I'm always on the lookout for horror shows and movies that use witches to their full effect. Too many witch-centric series lean more into the romantic comedy genre. They're often lighthearted, family-friendly, or soapy, like Good Witch, Witches of East End, Hocus Pocus, and Sabrina the Teenage Witch.
No shade to any of those shows, either, as I love them for different reasons, but I crave seriously dark stories about witchcraft, stuff like Evelyn Poole's arc in Penny Dreadful, American Horror Story: Coven, or even Netflix's horror take on Sabrina Spellman in Chilling Adventures of Sabrina. We need more!
That said, there is at least one show that fits the bill out there, but it's tragically underrated and I have a feeling there is a large swath of people who would love it—they just haven't discovered it yet. I'm talking about the series Salem, which ran for three seasons on the now-defunct WGN America.
I can't really blame anyone for being unaware of Salem, as WGN declined in popularity toward the end of its lifetime (it shut down in 2021) and therefore Salem kind of flew under the radar. It's sheer luck that we got three seasons at all, but we did and the show (mostly) wraps up all of its storylines by the end. Luckily for those interested, Salem is streaming on Hulu.
The series is set in 17th-century Massachusetts at the height of the Salem witch trials, but in this world the witches are very real and formidable threats, unlike anything we've seen before.
A surprising amount of disturbing content
For a show that aired on traditional television (albeit a subscription-based one), Salem loved pushing the envelope in terms of disturbing content, rivaling even American Horror Story. The series premiere kicked off with executions, sacrifices, and demonstrations of witchcraft, immediately proving that this would be a show that truly explored the dark arts. Salem's witches are not to be trifled with.
Throughout the show's three-season run, it featured all manner of disgusting and depraved horror scenes, including medieval torture devices like the iron maiden and the pear of anguish. Several accused witches are also shown in witch's bridles, which were basically these creepy muzzle-like contraptions.
Then in the show's second season, Lucy Lawless came onto the scene playing an evil countess who was clearly inspired by the female serial killer Elizabeth Bathory. Countess Marburg notably bathes in blood to keep herself young (including one really freaky scene that plays out similarly to the blood bath in Hostel 2—also inspired by Bathory), and that's just one of many twisted moments in the series that includes a lot of body horror.
Salem has a solid romantic relationship to root for at its heart
Besides the disturbing stuff, Salem does have a surprisingly lovely romantic relationship at its center between the powerful witch Mary Sibley (Janet Montgomery) and her former flame John Alden (Shane West). But with Mary devoted to Satan himself, how can she make room for a human lover?
John and Mary's relationship is as complicated as it comes, especially because of his heavy involvement in the witch trials. Salem very much leans into common elements of gothic romance stories, creating a forbidden love story between these two characters that is very compelling to watch unfold across three seasons.
Salem is streaming on Hulu and also available to purchase digitally.