Scary Shows, Games & Movies (Day 1) - Salem (WGN)

October is finally upon us, meaning pumpkin spice flavored everything and cuddling up to a scary movie (or TV show) on our couches. There's also plenty of video games to play to get us in the spirit of Halloween. To get into the spookiness of the month, I decided to do a post every couple of days in October discussing the games I'm currently playing and the TV shows and movies that are filling up my Netflix queue this month, in celebration of the paranormal and nightmare inducing scenarios we've come to love over the years.

Today I finished up season 2 of the WGN series Salem. The show is entirely fictional and loosely based on the events of the Salem witch trials of the 17th century. It follows the story of Mary Walton, a young woman who is deeply in love with a man by the name of John Alden. Before they could leave Salem together and escape the grasp of the strict Puritan rule, John is sent to fight in the war against the Indians, separating the two from each other. Alone and pregnant with John's child, Mary ends up offering her unborn son to the Devil to avoid persecution and ridicule from the townspeople for having relations without being married. As a result her soul now belongs to the Devil and she is destined to become a witch.

She marries the head of the town George Sibley and becomes Mrs. Sibley, the most powerful woman in Salem. She then hexes her husband by putting her frog familiar down his throat, making him incapable of speech. In his silence she rules in his stead and influences the witch trials in the witches favor. Along the way she also has to deal with the other witches that live in Salem, including the ones that are trying to overthrow her as leader of the witches.

The show is all good fun and offers a unique take on the events that took place in Salem during that time. There's plenty of bloody and grotesque situations that arise as witches mercilessly use the Puritans to do their bidding, including killing one another. Salem is marvelously macabre and definitely not for those with weak stomachs or who get squeamish easily. Not to mention some of the great backstabbing situations that occur among the witches, including some magical duels that would put Harry Potter to shame.

If you like brutal violence and sex scenes then Salem may be the show for you. I would put it in the same category as Game of Thrones. Also if you're a fan of witches and exorcism type horror.

The first two seasons of Salem are available to stream on Netflix and contain 13 episodes each. Season 3 will premiere on Wednesday, November 2nd on WGN.