Last week we looked at a fungus, ergot, as possibly being behind the stories of werewolves. It is a suspect in another strange case in human history - the Salem witch trials.
The word Salem still sends a shiver up the spine because people struggle to explain the strange goings-on in this American town. It seems that between February 1692 and May 1693, the whole area descended into madness. By the end of it, more than 150 people had been arrested, five had died in prison and 20 had been executed. It all started when the daughter of a priest and her cousin began behaving strangely.
Betty Paris, nine, and Abigail Williams 11, began to have fits. They would make strange sounds, throw things around, crawl under furniture and twist their bodies into strange shapes. They said someone was pinching them and pricking them with pins. But the doctor found nothing wrong with them.
Soon, other girls in the village began to do the same thing. People began to suspect witchcraft was at work. Three women were arrested - Sarah Good, who was homeless and begged for food; Sarah Osborne, who did not go to church and had sex outside of marriage; and Tituba, a slave woman.
Nobody defended the accused. But others were arrested when they spoke out about the charges. These included women who had been devout members of the church. Soon everyone feared their neighbours or their family had somehow been involved in worshipping the devil.
Being a good Christian, it seemed, was no guarantee that they were good people.