Eye of Newt and Toe of Frog

Halloween in Salem, Massachuestts

Time in the pillory caps off a visit to the Dungeon Museum

Salem, Massachusetts is as synonymous with Halloween as Times Square is with New Year’s Eve, and with good reason; Salem has the dubious reputation of having burned witches at the stake in the early years of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Of course, reputation and fact are often muddy bedfellows – most of the “witch” trials took place near Salem, and of the more than 150 men and women accused, nineteen were hung and one was pressed to death in an effort to get him to confess. Since witches fall nicely into the imagery of Halloween, Salem has become the undisputed capital of Halloween celebration. It is the one night each year that local attractions are open late into the evening; the streets fill with revelers in what is undoubtedly the world’s largest annual masquerade party. In recent years it has digressed into more frat night than fright night, but it is still the definitive place to appreciate creativity and the art of the masquerade.

The Salem Witch House

Of the local attractions open on All Hallows’ Eve, one of the most historic is the home of Judge Jonathan Corwin, these days known as The Witch House. None of the accused lived here – since 1675 it was the home of one of the magistrates whom served on the Court of Oyer and Terminer, the judicial body responsible for the death sentences of the nineteen innocents who met their fate at the gallows. On Halloween, the Witch House conducts hourly storytelling by reservation, read by actors in costume. Over at the famous House of the Seven Gables (the inspiration for the Nathaniel Hawthorne novel of the same name) performs plays with such spooky titles  as “The Legacy of the Hanging Judge” and “The Spirits of the Gables” (also a ticketed event).

The Witch Dungeon Museum, home of the big dummies

One delightfully tacky attraction is the Witch Dungeon Museum. Housed in an old church built at the turn of the last century, patrons sit in the old church pews and watch a play in which a woman portrays one of the accused with an occasional additional actor or actress; however, the rest of the cast are mannequins dressed in period clothing. Nothing quite says “B Movie” like a play where most of the cast are dummies. After the play you can tour the “dungeons” – wooden room-sized bins in the church basement with dioramas of events surrounding the witch trials of the 1690s with what appears to be more of the mannequins from the play.

Yes, that is his real head

The 1925 Hawthorne Hotel hosts an annual costume ball, but the real fun is simply walking the streets and partaking in the party atmosphere there. Most of the action takes place along historic Essex Street; bands perform on various stages with even the musicians in costume. It’s obvious that some of the revelers have taken months to create their costumes, or at least spent hundreds of dollars making it look that way. The best time to go is just after dusk – the ratio of masqueraders to drunken college kids widens drastically as the night progresses.

Ignore the spoiled sports that say that the whole thing is a satanic ritual; there are plenty of ultra-Christian protesters on hand with signs and bullhorns – try not to mistake them for costumed party-goers. Everyone should enjoy the spectacle at least once; maybe you can enjoy the Halloween party in Salem and then fly to L.A. the next morning to participate in the Dia de los Muertos festivities. Wear a skeleton costume and you won’t even have to change clothes.

The Salem Witch House
310 1/2 Essex Street
Salem, MA 01970
GPS Coordinates: 42°31’17.37″N 70°53’56.10″W

House of the Seven Gables
115 Derby Street
Salem, MA 01970
GPS Coordinates: 42°31’18.35″N 70°53’0.46″W

Witch Dungeon Museum
16 Lynde Street
Salem, MA 01970-3404
GPS Coordinates: 42°31’20.90″N 70°53’49.88″W

Hawthorne Hotel
18 Washington Square West
Salem, MA 01970
GPS Coordinates: 42°31’21.93″N 70°53’24.66″W

See images of Val’s trip to Salem, Massachuestts on Halloween