JourneyEtc

For some people, Halloween is nothing more than a quaint children’s holiday on the last day of October.  For others, Halloween is a month of haunted houses, ghostly tours and spooky happenings!  What better place to celebrate a whole month of Halloween than in Salem, Massachusetts, home of the infamous Salem Witch trials.

In 1692 the village of Salem believed that witches were in their midst, and were responsible for tormenting a group of teenage girls.   In June of 1692 a special court was convened to hear the cases against those accused of witchcraft.  By the time Governor William Phipps disbanded the court in October of 1692, 19 men and women had been hanged for the “crime” of witchcraft.

Salem, Massachusetts  has embraced its bewitching past, and has  activities almost every day in October during its Haunted Happenings Halloween Festival.

Start your visit to Salem with a trip to the Salem Witch Museum where you can learn more about the Witch Hysteria that overtook Salem and find out more about witches throughout history. The museum is open daily except Christmas and New Years and admission is $8 for adults. Other fascinating museums in Salem include the House of the Seven Gables, The New England Pirate Museum, and the Salem Wax Museum.

To learn more about life in 17th century New England  visit the Salem Pioneer Village.  This 3 acre recreated Puritan village is America’s first living history museum.  During the month of October they offer Spiritways, “An unnerving nighttime immersion into the world of the infamous “afflicted girls” “.

To really get your goosebumps rising be sure to take a walk on The Terror Trail.  This candlelit walking tour will take you through the streets of Salem and horrify you with tales of haunted houses, ghosts, and murder!  The tour is 75 minutes long and is available nightly from October 2 to November 1. Adults are $12.

Even the trolleys are haunted in Salem.  Tales and Tombstones is a haunted trolley ride with costumed guides telling frightful tales of ghosts and the supernatural.

For more events and information visit the Salem Haunted Happenings website.