Halloween from my Salem Stoop

It’s November! The long, long, long Salem Halloween is over. I was kind of chill this year for some reason, even though I spent a good part of the month at home. My “They were not Witches” door tag got a lot of attention, which pleased me, as did the opportunity to meet more architecturally-focused tourists at the Phillips House. I still don’t understand the celebratory aspect of this eternal event as it applies to Salem “history,” but I think I’ve come to realize that I never will! Regardless of how I feel about Salem Halloween, I have always enjoyed Halloween night in Salem, because it is essentially about children and families, and I have a front-row seat on Chestnut Street. Usually I invite my parents down from York Harbor as they get no trick-or-treaters and they really love to hand out candy to the crowds, but they are on a cruise so my husband and I were on our own with the able assistance of our tenant Jen. Thank goodness she came over, as there were definitely more trick-or-treaters than ever. We were exhausted! I thought I had enough candy going in, but the lights were off at 7:20 after we went through 16 big bags and there were still crowds outside. I hate to sound like a Halloween grinch here, because all in all it was a really fun night, but I think I might cut off the teens and adults next year—this is the one big change I’ve noticed over the years, in addition to the size of the crowds. But on the other hand, there were some very creative costumes MADE by the bigger people, so the least I can do is give them a butterfinger. Anyway, here are some of my favorite photos from my stoop, some a bit blurry as I kept fiddling with the motion setting.

I love November!