After a decade of thinking about it and bailing on the idea until "next year," we've decided to finally rent a room in Salem for Halloween this year. We are not going to spend actual Halloween night in Salem, as I can't justify being stuck in that many seas of people, but maybe a week in the middle of the October.
Hopefully the trees will be changing colors, and the chill will be in the air by this time. I'd like to be there with a lot of people, mind, but not the truly maddening crowds that the Home of Halloween gets on Halloween night. I've watched dozens of videos on YouTube, and it seems that it's difficult to drive around town and get a seat to eat dinner is nigh impossible. So, I'll leave those crowds to the younger folk and head up a bit early.
I'm debating whether to dress up in costume this year. I'm not sure folks will dress up in the middle of October evenings. I'm going to do all the touristy stuff, like visit the Hocus Pocus locations, and depending on the "Squatter rights" of Massachusetts, I'll break in and call the Dennison house my own. But just for October. The current "owners" can have it back the other 11 months of the year...
I'd like to see the witch museum, the 17th century homes, Gallows Hill, etc. I'm hoping to find some fun stuff to do that's under the radar of social media. You know, make friends with a local witchfinder and hang a witch, steal her black cat, or join an angry mob with a pitchfork. You know, the stuff only the locals are privy to and keep hush hush.
Haunted Happenings has been going strong in Salem for the past 40+ years and has changed quite a bit from its first incarnations. What was at first a small, mostly for-locals event catering more to younger crowds has blossomed organically into a world class event worthy of being called the Home of Halloween. I don't know, however, how large this event and holiday celebration would be without the Disney Halloween masterpiece Hocus Pocus. Thankfully we're in the timeline where the film came out and it has become a huge cult classic today so we don't necessarily have to debate what Salem would be like without it.
I have a child-like infatuation with this movie. It is completely adorable and innocent. It has become one of the definitive Halloween films. And having so many filming locations (at least exterior shots) in Salem is reason enough to show up for Halloweentober.
The witch history also is wildly fascinating. I was surprised to learn that not as many women had died during the 1692 witch trials, and that most were hung and not killed by fire. I think one may have been stoned? Or simply crushed to death... But while this is terrible nonetheless, the witch hysteria didn't see hundreds of women killed as every Tom, Dick or Harry accused every woman who spurned their advances to ladies who simply talked out of turn, as Hollywood has made it seem. I think Europe has that sole distinction of killing off whole generations of women for riding the broom.
Anyway, off to the Witch City!
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