Waiting for Guffman was co-written with Eugene Levy (although much was improvised) and directed by Christopher Guest. This is Chris' second honorable mention, after For Your Consideration.
Hi, Salem Massachusets is a really fun place to visit, but while you’re listening to the accordion-playing werewolf and eating your caramel apple, please also remember the names of the people who died there in 1692-3, most of whom were executed by a corrupt justice system for a crime that didn’t actually exist:
Bridget Bishop
George Burroughs
Martha Carrier
Giles Corey
Martha Corey
Lydia Dustin
Mary Eastey
Ann Foster
Sarah Good
Unnamed infant of Sarah Good
Elizabeth Howe
George Jacobs
Susannah Martin
Rebecca Nurse
Sarah Osborne
Alice Parker
Mary Parker
John Proctor
Ann Pudeator
Wilmot Redd
Margaret Scott
Roger Toothaker
Samuel Wardwell
Sarah Wildes
John Willard
There are two memorials in town, one at the Charter Street cemetery, and the other at the site of the executions on Pope Street. Please visit them.
I don't want to be a wet blanket, I love Halloween in pretty much all its ways of being... but when the decorative merch, t-shirts, etc, come out each year with the "witch this," "salem that" all emblazoned with "est 1692"...
Well, it always sort of leaves a bad taste in my mouth... because in the village in that year something really horrible happened.
Whether because of politics, land grabs, ageism/sexism, personal vendettas, economic competition, or ergot poisoned rye grain causing hallucinations and faulty thinking, it was all wrapped up in religious zeal and innocents were murdered.
So, every year at our Samhain program, I say their names and light a candle.