I have to admit that my expectations for Salem Witch Museum were not high.

However, the museum did a great job of presenting the story of the 1692 witch trials in Salem, using life-sized dioramas (stage sets) with a recorded sound and light presentation, followed up with sound education on evolving perceptions of witches.

As you exit (via the well-stocked gift shop), you’re invited to consider the serious formula of a witch hunt: Fear + Trigger = Scapegoat, including modern examples (Japanese American internment, the AIDS epidemic, etc.).

The complicated events surrounding the witch trials, such a famous part of early American history, inspire many questions (fundamental among them, “How could this happen?”). The Salem Witch Museum is a good place to start to understand, and a visit can be as light or as heavy as you choose to make it.

Salem Witch Museum is museum no. 27 in my #100museums challenge (see 100 Museums Challenge).