Includes bibliographical references (p. 256-260) and index.

Of dark forests and midnight thoughts -- Boston, 1688 : the possession of the Goodwin children -- Two Salem families, 1641-1692 -- Two mysteries -- The mysteries end and the hearings begin -- The accuser: Ann Putnam, Jr. -- The one and the many -- From hearings to trials -- The man in black -- Choosing death with a quiet conscience -- That no more innocent blood be shed -- A great delusion of Satan.

Salem, Massachusetts, 1692. In a plain meetinghouse a woman stands before her judges. The accusers, girls and young women, are fervent and overexcited. The accused is a poor, unpopular woman who had her first child before she was married. As the trial proceeds, the girls begin to wail, tear their clothing, and scream that the woman is hurting them. Are they acting or are they really tormented by an unseen evil? Whatever the cause, the nightmare has begun. The witch trials will eventually claim twenty-five lives, shatter the community, and forever shape the American social conscience. Acclaimed young-adult historian Marc Aronson sifts through the facts, myths, half-truths, misinterpretations, and theories around the trials to present readers with a vivid narrative of one of the most compelling mysteries in American history.