For many of us, fall is the best season ever. The leaves change colors, the smell of firewood burning in the chimney, pumpkin pie, and, best of all, Halloween! It’s the time of scary stories of witches and goblins and ghouls (oh my!). So we have here some interesting (and horrifying) facts about witches that are 100% true.

Fact number one: Witches purportedly had the devil’s mark, or “witch’s mark.” It was said to be a permanent mark inflicted by the devil. Some people believed that the mark could be found under their hair or eyelid- yikes!

Fact number two: The 1428 Valais witch trails are the first recorded event where people were accused of witchcraft and punished for it. The victims of the trials were accused of sorcery and making deals with the devil.

Fact number three: It was believed that a witch cake could reveal whether a person’s illness was caused by witchcraft. The cake was made using the urine of the sick person, rye flour, and ashes. Then it was fed to a dog. If the dog displayed the same symptoms as the sick person, then it showed that it was the fault of witches. The dog then pointed to the witch who caused the illness.

Jeepers creepers! Happy fall everybody!