Ghost hunt in Salem Town

Witches, corset-clad Goths, tarot-card wielding psychics, renowned ghost hunters, and those just in search of some macabre Halloween amusement descend on the bewitching town of Salem, Mass. for the month of October. Nightly ghost tours, séances, psychic fairs, haunted houses and costume balls form part of a “Haunted Happenings” series of Halloween events in Salem Town.

The Vampire and Ghost Hunt Tour that visits haunted locations in Salem, such as the old Salem Jail, St Peter’s Episcopal Church and Howard Street Cemetery, where ghost images have been allegedly captured on film.   

Salem, a town whose name ironically comes from the Hebrew “shalom” meaning “peace”, is the famous site of the witch trials of 1692.  During this period of mass hysteria, over 150 people were arrested and imprisoned, and 19 women and men were hanged for supposedly practicing witchcraft. The better known trials, such as the conviction of Bridget Bishop, Salem’s first witch trial, were conducted by the town’s Court of Oyer and Terminer. Sites such as the Old Burying Point Cemetery, the Witch Trials Memorial and the Salem Witch Museum are dedicated to capturing this history.

With under 1000 practicing witches and pagans living in Salem today, the town has attracted various spiritual sub-cultures for its supposedly palpable supernatural presence.