Thread by @MikeStuchbery_

So after a lot of thought, this September and October, my spooky tales and written articles for various outlets will be focusing on witchcraft, and the subsequent persecutions of the Early Modern Period... /1

Partly, this is because next week I'm moving to the very heartland of witch persecutions in Europe - southern Germany. Just a few U-Bahn stops away lies a village at the heart of a tragic 17th century series of trials... /2

We mostly understand the persecution of witches as manifesting in the four great panics - Trier, Fulda, Bamberg and Wuerzberg - during the 16th and 17th centuries.

We also have to acknowledge that there were many trials and executions in rural areas...

As such, I'll try to both cover the main witch panics, and tell some stories from areas that don't get as much attention, but are no less both tragic and fascinating in how they play out...

They are stories that are scarily relevant for the age in which we live, as mass hysteria and blind belief overcome reason and logic. In many ways, it's much scarier than any malignant supernatural force...

So I hope you enjoy them, and I hope that if you enjoy them, you consider passing them on, as something to fascinate and horrify. I certainly enjoy putting the pieces together.