George Burroughs, is convicted of being the devil's ringleader of the witches. The witch-hunt continues despite growing opposition. Finally the horrific trials stop after members of the elite are accused of witchcraft.