You hear my title phrase all the time in Salem now, with increasing frequency. It’s a way to acknowledge the fact that residents of Salem have to (or want to): go to work, drive to their appointments, take their kids to school, walk along the sidewalk or sit on their front stoops in the prolonged Halloween season of September and October (and a bit of November, and…….) when a million people shuffle around our very small city taking pictures of each other. Most people say it out of frustration. I’ve heard this expression from members of our City government as well, no doubt to also express frustration but at the time time, as coverage for doing nothing to ease it. Because the (other) official party line is that no one can do anything about it; the tourists just come and we have to do everything possible to accomodate them. We couldn’t possibly be asking them to come, in any way, because that would indicate a deliberate campaign to exploit an historic tragedy. Nope, they just come, we can’t stop them, and Salem is a real city, not a theme park, and if it exhibits theme park characteristics in response to the demands of the crowd, it’s the tourists’ fault and not ours! I understand the desire to point out that Salem is not a theme park, but at the same time, it looks like one to me, during this time of year, and increasingly all year long. And there’s a bit of protesting too much that it isn’t one going on here.
Here’s my argument for.
Some definitions of a “theme park”:
Oxford English Dictionary (my holy grail): an amusement park designed or organized around a unifying idea or subject.
Merriam-Webster: an amusement park in which the structures and settings are based on a central theme.
Cambridge Dictionary: a large permanent area for public entertainment, with entertaining activities and big machines to ride on or play games or restaurants, etc., sometimes all connected with a single subject.
Collins: A theme park is a large outdoor area where people pay to go to enjoy themselves. All the different activities in a theme park are usually based on a particular idea or theme.
This last definition could undermine my assertion, as people do not pay an admission fee to enter Salem—but they certainly pay in all sort of other ways. Still, it makes the point that a theme park is generally seen as a private enterprise, and I think that’s a big part of the “Salem is not a theme park” refrain. It’s not Disney. But I’m still going to beg to differ. And certainly no one can argue that Salem does not have a central, unifying theme! I could show you tons of pictures of a packed Essex Street which would look very theme-parkish, but I really feel that the City looks most like a designated entertainment zone—or even a movie set– early in the morning when no one is about. Right in the center of it all is Samantha, the Bewitched statue, surveying her domain.
It was a slow burn, but once the Hocus Pocus fan base reached critical mass, that gloss was added to Salem’s veneer as key scenes were shot here. During the week before Halloween, the Peabody Essex Museum dresses up the Ropes Mansion as “Allison’s House,” which you can see above, along with the City’s new bollards installed to protect picture-takers and tour groups. This scene definitely reinforces the “Salem as set” impression! Across town, Salem Common is transformed into a marketplace, food court, and carnival site at this time of year, and you can’t get more theme park than that–a large outdoor area where people pay to go to enjoy themselves.
And then there’s the coordinated messaging/marketing. Don’t get me wrong, it is necessary: people need to know which roads are closed and encouraged to take the train. But it looks and feels commercial rather than civic. Look at this first photo–posted by the Salem Police Department, whose badge bears the image of a witch on a broomstick. Just below, a post from the City’s official travel and tourism agency, Destination Salem: I’m sure this cookie is delicious (the Chocolate Pantry on Derby Street features wonderful treats all year long), but would it be front and center if it didn’t bear the City’s offical witch brand? The “unifying” or “central” focus is the defining characteristic of a theme park and you just can’t miss it in Salem. I completely understand the sentiments of frustrated Salem residents—-I think I actually uttered these same words myself to a squad of felt witch hat ladies who were just standing in the middle of my street obliviously when I was trying to pull out of my driveway, nearly late for class. But I think the City should own it; after all, it is no mean feat to transform a city into a theme park.
October 27th, 2025 at 6:53 am
Oh, my. I don’t care for theme parks. At all. Give me history, and solemn, quiet Autumn walks among the brilliant-leaved trees and ancient tombstones…
October 27th, 2025 at 4:10 pm
We bought a condo there in 2009 and the closing was October 9th. Very little Halloween stuff . Only sweet local school parade down Essex that went past all kinds of family business and no Witch obsession . No Witch parking garages, no black interior historic buildings…..just history with a little remembrence of the tradgedy of the Salem Witch Trials. No bucksters and a few respectfull tour groups. Now it’s a circus from August to mid-November with the residents prisoners and ignored by the local officials. Everything is entertainment and never education and history. Eventually the value of the housing will decrease because of the “Theme Park” atmosphere and loss of historic significance. Then where will the politicians get their “Super Pacs for future ambition. Ask Kim Driscoll
October 27th, 2025 at 7:02 am
I totally agree with your comments and I don’t think Salem should turn into a theme park! Halloween has nothing to do with persons being persecuted in the 1600’s. But in your puctures…..do I see food trucks and amusement rides in Salem now? Seems like it’s already a theme park….how terribly sad.
October 27th, 2025 at 7:48 am
Those have been there for quite a while. I would say maybe 20 years ago, Halloween was getting quite frightening, so there was an effort to make it more family friendly, and I think the Carnival was part of that effort.
October 27th, 2025 at 7:13 am
I agree with your sentiments. As a young person, I enjoyed Halloween; now I can’t wait until it passes. I’m not a “get off my lawn” senior, I like festivities and celebrations. But for us in Salem, I have to ask, “when is enough, enough? How much is too much?” I believe we have already surpassed “too much”.
October 27th, 2025 at 7:51 am
I don’t think we have the means or the will to slow it down. I really wanted to explore this sentiment because I think it offers yet another rationale for local officials to plead powerlessness.
October 27th, 2025 at 8:22 am
I’d like it if some of the slop shops on Essex could be replaced by things that were useful year round. It would take a while for the city to wind down the dependence on Halloween traffic however.
October 27th, 2025 at 8:40 am
It definitely would.
October 27th, 2025 at 8:42 am
And I like your blog! “Parasitical Holiday”
October 27th, 2025 at 8:36 am
Ah, but it does have a name, and one created by the City in conjunction with Destination Salem – “Haunted Happenings” – there are guidebooks printed which highlight all the “paying” commercial businesses that offer spending opportunities …. many that charge admission, tours, and long queues – just like a Theme Park.
October 27th, 2025 at 8:43 am
There you are.
October 27th, 2025 at 11:21 am
When people ask if Ipswich should promote tourism, we respond, “No, we don’t want it to turn into Salem or Newburyport.”
October 27th, 2025 at 3:42 pm
Well at least Newburyport is not exploiting a tragedy.
October 27th, 2025 at 1:11 pm
It’s been many years since I was in Salem in October. I hadn’t realized they’ve let all that tacky carnival stuff set up on the common, along with the scenic view of portable toilets in a long row. Very sad.
October 27th, 2025 at 3:43 pm
Oh yeah, I could show you more rows.