This ended up being the highlight of my Salem visit. Jeff's background in history and passion for this city were very evident, and his storytelling was superb. A lot of these reviews are mentioning the tour's moments of humor, but Jeff's coverage of the witchcraft trials were what impressed me. This tour covers several eras and topics but in Salem, you can't get away from the trials of 1692, and Jeff did a great job of driving home the complexity of the topic and the humanity--in both positive and negative ways--of the subjects, while not letting anyone off the hook, and I appreciated the nuanced portrayal of history. As a result, I've taken out a few library books on the trials--I grew up out-of-state where the events were given only a cursory treatment in school, and most of my knowledge of the trials comes from the Arthur Miller play, The Crucible--because while I arrived for the tour more interested about other topics, Jeff's unique coverage of it clearly evoked parallels to other moments in American history, and you know what they say about failing to know your history. I was also impressed that when a church tower bell decided to go off for about 2-3 minutes, Jeff was comfortable projecting his voice over it and not missing a beat. The addition of a local house with a ghost story from the 1980s--complete with a Polaroid image of the supernatural phenomenon!--was a nice way to finish off the tour. I hope to visit Salem again soon, and the other Better Than Fiction tour, dedicated specifically to the witchcraft trials, will definitely be on my to-do list!