The city of Salem, up the coast from Boston, will forever be marked by its notorious witch trials, a touchstone of mass hysteria that began in 1692. Anyone could be accused and there was no good way to prove one’s innocence. Visions and dreams of someone’s wrongdoing—called “spectral evidence”—were accepted as facts. From February 1692 to March 1693, reality no longer existed and 25 innocent women, men, and children died, having been wrongfully convicted. Although the witch trials have been framed in contexts political, religious, economic, and sexual, the carnage still glows with danger. This exhibition at the Peabody Essex tells the story of those 13 tragic months through the possessions and recall of people involved, as well as court documents and other historical ephemera. —Laura Jacobs