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PaperclipPerfector  4d ago (text post)   2642 thread views

Friday Fun Thread for October 23, 2026

Be advised: this thread is not for serious in-depth discussion of weighty topics (we have a link for that), this thread is not for anything Culture War related. This thread is for Fun. You got jokes? Share 'em. You got silly questions? Ask 'em.

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It's handy shorthand for motivation. Nearly everyone has heard of the Salem Witch Trials, if you give the explanation as "the witch is seeking revenge for being murdered then", it is something the audience can accept, particularly if you're trying to root your movie in real-world events. Making up a witch character who died in a fictitious town on some obscure date works for an admittedly fictional story, but if you're trying to sell "this all happened to real people" then that's not good enough.

No the ghost in question is a descendant of the witch that died in the Salem witch trials. I just can't get over to anyone that made up that story either thinks the Salem witch trials caught actual witches or thinks the person they're talking to think that the Salem witch trials caught actual witches, when by this point it should be well-known that even if witches existed, the one place they weren't was at the Salem witch trials (being executed). That's why when people call things a "Witch Hunt" they don't mean a righteous crusade against practitioners of black magic, they mean a spurious moral panic.

I watched a movie recently, (spoilering the name because just being mentionned in this conversation kind of spoils the "twist") The Autopsy of Jane Doe, where the evil ghost/spirit that attacks our main characters is a woman that was burned at the Salem witch trials who was NOT a witch, but became one in death as revenge on the mean people who murdered her.

That kind of neatly gets around using the known event/period people strongly associate with witches in a horror movie while still acknowledging that it's mostly known for being a moral panic that was used to murder innocents.

Autopsy of Jane Doe also doesn't claim to be based on accounts that claim to be real. Also, buried alive, not burned.

But yes, the-bigots-created-the-monster is another variation. Or the "witch" does actually have magic powers or is psychic or whatever, but there's no connection to "satanism", which is ultimately Christian fanfiction.

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