If you love Halloween and spooky history, Hulu has just the series for you. National Geographic’s Witches: Truth Behind the Trials is a six-part series that features historic witch trials from across the world. You can watch it at your leisure on Hulu.
The stories come from Scotland, England, Germany, Sweden, Ireland, and the US. Each episode includes re-enactments and commentary from some of the best experts and historians currently working.
Witches: Truth Behind the Trials will be available to stream on Hulu October 3. That's perfect timing with this being October, and witches are definitely one of the most iconic figures of Halloween.
As the show description reads, the series covers “the events surrounding six of the world’s worst and most fascinating witch trials.”
Witches: Truth Behind the trials episode guide:
Episode one – Germany: The Witch Hunts Begin
Ever wonder why it’s mainly women who have been accused of witchcraft? This episode features one of the first major witch trials in Europe, brought about by a drunken misogynist and involving people from all walks of life in Germany.
Episode two – America: Salem’s Hunts and Hysteria
Possibly the best-known and most famous witch trials happened in 1692 in Salem, Massachusetts. The story is not as simple as it looks on the surface and involves rivalries and broken politics - all of which led to mass hysteria (along with plenty of unnecessary deaths).
Episode three – Scotland: The Kings and the Witches:
As King James VI and his wife-to-be travel by ship, storms threaten to sink them. When blame begins to focus on “witches,” the King becomes determined to track them down, torture and kill them.
Episode four – England: The Witchfinders’ Cruel Crusade:
During England’s Civil War, Matthew Hopkins and John Stearne appointed themselves witch hunters, tracking and brutally torturing people who have been accused – and made good money in the bargain.
Episode five – Sweden: The Legend of Blakulla:
The Great Noise event kicked off Sweden’s first witch trials. The event was sparked by children who told stories of “Blakulla,” a place they claimed to have been taken to by witches. The children further claimed to have seen Satan dancing with the witches.
Episode six – Ireland: Possessed by the Devil :
In 18th-century Ireland, a teenage girl is believed to be possessed by a demon. The possession ended up resulting in the unjust punishment of eight women but ultimately caused the era of witch hunts to end.