Salem, Massachusetts, also known as the “Witch City,” attracts large crowds of tourists from all over the planet looking to celebrate Halloween during October. Salem has been crowned one of America’s busiest cities during the Halloween season due to its rich history surrounding the Salem witch trials and the success of television shows and movies like Hocus Pocus, Bewitched, and Hubie Halloween, which were filmed in the city.
The witch trials happened in 1692, and the city has been living with remorse for its grim actions since. In the early-mid 20th century, however, stories like The Wizard of Oz and Bewitched highly popularized witches in a more positive light related to Halloween in America, and Salem has embraced witch iconography ever since. Tourists started flocking to Salem during October to dress in witch hats, learn about the witch trials, and see the filming locations of iconic Halloween classics.
I had been to Salem twice before this year, in September and November, but never in October. During these travels, I had been warned not to come back to Salem during October due to the massive crowds and tourist traps. I decided to put those warnings to the test this year. I spent just around 24 hours in Salem on a brisk Friday, Oct. 18, and this was my experience.
I started my experience at the Hawthorne Hotel, an upscale hotel honoring the famed The House of the Seven Gables and The Scarlet Letter author Nathaniel Hawthorne, in downtown Salem. This hotel was centrally located within walking distance of most historical sites and museums, and provided great hospitality. While this hotel is known for its hauntings in the grand ballroom and library, both were being rented out. Even though I did not encounter ghosts during this stay, I got a sneak peek of a beautiful wedding and enjoyed many delicious cups of complimentary hot cider in the lobby.
Once I dropped my bags at the hotel, it was time to put the real horrors of Salem to the test: the crowds. Since I had already visited the Witch City twice, I had already experienced many tourist attractions, such as the Salem Witch Museum. Because of this, I mainly stuck to Essex Street, the main drag of the city, which includes all the witchy boutiques, vendor stands, and buskers. I first had a lovely lunch at Direwolf Tavern before shopping. Even though the restaurant was filled with people, the service was fast, and walk-ins were welcome at the bar. The restaurant also sported Halloween-themed snacks, drinks, and decorations.
The beauty of Salem, in my personal opinion, is its ability to celebrate Halloween with pride and a lack of tackiness, for the most part. One of the biggest parts of modern Salem culture is its vast number of buskers, or street performers, all dressed as recognizable horror characters. While this is technically tacky, I found it very fun to point out my favorite characters and see them put on a performance inspired by the movie they walked out of.
As I walked around Essex Street, I was honestly a bit confused because the crowds were not something to scream about. There were a lot of people, generally speaking. Every boutique had a line outside the building, but none that I saw ever exceeded 20 people. I found it very easy to interact with buskers, get in line for boutiques, shop at vendor stands, and see public landmarks.
Salem has a lot of historical sites and filming locations that are fully accessible and free to the public. One of my favorite spots was the Salem Town Hall, as it holds a lot of history and is mainly known for the iconic dance scene in Hocus Pocus. I was able to fully take pictures in front of it without crowds behind me and even walk inside to marvel at the food vendors indoors.
I ended the night with a themed Halloween dinner and a ghost tour. Unfortunately, the dinner was the most disappointing part of the trip, and I would not recommend it in the slightest. The event, “Haunted!: An Themed Dinner with Blackcraft,” was advertised as a themed dinner with performances from scare actors in accordance with a murder mystery story. None of the guests could hear the story, and there were two scare actors the whole dinner, including a witch who banged a walking cane around the restaurant for twenty minutes straight. The courses were fantastic and the theming and decorations were immaculate, but it just wasn’t what was advertised at all, and as I talked to guests leaving the dinner, we all had the same thoughts.
After my somewhat frightful feast, I took a ghost tour that was catered towards adults, and it was exactly what you’d expect: an unnecessary amount of curse words in every story told. I take many ghost tours when traveling, and this one was very average in my opinion: not that good, but not bad by any standards either. As mentioned earlier, most of the historical sights are completely free to visit, and historical archives are available online, so taking your own self-led historical ghost tour is completely doable and possibly more fun.
Since I only had 24 hours in Salem, I decided to make the most of my morning and grab a cup of coffee at Massachusetts’ magnum opus, Dunkin’. This ended up being one of the coolest parts of my trip because the Washington Street location had a Halloween pop-up featuring Salem-exclusive merchandise and spooky purple ooze decorations all over the interior and exterior of the store. Unfortunately, as it stands, this will only be available in 2025, but it was a very fun experience.
Overall, I found visiting Salem during October to be a very rewarding and fun experience. I do not believe the crowds hindered my ability to enjoy myself or the city, and I think a trip to Salem can be done very affordably. I do think it’s important to acknowledge that I visited on a Friday two weeks before Halloween, so crowds were not at their peak, like the crowds on a Saturday closer to Halloween would have been. However, I am also used to Disney parks. I am adjusted to being around lots of people, so not everyone may agree with my experience in Salem. Additionally, I love the cheesy fun of Halloween and found the aspect of Halloween spirit in the air very lively and something that my earlier trips were missing.
I would not recommend coming to Salem during October to someone looking to purely learn the history of the witch trials and other happenings, though. If I could give guidance to someone who is planning a trip, I would suggest going during weekdays if possible, making reservations for restaurants and museums months in advance, going during the early weeks of October, and staying in a centrally located hotel like The Hotel Salem or the Hawthorne Hotel. I would also recommend briefly researching historical sites, taking note of free resources, and then visiting the sites while teaching yourself the history for free. Salem truly has something for everyone and celebrates Hallows Eve like no other place in the world. I thoroughly enjoyed my day in Salem and would love to go back during another spooky season.