Witches, Ghosts, and Teenagers - Oh My!

On the first weekend of November, my good friend Sue and I went to Salem, MA with our kiddos (Lewie and Ryan) and their friend (Noah). Taking three boys on a trip is always a gamble, but as it turns out, for this trip...the scariest part was the ghost stories.

This year, the idea for a Halloween trip came to me when Lewie finished his required summer reading--How to Hang a Witch by Adriana Mather.  Based on characters from the Salem Witch Trials in MA, the book made Lewie curious about Salem's dark past. This is perfect! I thought to myself.  Salem has so much to offer between the Witch Museum, the ghost tours, the shops, and the restaurants, there would surely be enough to keep everyone entertained for a short weekend jaunt.

As the weekend drew closer, our plans were finalized, but not in the way I had hoped. Daddy Lew couldn't come with us. For one, his knee was bothering him too much. Then, his sister Michelle was admitted to the hospital. On Saturday morning, Lewie and I reluctantly said our goodbyes to him and then climbed into Sue's Jeep Wrangler for the 2.5-hour ride.

After arriving in Salem, we spent our first hours visiting all the adorable shops on Essex Street. We checked out clothing, trinkets, gems, posters, and even magic wands! We found a great place to have lunch, O'Neill's Pub & Restaurant, and then we went to the Salem Witch Museum, which provides a show/narration of all the events leading to the witch trials of 1692. There is a second exhibit, after the main event, which further explores the evolution of the word "witch." What was clear in the 1600s is that people needed "an enemy" to blame some of the fears of their time--illness (small pox), wars (threat of attack by native Americans), and a genuine distrust of others (new immigrants) with different backgrounds, traditions, and religions. The museum helped me see that in 2024, we still play off of these fears!

I love this pic of the three boys among a sea of gemstones and rocks.

The rest of the trip was focused on shopping, food, and coffee shops (which seemed to be around every corner), but, by far, the main attraction was the ghost tour we signed up for that Saturday night! We met our tour guide in front of the Salem Five Bank, once called the Salem Five Cents Savings Bank (or "Nickel Bank") when it was founded in 1855 because deposits started at just 5 cents. (The building still has the name Salem Five Cents Savings Bank engraved in its stone structure.)

While the bank itself did not have a ghost story, I wanted to learn more since it was an older structure in the city. Come to find out, this bank survived the Civil War, the two World Wars, and the Great Depression.  It also played a major role in the rebuilding of Salem after the Great Fire of 1914, which destroyed a good portion of the city. (Several of the ghost stories that were shared were connected to this fire. Even to this day, visitors still randomly smell smoke in certain homes and estates where the fire claimed lives.)  

Our tour guide knew a lot. He brought us to famous historical sites, old homes, hotels, and businesses that have become notorious for Salem hauntings. All five of us loved walking through the chilly streets to get a personal glance of each structure, and the stories kept getting weirder and weirder with each new location. At one point, I started to feel chills crawl up my spine. Was our tour guide really good at telling ghost stories, or did something supernatural startle me? Our guide told us specifically where ghosts, glowing orbs, smells, and sounds were experienced in each house. For example, some were on the top floor or some were in a specific room. My friend Sue would take pictures as he explained the locations and that's when the chilling effect really took hold! "Look at this," she told me when we were done with our tour and back at the hotel room. 

"What is that?" I asked, starting to feel uneasy. Below are some of the completely unaltered photos my friend took. There was simply no explanation for their weirdness other than the tragic and supernatural stories that were just shared with us.

Known as the "Salem Witch House," this four-hundred-year-old structure is one of the most famous buildings tied to the witch trials. Judge Jonathan Corwin and his wife lived here while he oversaw the execution of nineteen innocent victims accused of witchcraft. Then from 1684-1690, Judge Corwin and his wife had five children who all died young (some within weeks of childbirth). This has become known as the "Corwin Curse." Visitors of the house claim to hear disembodied voices or see apparitions. One person said they heard a child crying coming from the second floor.

 

In comparing these two photos, we see something glowing from the top window. The light (an orb?) appears to have moved during the mere second it took for my friend to snap another picture. Of course, she didn't know it was there when she was taking the pictures.

This is a photo my friend took of a window at the Joshua Ward House. Built in 1786 for a wealthy sea merchant, the mansion at 148 Washington Street was once visited by George Washington himself in 1789.  He stayed in a second story guest room, which has a reputation of having a "spirit" peer out the window--the same window my friend photographed.

I wish the ghost story ends there, but over the years people who have stepped inside this house have experienced scares like "a rogue candle flying off shelves," "ghostly cries of a child," and "the startling sensation of invisible hands circling your neck and...tightening." 

Right now, the mansion is off-limits to the general public, but it is still used by the Higginson Book Company and Carlson Realty; it's considered one of the most haunted places in Salem. Is it just us, or did Sue capture the spirit everyone talks about that peers out the window?

That night, I had a hard time getting to sleep, and once I did fall asleep, I had nightmares. To add insult to injury, my husband called earlier that evening to let me know his sister had passed away in the hospital. At the young age of 57, she lost her battle with cancer. There were no words.

While I've been on many Salem trips, this one felt different. On the one hand, I enjoy every trip we take with the boys because it's so much fun to be part of their world for a day or two. I'm always pleasantly surprised to see how quickly they mature in just a matter of months. On the other hand, this trip left me with a sense of profound sadness. The witch trials, though interesting, were tragic, and so were the stories from the fire and other misfortunes. Did we ultimately learn from the gruesome mistakes this city harbors, or in this day and age, do we still give into fearmongering--looking to blame "the other" for our inconveniences or mishaps? The history and ghost stories gave me a lot to ponder.