Halloween in Salem - Wrap up! | halloweensunseen.com

Halloween in Salem - Wrap up!

Okay, about my Halloween in Salem. It was way more than I could have ever dreamed it would be! I didn’t know that Salem would fill up with over 100,000 people strolling along the streets in costumes. Picture for yourself at Mardi Gras in New Orleans but without the alcohol-fueled bad behavior. Halloween in Salem is a peaceful, happy event. Everyone talks to each other and poses for pictures. It is illegal to drink alcohol in public in Salem and everyone knows it and lives by it. It was so refreshing to see so many people gathered in one spot that were happy and loving the holiday festivities. I felt safe in Salem on Halloween. That’s more than I can say about Houston! About my costume! I was (am) a witch and I bought the most beautiful purple felt witch hat. It is adorned with chiffon and autumn foliage. There is a picture of it in the blog here and you’ve probably already seen it if you are reading this. I included a gothic blouse, black skirt, striped stockings and some witchy shoes. I found it humourous that the only thing I had to buy was the hat. I can always throw a costume together with the clothes that I own. Everything I have is gothic, black, striped and pointy! I was flattered by a couple of people wanting to take pictures of me and with me. It really is a classy hat!

About the costumes in Salem! I can honestly say that as of now, there’s nothing I haven’t seen in costume wear! There were thousands and thousands of costumes and I think I tried to take a picture of every single one of them. There were so many people walking by that all I could do was point my camera into the crowd and hope to get something good. This method did not disappoint me! I got some excellent crowd and costume pictures! I’ve included a few here. I will have all my Salem photos pulled together for everyone to see.

Besides walking and experiencing Salem on Halloween, I attended a Halloween Ball at the Hawthorne Hotel. As you know from my prior posts, the Hawthorne is an historic and hopefully haunted hotel. On the night of the Ball, the hotel was transformed into the biggest haunted house you could ever wish for. I was a bit surprised by the security measures they took but I guess they have to these days. As I entered the door, I suddenly felt hands going all over my body. Whoa, WTF? They were even squeezing the bag that I was carrying. Probably feeling for weapons. I spoke with one guest who was dressed as “Edward Scissorhands” and let me tell you, he looked just like him. “Edward” was complaining because security made him “check” most of his costume at the door. Apparently he had what looked like scissors for hands (duh) and security did not like that one bit. So there he was only half of “Edward Scissorhands” and he was making his displeasure known. I felt bad for him because he really put a lot of effort into his costume. I knew exactly who he was even without the scissor hands. That made him happy that at least people knew who he was trying to portray. As I’m sure you are wondering why, the people in Salem take their Halloween costumes very seriously and besides that the Ball was really expensive! The band was excellent and they rocked the night away.

Let’s see, what are some of the costumes that I saw? I saw a man dressed as a stove, I saw the Octo Mom and all her babies, I saw a nurse escorting her patient along, her patient being in a straitjacket. I saw Bret Michaels, Daisy and Hulk Hogan. I saw Thing 1 and Thing 2 (don’t ask). I saw two headless horsemen, witches in drag, one only wearing a leotard, high heels and a witch hat (leaving a little more than I cared to see visible). A very handsome Fire Chief. Oh wait, he wasn’t in costume! I saw lot’s of guys and girls dressed in Victorian flair. I even saw Mozart! Scarlet and Rhett Butler were in attendance and the famous witches from Hocus Pocus, the Sanderson Sisters were happily in Salem once again. I saw lots of ghosts, ghouls and zombies, a few brides, birds and kitty cats. I could go on and on. Some people went really gory and some went with sexy and glamourous. There were many vampires and some of them looked a little too real for my taste! I found that in Salem, if someone wants to be a vampire, they just don’t cram plastic vampire teeth in their mouth, they actually have vampire teeth installed and these are very real. They also wear vampire clothing and it’s not a costume. This is their everyday wear. It’s a little unsettling to see but at the same time, it looks really elegant and “in style” like they are trendsetters. It was lovely!

The only real downside of Halloween was leaving to go back to my hotel. I wasn’t staying at the Hawthorne at this point and had to ride a shuttle back to my hotel. Well, it turned into a nightmare! The shuttle could not get back in Salem because of traffic gridlock to pick several of us up so we had to walk to another meeting place - in the rain and down darkened spooky streets. I got soaked, very cold and I was totally lost! Texas felt really far away at this point! I was never so happy to see a hotel in my life!

So my thoughts on Salem. Where do I begin? There was nothing that I didn’t love about Salem. I felt totally comfortable there and I had kindred spirts all around me. No one thought that what I do with Halloween’s Unseen is sick and crazy, they think it is brilliant. I was welcomed. I didn’t have to hide Halloween’s Unseen because of people that would not understand. I was encouraged. I could wear my witch hat any day, any time I wished. Salem is very proud of it’s witchy past and the poor, innocent people who were so wrongly accused and executed as witches will never be forgotten. Compassion for the lost ones is worldwide because of Salem. And on a more personal level, Salem is very enchanting and has an atmosphere and it physically wraps itself around you. Salem literally stays with you and it even stayed with me for a few days after I returned home. It’s very hard to explain but I did not want to leave. I was already missing being in Salem as soon as I got home. I am already planning another trip at some point next year. I also didn’t get to see or tour everything in Salem and Boston so I will be going back for that as well. To wrap it up, a person who is really into anything paranormal can not only make a living in Salem but feel completely comfortable while you’re doing it! Hmmmmm, food for thought!

Love to each of you!
Janet
Halloween’s Unseen (and proud of it)!