AceShowbiz - Forget the pretty Halliwell sisters or the nerdy Harry Potter and friends, the witches we're talking about are not the good ones. "The Blair Witch Project" and "Suspiria" (1977), which has got a reboot with Dakota Johnson in its lead, are two of the most successful movies in their genre. The former revolves around a fictional legend of the Blair Witch, while the latter features a coven led by a witch. Usually female, witches in fictional works are often depicted as using human sacrifices to gain their power through ritual actions.

Witchcraft practice itself is widely believed to have existed since thousands of years before century. Sometimes used to counter malicious magic or for healing purpose, sorcery is viewed as evil by several religions. Thus, accusations of witchcraft and wizardry have led to prosecutions of the accused witches, like the Salem witch trials which occurred in Massachusetts between 1692 and 1693. During this period, the victims of the trials were hanged. In other parts of the world, however, those convicted of witchcraft were often burnt alive.