the legend of the new salem witch

ACT 1 - In 1692, eighteen innocent people were hanged for engaging in witchcraft. Unbeknownst to the townspeople, the real witches had escaped only hours before the first arrests were made. In order to avoid another Salem, the witches spread out over the western territories establishing covens throughout North America. A small coven of witches, settled right here in what would later become Salem, Michigan.

They built a small house in the woods and lived for 150 years unbothered. In the mid-1850's German immigrants began to move into the area. They cleared the land and established farms, a church, and a small town that they ironically named Salem. It didn't take long before the farmers noticed bizarre sounds and lights coming from the woods where the coven lived. A couple of the farmers went to investigate. They saw evil looking symbols painted on the trees, dead animals scattered throughout the woods, and a strange burning pit. They immediately called a meeting at the church and reported to the townspeople what they had seen. Minutes later the men began frothing at the mouth, having convulsions, and dropped dead. The townspeople were frightened and angry and decided that whatever was living in the woods was to blame for the deaths. The men of the town rushed to the woods. They nailed the door to the house shut and lit the house on fire.

Unfortunately for the townspeople, one of the witches did not die in the fire. She was badly burned and disfigured. She vowed revenge on the people of Salem. One by one she burned down every single house in the town. The people set up watch after the first couple of fires, but they were unable to stop her. They saw and heard nothing until the buildings went up in flames. Several townspeople were killed in the fire. Sarah then disappeared into the night never to be seen again. The townspeople rebuilt naming the new town New Salem. The woods sat untouched; no one was brave enough to enter. Strange noises and evil sensations still emanate from the woods at night. Are you brave enough to enter?

ACT II - It was the year of our Lord, 1858, the evil New Salem Witch, Sarah, and her coven had escaped the fate of many of their sisters in Salem, Massachusetts and were residing comfortably on a wooded plot in New Salem, Michigan.  The townspeople had become concerned about the strange lights and noises that they saw and heard coming from the plot.  Out of fear, they imprisoned the women inside their home and started it on fire.  But to the misfortune of the townspeople, the most powerful witch, Sarah, did not die.  She emerged from the flames badly burned and vowing revenge.

Prudence Johnson, the two-year-old orphan daughter of one of the townspeople that had participated in the burning, had been taken from the town by her grandparents.  Her parents had both perished at the hands of the witches.  They believed that they could hide the child from the horrible fate that had been inflicted upon the other townspeople, never telling her the true fate of her parents or the horrors of her birthplace.

Prudence's grandparents were quite elderly and passed away, leaving Prudence alone to fend for herself at the age of 17.  Prudence took a job at the local mercantile and met the man that would become her husband, Theodore Smithson.  Theodore and Prudence married and had a daughter named Anna.  She was the ideal child-beautiful, intelligent, well-mannered, and the apple of her parents' eyes.  The couple had dreamed of owning a little farm and growing old together.  They heard about a perfect piece of land from a woman that Prudence met in the mercantile.  The woman told her that her brother had just died, and his small log cabin on five acres in New Salem, Michigan was for sale. Longing for a better life, Prudence and Theodore decided to purchase the farm and moved immediately.  For seven years, life was ideal for the young family. The farm was productive and Anna was very popular in the local school making many friends among her schoolmates.  For Anna's tenth birthday, Prudence and Theodore decided to throw her a surprise party and invited all of her friends from school-20 children in all.  Prudence baked a huge cake and Theodore saved up for months to purchase a beautiful doll for a gift.  The children all arrived for the party and were hiding in the woods near the farm waiting to surprise Anna.  Anna's mother asked her to go into the woods to pick some wild strawberries for dessert.  Once Anna entered the woods, the children were supposed to jump out and surprise Anna, but they never did.  And Anna never returned. Prudence and Theodore searched for months in the woods for their daughter and the missing children, but there was never any sign of them.  Theodore died shortly thereafter from hypothermia from being in the woods in the bitter cold Michigan winter.  Prudence went insane from the death of her husband and the loss of her only child.  She convinced herself that they were still there with her and that life was still perfect.  Every year, Prudence would throw a surprise birthday party for Anna.  She would send out invitations to all of the local school children, bake a cake, and lovingly wrap the doll in the same pretty paper that she had on the day of Anna's disappearance.  Prudence died in 1958 on the date of Anna's birthday.  She was found sitting all alone in front of a huge birthday cake with the little doll on her lap.  Every year on Anna's birthday, the people living in the homes of the party-goers receive an invitation in the mail.  Those curious enough to investigate have said that Prudence's spirit still haunts the little cabin that was once her home, and that they can hear the whispers and giggles of little children in the nearby woods.

It is rumored that the woman who Prudence met in the mercantile that day was actually Sarah.  She had finally found Prudence and had lured her back to New Salem to get her revenge-by taking away the things that Prudence loved the most, just as the townspeople had done to her over 100 years earlier.

ACT III -It was the year of our Lord 1909, the stories of the Witches of New Salem had become scary legends that parents told their children to keep them from wandering too far from home. Everyone in the town had settled into a comfortable routine. The town had grown into a productive little village with a butcher shop, a mercantile, a blacksmith shop, and a school. It had everything that the townsfolk needed to live comfortable lives. The witch's woods had become just an overgrown forest that teenagers dared each other to go into, but no one ever took the bet. It sat untouched for decades.

While Sarah and her coven of the undead enjoyed the peace that had fallen on their home, they were angry and bitter over having been all but banished to the small woods. After all, this had been their town. They were here long before any of these common farmers and laborers had come to the area. They seethed whenever they heard the whispers and giggles coming from those stupid teenagers just outside their woods. They wished that just one of them would finally get the courage to come inside, but they never did.

The townsfolk were excitedly planning their yearly Harvest Festival. It was held every October in a little field just outside of town. There were games, contests, and lots of food. The townsfolk worked for weeks to get everything ready. The highlight was always the opportunity to soak the town sheriff in the dunk tank. There was also a pie eating contest, which the mayor always won. And everyone loved watching the town doctor bob for apples; no one could figure out how he was able to hold his breath for that long!

Sarah was aware of the town festival. She had disguised herself as an old woman for the last three years and had watched carefully everything that went on at this celebration. She, too, was aware of the goings on of the mayor, the doctor, and the sheriff. She took her observations back to her coven and they concocted a plan. They were going to finally rid their town of these irritating humans once and for all.

The day of the festival, Sarah put on her best dress and went into town. The people had gotten used to seeing this strange old woman from "the next town over" every year, and they greeted her warmly. She laughed to herself every time one of them shook her hand. As everyone was listening to the mayor prattle on about how happy he was to see everyone again and how great the town was, Sarah went to work. She took the small vials that she had concealed in her pockets and went to the table of pies. She knew that there was always a special rhubarb pie for the mayor, and she smiled as she poured the potion all over the pie. The dunk tank was easy. She just breezed by and dropped the entire vial into the water. No one would ever notice. She was almost giddy by the time she emptied the third vial into the bucket of apples. Then she took a seat at one of the picnic tables and waited.

First came the mayor; everyone just thought that he was a little ill from eating all that pie. Then the doctor-maybe he just held his breath a little too long. But when the sheriff also fell ill after his first dunk, the townsfolk began to worry. Was there something in the water, or maybe the food? They took the three men back to the town to try to tend to them, but without a doctor, it wasn't that easy.

Sarah knew that in just a matter of hours, the potion would take full effect and it would be time to strike. She returned to the woods to assemble the coven. By the time they got to the town, the three men would be mindless zombies and there would be no one to help the stupid humans. The town would be theirs!

The town was situated in a the clearing of a small woods. The only way in and out was through a long tunnel into the woods. Sarah entered the tunnel and put an enchantment on it. If any human tried to enter or leave the town, the sky would open up and unleash a torrential storm upon them. With the town sealed off, and the three men who could help the people out of the way, it was time. The coven entered the town and it began.

ACT IV - It was the year of our Lord 1910, life in Allegan County was peaceful.  The county was mostly rural, and farming was the predominant profession for the families that lived there.  Joseph Schumacher and his wife, Alice, had just given birth to their 9th child, a boy named Thomas.  Thomas joined seven brothers and one sister whose name was Elizabeth.  Elizabeth was the third oldest of the Schumacher children and was by far the most beautiful girl in Salem Township.  Elizabeth, or Beth as she was more commonly called, was 17 years old when her brother was born, and was being courted by many of the local farm boys.  She was bright, charming, and made the best pies in the county.  Life should have been grand for the Schumacher family, but their happiness was short-lived. 

Just days after Thomas’s birth, Beth began to change.  She was often seen walking down the road having a heated conversation with herself.  She woke in the night screaming and speaking in a strange language.  Her eyes had a wild look about them, and she stopped caring about her appearance.  Her parents were very concerned, not only for the health of their beautiful daughter, but more so, for the reputation of the family.  They stopped taking Beth to church with them, and kept her confined to the farm.  They told anyone who inquired about Beth that she had gone off to visit relatives in Ohio.

But it wasn’t just Beth who had begun to change.  All over the county, the eldest daughters of the families had been exhibiting similar behavior.  Symptoms included catatonia, suicidal behavior, and, in the worst cases, extremely violent outbursts.  Soon, more than 50 girls had gone “crazy.”  Dr. Leo Schmid, a self-proclaimed famous psychiatrist from Germany, began calling on the families.  He told them he had a small, but state-of-the-art, sanitarium situated in the woods in the town of New Salem.  He would be willing to take the girls in for a small fee and he claimed that he would be able to “fix” them within one year’s time.  The only stipulation was that the families would not be able to visit the girls while they were receiving their treatment.  He claimed that it would interfere with their progress.  The families all readily agreed, after all, work on the farm was hard, and it had become nearly impossible to take care of the rapidly declining women.  Within one week, a team of strange-looking nurses began appearing at the farmers’ homes and taking their daughters off to the sanitarium. 

A year went by without a word from the doctor or from Beth and the Schumachers began to worry.  Why hadn’t anyone come by with news?  Why hadn’t anyone written?  Joseph and his two oldest sons decided to go to the sanitarium and see for themselves what had become of Beth.  When they arrived, they were greeted with a scene that was more gruesome than their worst nightmares.  There was a small cemetery with several fresh graves.  There was a putrid smell coming from one of the out buildings.  Screams were heard coming from what appeared to be the main hospital building.  The smell of death permeated the entire woods.  Frightened, the men decided to wait until nightfall to investigate.  They were terrified, but if Beth were still alive, they needed to rescue her.  The men hid in the bushes and waited for their opportunity. 

After a few hours, they saw two of the strange nurses pushing a gurney out of a long black tunnel.  It appeared to have a body on it.  The nurses pushed the body to an open grave and dumped it in.  They laughed, said a strange chant in a language that the men had never heard before, and disappeared back into the dark tunnel.  Not long after, the men saw a young girl of about 15 walking straight toward them.  She had no hair and appeared to have fresh stitches running down her head.  The men were sure that she had seen them; she was, after all, looking right at them.  As the girl got closer, they could see why the girl had not noticed them, she had no eyeballs.  The girls face had been severely scarred and where her eyes should have been were two empty sockets.  The girl abruptly changed directions and let out a soul-piercing scream.  Two more of the strange nurses came out of what appeared to be a dormitory building and grabbed the girl.  She continued to moan pitifully as the evil nurses dragged her back toward the building.  The men were petrified, but they were more determined than ever that they need to find Beth and save her from this hospital of horrors.

Once dark fell, they snuck over to the graveyard to read the names-Johanna Stein, Susanna Miller, Agnes Johnson, Lucille Thomas-the men recognized the names as those of their neighbors.  They were heartbroken, but they were also relieved that Beth’s name was not etched onto any of the tombs.  The men decided to split up.  There were several out buildings and if they wanted to find Beth by morning, they would have to go their separate ways.  Joseph began his search in the main hospital building and his sons started at opposite sides of the complex.  This would be the last time that Joseph would see his sons alive.  He searched every room in the hospital, but he could not find his daughter.  He came upon the most unspeakable horrors that he had ever laid eyes on.  He saw things that he could not have even dreamed of in his worst nightmares, but he could not find Beth. 

Once outside, Joseph was grabbed by three of the nurses.  They forced a burlap sack over his head and dragged him several hundred feet into a cold dark building.  Once inside, the bag was removed and Joseph found himself on his knees in front of Dr. Schmid.  The doctor laughed at the frightened man in front of him and revealed his true form.  Joseph looked on in horror as Sarah, the New Salem Witch, stood in front of him.  He had heard the legends from the older people in the neighborhood, but he had laughed their tales off as ghost stories meant to frighten the young ones from going off into the woods at night.  Now here she was.  Her face was charred, her body was twisted, but she looked of pure evil.  The bodies of his two dead sons had been tossed carelessly on gurneys and were lying on either side of him.  The boys had been so brutally murdered that it took Joseph a moment to realize that the mutilated corpses were those of his beloved children.  As Joseph screamed for help, a calm soothing voice whispered in his ear, “It’s okay, Daddy.  Don’t scream.  No one will hear you anyways.”  It was Beth’s voice, but it seemed different somehow.  She was different.  She was more beautiful than ever, but her beauty had a certain evil about it.  Her lips were turned up in a menacing smile. Her eyes were dead and cold.  She laughed at the expression of horror on her father’s face, kissed him on top of the head, and with one quick movement, slit his throat.  She looked at the powerful witch in front of her and said, “Sarah, my master, I took care of these ones, but others will come.”  Sarah laughed and said, “Then you know what you must do, my child.”  Beth smiled with pleasure as she cleaned the blade of her knife. 

ACT V - It was the year of our Lord, 1911. New Salem, Michigan was a town that time seemed to have forgotten. Years of rumors and strange occurrences had left New Salem little more than a ghost town. All that remained were a handful of longtime residents and families whose roots lay deep in the area. The buildings had begun to fall into disrepair and the state was threatening to shut down the town's mental hospital, the only means of medical treatment and the main source of revenue in the dying town. The few people that remained decided that in order to save their beloved New Salem they would need some new blood to come to the area. They needed to attract young families and businesses to the town. Cornelius Webber, a millionaire and self-proclaimed "hunter extraordinaire", called a town meeting to come up with a plan on how to get the people to move to the area. John Schultz, the town's only barber, Dr. James Miller, the head doctor at the mental hospital, Charles Johnson, the butcher, Margaret Thomas, a widow and owner of the town's only hotel, and Anton Schmidt, the school's only remaining teacher were appointed to head the Committee to Revitalize New Salem. The townspeople felt that New Salem's professionals would be their best bet to help attract new people to the town.

The men wasted no time getting to work on their task. They enlisted the help of a local printer to make up colorful pamphlets that portrayed New Salem as a quiet picturesque hamlet that was close to Grand Rapids, but far enough away to be free from the crime and debauchery of the big city. They included photos of the town taken in its former state with beautiful homes with white picket fences, lush gardens, and happy children playing in the fields. The pamphlets were distributed in the social clubs of Grand Rapids and given to local banks to peak the interest of people with money. The pamphlets included a voucher for a free night at the widow Thomas's hotel, aptly named the New Salem Inn, for those who were interested in seeing the town for themselves.

Slowly, but surely, the pamphlets did their job. The hotel was booked every weekend mostly with young people who were just starting out and longed for the perfect place to start their families. The hotel was a short distance from the town itself, but the committee had arranged for the visitors to be given free transportation to and from the town. The local farmers agreed to loan their wagons to the committee and the committee supplied local drivers who ferried the newcomers to town several times per day.

This influx continued for several weeks and brought hundreds of people to see the town. After a few weeks, however, the families of those who had gone began to become concerned. People were going to the town, but they were not coming back. They contacted the Grand Rapids police to investigate. Two detectives from GRPD posing as a father and son looking to start a bakery arrived at the New Salem Inn. The hotel was just as it appeared in the pamphlet and all of the rooms were occupied with young people from the surrounding cities. The detectives decided to forgo the wagon ride into town. Instead, they awoke very early and walked into town. When they arrived, the town looked deserted. They had expected New Salem to be bustling with all of the visitors that had gone, but not come back. They decided to quietly investigate.

The first building they came upon was the barbershop. They were shocked to see what appeared to be blood stains on the floor. One of the detectives pried open the door and they entered the shop. There appeared to be hair dresser's mannequin heads on the counter. As they got closer, they realized that the perfectly coiffed heads were not mannequin heads at all, but real human heads lined up and on display. Terrified the detectives ran out of the shop. They saw someone outside, so they quickly ducked into the mental hospital. What they witnessed inside was more horrific a sight than either of the seasoned detectives had ever seen in their careers with the department. There was blood dripping from the walls, the stench of death and body fluids was thick in the air, the screams of the people inside pierced their ears. The men ran through the hospital as quickly as their feet would carry them. Once outside the men felt a hard thud on their heads and then everything went black. When they awoke, they were in an elaborate trophy room. They looked around in confusion at the many animal heads on the wall. As their eyes adjusted to the light in the room, one of the detectives screamed. Among the many deer heads were the heads of people! They were mounted and proudly displayed on the wall with the other trophies.

The detectives noticed that they were surrounded by five men and one woman. They recognized the woman as the proprietor of the hotel that they had met the night before. She was arguing with a tall man in a lab coat. "I don't know how they got back here, James! Everyone was accounted for on the wagon. You know these idiot locals! Not one of them knows how to count!" The man in the coat looked aggravated, but his voice was alarmingly calm. "Let's just make sure this doesn't happen again, Margaret. Things have been going so well of late. We wouldn't want to spoil it now, would we?" A large man in a butcher's apron looked positively gleeful. "What are we gonna do with these here nosey fellas, John? Don't suppose you'll let me have both of 'em? I'm runnin' awfully low on sausages over at the shop." A short man with a handlebar moustache laughed. "You and your sausages, Charles! It is a wonder that you haven't turned into a sausage with all of the sausages that you eat! I wouldn't mind taking one for myself, but my counter is getting pretty full already and that bald one there wouldn't look too pretty on a barbershop counter! What would my clients think?" The woman looked to a tall, well-dressed man sitting in a chair, "Cornelius, do you want them?" The man in the chair inspected the detectives. "That bald one wouldn't do well on my trophy wall either. Much too ugly for me to have to look at every day. That tall one there, though..." He pointed to the second detective. "He looks healthy and he is certainly handsome enough, I wouldn't mind taking him. You don't mind do you, James?" The man in the lab coat shook his head. "I got the last couple, and, truthfully, the hospital is a little too full right now. All that screaming is giving me a headache." The group laughed coldly sending chills down the detectives' spines. "Well, they are much too old for me," said a small man with round spectacles. "Old dogs, new tricks and all that nonsense." "Poor, Anton!" said the woman, "rarely get any young 'uns around here. I don't need any right now either. Me and my girls back at the hotel only need women for our business. Men don't do much for the eternal youth and beauty potions. One of my girls tried it once. Took her a hundred years to completely get rid of the beard!" The man with the moustache burst into laughter. "Poor Constance! Only woman customer I ever had that came in three times a week for a shave! Life is never boring when you got a coven of witches in your backyard!" "Well, I guess it's settled then," said the man in the chair. "I get the tall one, Charles gets the bald sausage!" The group laughed hysterically as the man in the butcher's apron grabbed the bald detective. "You looks like a fat little kielbasa, you do! My favorite! I hope I got me some mustard back in the ice box!" The woman and three of the men followed the butcher out the door, leaving only the tall detective and the man in the chair. "Are you a runner, sir?" asked the man in the chair. The detective nodded. "Excellent! This should be fun!" said the man in the chair. "Please remove your shoes and exit out that door." The man pointed to the door, rose from the chair and grabbed a shotgun off of the rack on the wall. "I will give you a 60 second head start. Promise me that you won't scratch that handsome face of yours. I would hate to have to give you to Charles. He really doesn't need anymore sausages. Now please start running."