In both plays, the entire plot is based on the Salem Witch Trials, again connecting them. In both cases, it all starts with Betty Parris and Abigail getting sick and then going crazy. In I Walk in Dread, the Salem witch trials began when "Mr. Parris was returning from the conference, their daughters suffering worse than ever." Additionally, Abigail and Betty's eyes were opened to the unseen world. Now they can see what torments them: the figures of real people who come to pinch and hit them” (79). They claim that a witch pinches them and that their eyes are now open to the invisible world. Then, hysteria descends on the population, with more and more people saying they are afflicted. Not only does this happen in I Walk in Dread, but it happens the same way in The Crucible. The plot is very similar, but "ten-year-old Betty Parris lies limp on the bed" (3). She later died of this mysterious illness which confined her to bed for a long time. The doctor thought about it and told the Reverend that he wouldn't be surprised if she died of unnatural causes. This made the town wonder if this was possible through witchcraft. Abigail tells her uncle that “the rumor of witchcraft is going around…the drawing room is full of people, sir” (9). The town believes that witches are doing the devil's work and using them to afflict the people of Salem. In both literatures, the Salem witch trials are essentially