When it comes to Halloween, Salem, Massachusetts might be the best place to be.
This is where the movie Hocus Pocus is set
and also where a lot of the filming took place,
like the Town Hall here which you'll recognize if you've seen the movie.
I'm going to show you around Salem and how it transforms at Halloween.
Everywhere you look you'll find people dressed up.
This would be a bad day to arrive in America and not know about Halloween.
It's so much fun to just walk around and see people playing dress up themselves,
but also dressing up the buildings too.
Decorating your house is no joke here
and there's a lot of effort and creativity that goes into making everything spookified.
At this time of year, Salem takes on a carnival-like atmosphere
and there are all sorts of special events planned.
You can even pose as a witch yourself.
You can't have Halloween without candy and, as it turns out,
Salem is conveniently home to America's oldest candy company.
Ye Olde Pepper Companie has been in business since 1806.
They're best known for Black Jacks, which is molasses stick candy
still made by hand exactly how it was in the 1800s,
and Gibralters which were the first candy commercially made in America
and they come in lemon and peppermint flavours.
This store sells all sorts of other sweets as well
but my personal favourite is saltwater taffy.
We bought some candy and went down to the water.
I feel like I got an immediate sugar rush,
which might explain this running and jumping around.
The reason Salem is such a popular place for Halloween,
and why it has ties to witchcraft comes, from its past.
It's a very old and historic place.
The first settler to Salem arrived in 1626 and there's a statue of him now.
Salem, of course, is best known as the site of the Witch Trials in 1692
in which nearly 200 people were accused of witchcraft,
which was then considered a crime.
20 of those accused were tried and executed
and the Witch Trials Memorial in downtown Salem pays tribute to their memory.
It's an area where 20 stones say the names, the dates, and the methods of execution.
Most of the victims were hanged but one was pressed.
A note left by the memorial to Margaret Scott reads
'you are remembered with love'
and it's signed by her 5th great granddaughter.
These twenty individuals were victims of fear, superstition,
and a court system that failed to protect them.
Just behind the Witch Trial Memorial is the oldest burying ground in Salem.
It's called the Burying Point Cemetery and it dates back to 1637.
A member of the witchcraft court, Justice John Hathorne, is buried here
as well as Captain Richard More who was a passenger on the famous Mayflower voyage.
Being here at dusk as the sun was going down
and knowing the long history represented here was really striking.
There's only one structure still standing in Salem
that has direct ties to the witch trials of 1692.
It was built around 1642 and it's known as The Witch House.
It's the former home of Judge Jonathan Corwin of the witchcraft court
and it's now open to the public as a museum.
Not too far from the Witch House is the location of another famous former resident of Salem.
Alexander Graham Bell, the inventor of the telephone,
lived in a house on this site from 1873 to 1876.
And another of Salem's famous residents is paid tribute to in the form of a nearby statue.
Author Nathaniel Hawthorne was born here in 1804
and he’s best known for writing The Scarlet Letter.
Another local statue you'll probably recognize is dedicated to the Bewitched television series.
If you visit Salem around Halloween,
you won't only find this TV witch but also a real life coven or two.
I hope you enjoyed this little tour around historic Salem
and seeing how this town gets all done up for Halloween.
I'd love to know how you celebrate Halloween, if you do, so leave a comment and let me know.
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Thanks for watching!