The Salem Witch Trials, a series of terrifying events that occurred over 300 years ago, constitute one of the darkest chapters in American history. They began when two girls from Salem lit the spark for a fire of hysteria and confusion that would consume the innocence of Salem Village. A year and twenty unnecessary deaths later, the trials were suddenly halted. Furthermore, many theories behind the horror refer to events that still occur in the world today. Although this American tragedy occurred hundreds of years ago, the underlying reasons are still not entirely clear. The story of the trials began in the New England village of Salem, Massachusetts, in late 1692. Two young girls, bored with their restrictive lifestyle and repressive routines, became interested in the folk customs of Tituba, the black slave of the family. The evil phenomenon began with Elizabeth Parris and Abigail Williams, the daughter and granddaughter of local Puritan minister Samuel Parris. In the beginning, Tituba, the black slave of the family, introduced the girls to simple spells and tricks (Starkey 30). As news of that unknown excitement spread among the village girls, in stark contrast to the boredom and monotony of village life, Tituba's audience numbers began to increase (31). Betty and Abigail decided to try an old fortune-telling trick of breaking an egg into a glass of water to find out their future husbands' occupation. Despite the apparent innocence of the trick, Abigail's egg took the shape of a coffin and both girls, frightened by the disturbing results, began to squirm and have hysterical fits. Other girls, including Ann Putnam (12) and Elizabeth Hubbard (17), began getting sick, having fits, hiding and singing. Suspicions of witchcraft and evil immediately arose. As m...... half of the newspaper ......ry of 18 Twitching Teenagers in Le Roy." New York TimesMagazine. March 11, 2012: MM28. Print.Hill, Frances. Hunting for Witches: A Visitor's Guide at the Salem Witch Trials. Beverly: Commonwealth Editions, 2002. Print.Merali, Zeeya "'I'm Here': The Mechanism of Poltergeist Activity." NewScientist: Physics & Math, April 1, 2008. Web. May 5, 2014 .Norton, Mary Beth. In the Devil's Snare: The Salem Witch Trials of 1692. NewYork: Alfred A. Knopf, 2002. Print.Rice, Earle The Salem Witch Trials: Lucent, 1997. Print. The Devil in Massachusetts: A Modern Investigation of the Salem Witch Trials New York: Anchor, 1989. Print.Whitaker, Kati “Ghana Witch Camps: Widows’ Lives in Exile.” Web, May 15 2014.