You're listening to Imaginary Worlds. Show about how we create them and why we

suspend our disbelief. I'm Eric Milinski. Alright, here we are.

Salam. One of the great things about growing up in Massachusetts was taking

school trips to Salem. I know for a lot of people out there, Salem is like

something out of a grim fairy tale. It's not a real place. But for us,

Salem was visceral. The colonial houses flush up against the streets, the

ancient graveyards. I went up with my wife Serena. She's from the Bay Area. She'd

never been there. And right when we parked our car, we came across these local

girls wearing puret and costumes. And one of them was holding a cloth baby,

which had no face. Baby Rebecca. Yeah, it looks stuff like her mother. Yeah.

She got us. Thanks to her. Yeah, the witches have taken her face away.

What's your name, sir? My name is Abigail Robinson. Goodie Carlisle.

They perform witch trials for the tourists. We do a cryanism, which is a

reenactment of Bridget Bishop's witch trial. She was the first of the 19 to be

hanged in 1692. Then the audience plays a puret and jury. So they get to ask

questions of the accused of Colonel John Hawthorne, who's conducting the trial

and then at the end, everybody votes. And majority rules, we either vote to hold

Bridget for formal trial on charge of witchcraft or release her. Our destination

that day was the Salem Wax Museum. The one that I used to go to as a kid was

like unnecessarily awesome. I know these are memories from elementary school in

junior high, but I swear they would lead us into an amphitheater, which was pitch

black. And the only thing lit up was a pentagram on the floor. And then this

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