As we count down the days to All Hallows Eve (a.k.a. Halloween) there are a bunch of places to celebrate the art of the really good scare – but no one quite does it with the historic authenticity of Salem, Mass., home of the infamous Salem Witch Trials.
Salem’s Haunted Happenings lure souls from all over, regaling them with tales of the supernatural. Here’s a sampling of what’s going on:
- Take a Haunted Harbor Cruise from 1 to 7 p.m. from Pickering Wharf. The 1.5-hour hour voyage is aboard the historic Hannah Glover. Immerse yourself in stories of less than genteel pirates, spooky lighthouses (aren’t they all?) and monsters who like to mess with local seafarers.
- Take your kids to Face Painting at Witches Cottage Oct. 26 and watch them morph in front your eyes from little angels to tigers, zombies, fairies and such.
- Also set for Friday the 26th is the Tales and Tombstones Trolley Tour, an hour’s journey into Salem of the Shadows. Reservations are required for this trip into the world of the occult.
- Ah, yes. We did allude to those witch trials, didn’t we? Enter the mansion of a Witch Trials judge and hear surreal stories fall from the lips of beautifully bedecked actors. They ply their ghostly craft in a darkened, all-too-authentic setting. Performances are every 20 minutes from 6 p.m. till 10 p.m. on Oct. 26.
- Her name was Rebecca, and she got a raw deal. On the 26th tour the a replica of the infamous 1672 Meeting House where Rebecca was unjustly accused of, tried and ultimately executed for a crime she did not commit.
(Image: Massachusetts Office of Travel & Tourism, bowtoo, Svenstorm)
