This blog post was updated on October 6, 2022.
If you step inside a simple store in Salem, Massachusetts, you won’t have trouble finding T-shirts screaming, “Witch and Famous.” Salem seems to be permanently stuck in a Halloween dream, mostly for what occurred in 1692, when over 150 people were accused of practicing witchcraft.
The Salem Witch Trails would put this community just 17 miles north of Boston on the map for those in search of a truly Halloween appropriate destination. Even if everything in town appears to have “witch” stamped across it, Salem remains a fine spot to visit on a crisp October day.
The Salem Witch Museum
Salem Witch Museum by Fletcher is licensed under CC BY-ND 2.0
If you want a bit of insight into the Salem Witch Trails, you can tour the Salem Witch Museum. The museum provides a detailed introduction into the 1692 trails complete with a 360-degree view of dioramas portraying key events during the trials. Visitors can also learn about other witch-hunts throughout the years. The museum remains Salem’s most visited museum — even if it is just a tad bit hokey.
The Salem Witch House
Witch House, Salem, Massachusetts
While it may seem like every house in Salem has “witch” attached to its title, this is the real deal, or it least it’s the only standing structure in town with direct ties to the witch trails of 1692. You can tour the home of the local magistrate and civic leader Jonathan Corwin. Corwin served on the Court of Oyer, the one that sent 19 “witches” to the gallows. Even if you aren’t into the witchy history at the home, it is worth seeing merely for its 17th century architecture.
The House of the Seven Gables
The House of the Seven Gables, Salem, Massachusetts
The home that inspired Nathaniel Hawthorne’s 1851 novel, The House of the Seven Gables, is very much a part of Salem. The house and its seven titular gables belonged to Hawthorne’s cousin. Today it stands in a somewhat eerie fashion, with squeaky floorboards and a dark exterior. The novel about life under gloomy Puritan ideals in early New England can be felt throughout the home. Built by Captain John Turner in 1668, the house is decorated with period-appropriate furniture, pieces referenced in the book, and even a somewhat surprising and spooky secret staircase. Included in the price of a tour of the home is a visit inside Hawthorn’s birthplace, which was moved to the grounds to be within a few steps of the House of the Seven Gables.
Bewitched Statue
Even though Samantha Stephens on the show TV Bewitched had nothing to do with Salem, she has a presence in town. A statue of TV’s favorite witch, featuring star Elizabeth Montgomery, stands right next to Salem’s Lappin Park. The statue was donated to Salem by TV Land and bears a somewhat scary representation of the Bewitched star. You can find Sam hanging out on her broom on Essex and Washington.
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