Hi all, I saw this TikTok where they say witches can’t climb stairs. Has anyone else heard of this? I mean yes I am clumsy and have tripped my fair share on stairs but I am sure I can climb stairs… Anyone care to validate this for me 
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That’s just an old wives’ tale.
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I’d just climb them diagonally. 
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Ohh – these have always tripped me out! They’re super weird to look at but historically they have nothing to do with witches.
Witches stairs, or alternate-tread stairs, are intentionally uneven steps that make walking to the second story a bit different than if they were traditional steps. A trip to the comments section of the original video (above) and a scroll through widely circulated posts like this claim that these stairs originated in late 17th-century New England during the Salem witch trials, a period of hysteria in which women who fell under certain categories were accused of practicing witchcraft and subsequently executed.
The story goes that witches were not able to walk up these stairs, so residents in the area installed these staircases as a precaution. While there is no evidence to support that people actually believed this to be true, it has been made official by Reuters Fact Check that witches stairs and the rumors surrounding them are just that: rumors. In the March 9, 2021 article debunking the urban legend, religion and witchcraft historian Robin Briggs confirmed that among the “massive historical literature, nor the many manuscripts,” there has never been a mention of stairs to prevent witches.
In reality, alternate-tread stairs were built to maximize space in compact homes with their diagonally stacked make. If you just so happen to live in a smaller home, these stairs might be just the thing to ensure you have more room for activities. Just be wary of the leg work you’ll have to put in each time you walk up.
They’re an interesting concept for sure, but definitely a recipe for disaster in my house 
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I know thought so but honestly i never heard this one before
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I know i would be going head first if i can’t even use regular stairs this would be my nightmare then they can say witches can’t climb stairs lol
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Oh a recipe for disaster for me in general lol. Thanks for finding this cool info love to know a little more about history and the rumors surrounding us witches 
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Oh that is so crazy!!! I don’t know how those would be better than simply using a narrow staircase. I get vertigo just looking at these. I am also imagining someone trying to waddle up them one step at a time LOL I know that would be me. I’d probably give up halfway.
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Can you imagine trying to carry the laundry up (or down) these bad boys!?! Witch or not, I don’t think anyone but a trained stunt person would make it successfully haha
This gave me a laugh, thanks @TheMuslimWitch! 
I’d heard this rumor before too- although, despite having grown up in New England not far from Salem, I’d never seen a house or heard of someone having stairs like these in their house. It’s really interesting to hear the full story and real facts behind the stairs! 
Although I can’t quite wrap my head around the logic of people who were building them- I feel like if you’re really pressed for space, wouldn’t a ladder be smaller (and less mind boggling)? 
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I cant imagine climbing these stairs been drunk! I prefer to sleep on the floor
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I definitely agree with that one, but could you imagine trying to go up and down a ladder with a baby or laundry or whatever needed to be carried? that’s a recipe for disaster for sure! I mean, these stairs aren’t any better – they terrify me just looking at them – but I think both options suck 
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Let’s think with its logic… If you kill yourself on these stairs, you are not a witch, because if you were you would have powers and you could fly and dodge them!!
But if you can use it carrying clothes and a baby and survive, you definitely have the powers of the devil Jajjajjajajjaja
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Hahahaha I agree with you- there’s no way to win here aside from having normal stairs (or living in a one-floor home)! 
Omg @SpanishWitchy you’re so right And what you said reminds me of the other “methods” for telling a witch. Like, if she sinks in water (drowns) she is not a witch, but if she floats she is a witch (and will be prosecuted)- like, there’s no way for someone to survive that test!? 
The people who came up with these things… really
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They put that ladder on me and even if I wasn’t a witch I would end up cursing them all for having such a silly idea
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I have never heard somethings so true… Thanks for the laugh as well
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