One last post on Halloween in Salem and then the endless event will be over! I want to move from the long perspective of the past to the very busy present and show those of you who do not live in the environs of Salem just how busy the Witch City is at this time of year. The photographs below were taken during a stroll (wrong word: too peaceful) around the city center: down Essex Street to the Common, and back home via Derby Street and the waterfront. If I wanted to show you what Halloween really looks like in Salem, I would offer up images of traffic, crowds, and rows of porta-potties (spelling???), but who would want to look at those? I’ll try to do better than that.
Essex and Washington Streets, crowded with people and cars.
Temporary tent-shops. Somehow, even the cute hats above look a bit ominous.
A witchcraft purveyor who can’t SPELL.
Salem’s answer to Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny, a living statue, and a street preacher, steps away from each other on Essex Street.
Zombie dancers waiting for their cue in Derby Square.
Carnival-time on the Common and Derby Street.