the pack
Season 1 Episode 6
Episode aired april 07, 1997
Plot
xander and several other students are possessed by the spirit of a demonic breed of hyenas that wreak havoc at the high school
Behind the Scenes
in the library, giles consults the malleus maleficarum, an actual historical text on witchcraft. written in the late 15th century it was essentially a how to manual on how to identify, capture and kill witches, demons and other foul creatures. even for those times it was considered extreme and vile and was banned by the pope in the early 16th century. unfortunately, it was written the same time that the printing press was taking off in europe and it became the 2nd most popular book in europe for decades. it is credited with being one of the major causes of the witch hunts that swept europe. it is also the source of many of the stereotypes of redheads, which were described in the book as vampire demons which had no souls and could not walk in the daylight. the book was so prevalent that mothers were known to drown newborn babies if they had red hair, and some towns even purged all redheads, often by burning at the stake..
