When the young girls of Reverend Samuel Parris's household terrify themselves by trying to tell their fortunes, their eyes are opened to a dark and demonic world. The girls soon act as if possessed, garbling incoherent phrases, suffering convulsions and having terrifying visions of a man in black. Like a plague, these inexplicable fits swiftly spread and torment others in the god-fearing community of Salem Village. The afflicted soon make accusations of witchcraft, setting off a witch hunt leading to the arrests and questioning of three women: Tituba, the Parris's Caribbean slave; ill-tempered pauper, Sarah Good; and social outcast Sarah Osborne.