Spend a day in Salem seeking witches, history

SALEM, Mass. - Witch-hunters will find what they are looking for in this historic seaside community just 90 minutes north of Providence, especially at this time of year.

At Halloween, local tourist attractions abound with campy witch souvenirs and costume shops filled with gory and menacing memorabilia. Fun and informative tour guides give walking and trolley tours, offering commentary on the town's historical and literary significance and doling out important advice for visitors.

"Use the clean restrooms at the Visitor's Center," said City View Trolley tour guide Mike Newberg.

"Avoid the jiffy-johns you see around town. Trust me, that's where the real horror show is."

Numerous spooky-themed attractions dot the landscape, including "Dracula's Castle," "Count Orlok's Nightmare Gallery," the "Witches Dungeon," and "The Whacks Museum," a spot dedicated to Lizzie Borden and her parents' untimely demise. Visitors can also buy potions and spells and have their fortunes told at various store fronts along Museum Place Mall and Pickering Wharf. But to learn the truth about the Colonial village's ill-fated descent into the witch hysteria of 1692, one must visit the Salem Witch Museum in Washington Square. Here, visitors will see a wax figure re-enactment of the 17th century "groupthink" events that led to the unthinkable: 180 imprisoned for practicing witchcraft and 20 put to death.

There are many theories that attempt to explain how the witch hysteria spread so rapidly and had such dire consequences in the Puritan Massachusetts Bay Colony.¬ A Salem Witch Museum publication explains, "To understand the events of the Salem witch trials, it is necessary to examine the times in which accusations of witchcraft occurred. There were the ordinary stresses of 17th-century life in Massachusetts Bay Colony. A strong belief in the devil, factions among Salem Village families and rivalry with nearby Salem Town combined with a recent smallpox epidemic and the threat of attack by warring tribes created fertile ground for fear and suspicion.

"Add to the mix a group of young girls who led a fairly boring existence in a place that did not encourage frivolity and combine with the possibility that the colonists had been poisoned by rye wheat contaminated by a parasitic fungus, and the environment is just right for a toxic burst of human misjudgment and brutality."

Alison D'Amario, Salem Witch Museum director of education, said that the misperceptions and fears that led to the colonial witch hysteria can be just as dangerous today if we aren't careful to examine our history and take measures to prevent a repeated horror.

"Witches have¬ been around for a long time. They¬ haunted Shakespearean kings and tormented Toto in the land of Oz," said D'Amario. "Our perception of witches has changed dramatically over time, and it's important to recognize the religious, economic, political, and cultural shifts that¬ affect our perception of witches."

She added, "In medieval times, when witches were persecuted extensively throughout Europe,¬ they were perceived as ugly. It's easier to persecute people if you make them ugly, if you make them different from you," said D'Amario. A new exhibit at the museum illustrates the evolution of perception about witches, from the Celtic midwife who healed with herbs, to the ugly, stringy-haired, green-faced variety, to the pretty and hapless Samantha Stevens played by Elizabeth Montgomery in the 1960s TV series "Bewitched."

The same exhibit illustrates parallels between the Salem witch hunts and later bouts of "witch hunt" hysteria, including the House Un-American Activities hearings held by Sen. Joseph McCarthy in the 1950s and the internment of Japanese-Americans in prison camps during World War II.

"There were other ethnic groups that we were at war with during that time," said D'Amario, "but the Japanese looked different, and so they were easier to persecute.

"Salem is not just a hot spot for Halloween enthusiasts. A tour of the city will also reveal the former colony's significant role as a stop on the triangular China trade route, and its rich literary heritage as the birthplace of "The House of Seven Gables" author Nathaniel Hawthorne.

Tour¬ guide Mike Newberg pointed out that a top-floor, corner-office window in the first customs house in Salem faces a gorgeous view of the Atlantic Ocean. The view is described in the opening chapter of Hawthorne's "The Scarlet Letter." Newberg noted that Hawthorne once served as a customs official appointed by his former college roommate, President Franklin Pierce.

"It makes you wonder how much work he got done if he had time to stare out the window and write a novel," joked Newberg.

A number of other attractions are "must-sees" on a trip to Salem, including a the House of Seven Gables, The Old Burying Point cemetery, the Peabody Essex Museum, the Salem Maritime Historic Site, and of course the National Park Service Visitor Center where they keep the bathrooms clean.

Public parking is available for a fee. For more information on Salem attractions, admissions fees, hours of operation, and a list of 10 free things to do in Salem, visit www.salem.org .