Eerie Evenings aboard the Salem Trolley - two for one this weekend!

To welcome the new season, Salem Trolley is selling two-for-one tickets for shows (tours?!) on October 1, 2, and 3. This means two adults can experience Eerie Evenings for $20, instead of $40!

There is limited availability! Call Salem Trolley at (978) 744-5469 to reserve your tickets before they are all gone!

Here's the tour description from SalemTrolley.com:

Dusk transforms the city of Salem. As the city of renown seafarers and distinguished architecture fades into the shadows, a new Salem of the occult and paranormal emerges.

Visit scenes of grisly murders and ghastly executions, hear tales of ghosts, both mischievous and malevolent, of Salem's haunted hotels and restaurants of long forgotten underground passageways, ancient curses and legends of ghost ships and haunted islands.

You will experience all of this and more as you ride the Salem Trolley's Eerie Evening Tour and explore Salem of the Shadows.

What a perfect way to welcome October to Salem!!

Are your ready for Haunted 'APPenings?

I couldn't resist being a bit punny with the release of our new Haunted Happenings App for iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch. Hope you'll forgive me.

That said, we have launched a shiny new app this week. If you're an iPhone user, you will find Destination Salem's Guide to Haunted Happenings on the app, including calendar of events, business listings, directions, tickets for tours and attractions, and this blog!

You can find the free app in the iTunes store, and we've linked to it from HauntedHappenings.org/app.

You may also want our other free app, the Salem Guide, which you can find at Salem.org/app.

If you don't have an iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch, all of the information is available at HauntedHappenings.org. We're looking at other platforms, including Android, for next year, so stay tuned!

Ernie and The Automatics to Play On October 30

A new event has been added to the Haunted Happenings line-up, and we're pretty excited about it!

Ernie and the Automatics will play a free concert on Saturday, October 30.

The concert will happen on Washington Street at Federal Street at 8:00 pm. This is where the finale concert, presented by Radio 92.9, will happen on Halloween night.

If you are not familiar with Ernie and the Automatics, their independent first release, Low Expectations, debuted at No. 7 on Billboard's Blues Chart. The band channels a classic rock vibe infused with blues.

The Boston-based band features two guitars, bass, drums, keyboards, sax and harmonica. Strong vocals and harmonies round out the mix, delivering original songs and covers that deliver an electrifying live show.

Keyboardist/vocalist/harmonica player Brian Maes, bassist Tim Archibald, and guitarist Barry Goudreau were in the band RTZ. Maes and Archibald also toured in Peter Wolf's House Party Five. Barry Goudreau and drummer Sid Hasian were original members of Boston. The band is rounded out by guitarist and Berklee graduate Ernie Boch and saxophonist (and Rock & Roll Hall of Fame member) Michael "Tunes" Antunes, who spent most of his career with John Cafferty and the Beaver Brown Band.

Plan to check out Ernie and the Automatics on Saturday, October 30!

Haunted Happenings at the mall... and the Big E

Salem Haunted Happenings is at the mall! If you are visiting the North Shore Mall in Peabody, Square One Mall in Saugus, Liberty Tree Mall in Danvers, or Burlington Mall check out our snazzy door clings as you enter and exit the malls.

You can pick up Haunted Happenings brochures at Visitor Services in each of these malls, and if you are at North Shore Mall you will find a Haunted Happenings kiosk adjacent to the food court (pictured).

If you are visiting the Big E, stop by the North of Boston booth in the Massachusetts pavilion. They have Salem Visitor Guides as well as Haunted Happenings brochures to share.

And, if you are not going to the mall or the Big E, you can send us an email with your mailing address, and we would be happy to mail you a Haunted Happenings brochure!

October Availability Update

It's not too late to plan to come to Salem this October!

Here's a quick list of who has what (tickets, rooms, shuttle service) to get you hear for the great celebration that we call Haunted Happenings!

The Hawthorne Hotel has rooms available on October 3-7, October 17-21, and October 24-28 (Autumn is lovely in Salem whether it's a Wednesday or a Saturday, and it's much easier to get a table in our delicious restaurants mid-week!) Tickets for the Bedlam Behind Bars Halloween Ball are still available. $90 each. Call 978-744-4080 or buy tickets online at TicketWeb.com.

The Holiday Inn & Suites (Boston/North Shore on Route 1 in Peabody) has rooms available throughout the month, including Halloween weekend! (Note that they are sold out on the 2nd, 8th, 9th, 15th, 16th, 22nd, 23rd, and 30th.) They do not have a minimum length of stay, and these rooms will sell out! Ask about their complimentary shuttle service between the hotel and Salem during October. For more information call (978) 535-4600.

A short drive north in Beverly, the Wylie Inn & Conference Center has availability throughout the month. They have a 2-night minimum on the 9th, 30th, and 31st, and the Wylie Inn is sold out on the 1st, 2nd, 5th, 6th, 13th, and 18th.

A bit further north in Rockport, The Pleasant Street Inn also has vacancies throughout October. Rates at the Pleasant Street Inn range from $110 to $150 +tax (per night, double occupancy) and include breakfast. There are no minimum stay requirements.

Also in Rockport, the Emerson Inn by the Sea has a two night minimum for Saturday night stays, and they have availability throughout October (some nights only have one or two rooms left, though). The Emerson Inn has a hotel package that includes tickets and transportation to the Bedlam Behind Bars Ball at the Hawthorne Hotel on October 30!

Rockport is an easy connection to Salem via the MBTA Commuter Rail. The 30 minute ride will drop you at the Salem Depot, a 5 minute walk from the visitor center, and you will avoid traffic and parking!

The stars are coming to Count Orlok's!

Mark your calendar to stop by Count Orlok's Nightmare Gallery this October to meet actors Tony Moran and William Forsythe!


Tony Moran, the original Michael Myers in Halloween (1978), will be at Count Orlok's on October 1st and 2nd. Actor William Forsythe, who was also in Halloween (2007) will be signing autographs on October 9th, 16th.


Count Orlok's is definitely the place to get your horror film fix in Salem!

Tales of Women Wandering on the Dark Side at Salem Theatre Company

Beginning September 30, the Salem Theatre Company will welcome nationally acclaimed storyteller Judith Black to the stage. Scorching a path from local history and hysteria to contemporary hilarity and hysterics, Black will explore the power of female hungers and relationships - both here and in the hereafter - in her show, Bittersweet Midnight.

Bittersweet Midnight begins by transporting audiences back to a time when the Calvinists caused havoc on the land while the ocean’s healing power offered an alternative type of faith to Marbleheaders. Featured in this piece is the music of Betsy Rose and musicianship of Vince O’Donnell of Newton, and Bill Smith of Salem, whose considerable skills bring a startling depth of texture to this tale.

Black's unique program then leaps to the lighter side of contemporary female appetites. Themes include sublimated sexual passions, compulsive relationships with food, and the endless attempts to get mom's approval (even postmortem); round up all the usual suspects that live in a woman's psyche!

OPENING NIGHT PERFORMANCE TO BENEFIT HAWC

The Salem Theatre Company will donate 50% of their Box Office receipts for the opening night performance of Bittersweet Midnight to HAWC (Healing Abuse Working for Change). HAWC’s mission is to create social change by taking action against personal and societal patterns of violence and oppression. HAWC provides services and support to victims of domestic violence residing in 23 cities and towns on Massachusetts' North Shore in order that they may make informed, independent decisions about their futures.

This special performance will be followed by a reception in the theatre. Tickets are $35 and can be purchased online at salemtheatre.com, or reserved by calling 978-790-8546 or e-mailing info@salemtheatre.com.

SHOW TIMES & TICKET INFORMATION

Bittersweet Midnight is directed by John Fogle and runs September 30 through October 16 at the STC Theater at 90 Lafayette Street in Salem. Performance times are Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays at 7:30pm; Sundays at 3:00pm. Adults tickets are $22, senior tickets (60+) are $18, and student tickets are $12; tickets may be purchased online now at salemtheatre.com/tickets. Tickets may also be reserved for pick-up at the box office on the day of show, by calling 978-792-8546 or e-mailing info@salemtheatre.com.

Have you booked your room for Haunted Happenings yet?

If you haven't, you really need to because there isn't much availability left!! (Especially not on the weekends.) Salem is THE place to be in October, and an awful lot of people made their reservations for this year as they were checking out last year.

That is not to say all hope is lost, however! There are a few rooms to be had, especially in the Greater Salem region. Visit HauntedHappenings.org/hotels for hotel information for Salem and beyond.

As I am made aware of availability, I will share it with you here. We'll start with the Salem Waterfront Hotel & Suites...

They still have availability on most weekdays in October, with weekday rates starting at $189. Weekends are almost sold out, but the following dates have very limited availability. All weekends in October have a 2-night minimum, with arrival on a Friday required.

October 1-2 (Rooms starting at $269 per night)
October 8 - One night only - October 9 is sold out (Rooms starting at $279 per night)
October 15-16 (Rooms starting at $279)
October 29-31 - A 3-night minimum (Rooms start at $339 per night)

Don't wait if you want to stay at the Salem Waterfront Hotel - these rooms won't last very long! Book online at SalemWaterfrontHotel.com.

The Land of Witches and Pirates

So, you want to immerse yourself in the stories of the Witch Trials of 1692? And you're interested in local pirate lore? Well, do we have the combo-ticket for you!

The Land of Witches & Pirates combination pass will gain you admission to the Witch Dungeon Museum, Witch History Museum, and New England Pirate Museum, and it will save you some money as it does.

The Witch Dungeon Museum on Lynde Street tells the stories of the Salem Witch Trials in dramatic fashion. Starting with a performance by professional actresses, the Witch Dungeon will give you the sense of what the accused, the accusers, and the community experienced in 1692. After the presentation, you will tour the recreated dungeons below. You will see the horrible conditions the accused were subjected to, from standing cells to rats to flooding.

The Witch History Museum on Essex Street will introduce you to the people in 1692, including the slave from Barbados, Tituba, who some believe inspired the girls with stories of VooDoo during the winter of 1692. After a dramatic presentation, you will wander through fifteen life-size scenes that are animated to draw you into the drama of the Salem Witch Trials.

The Salem Witch Trials of 1692 affected hundreds of people from Salem to Maine and beyond. The Witch Dungeon Museum and the Witch History Museum tell some of the compelling stories of this tragic era of American history.

Shifting gears, and heading out to sea, the New England Pirate Museum (and I can't resist throwing in a lowd "ARRRRGGHHH!" here) tells some of the region's pirate tales. Your tour guide through this historical adventures play pirate-with-a-sense-of-humor. They always know their pirate history, and will share the stories of Captains Kidd, Blackbeard, Bellamy and Quelch. You will visit a recreated wharf with pirate ships in port, and travel through a cave in search of pirate treasure. This was a sordid group who showed little mercy as they sailed the seas!

Tickets to each museum cost $8 adults, $6 children, and $7 seniors. Buy the combo ticket to all three, however, and you will save $5 off your total!

Finally, if you are looking to learn more about the Witch Trial history or New England Pirate History, you might find the Education Curriculum pages on the Witch Dungeon and New England Pirate Museum web sites interesting.

Buy tickets now for special October trolley tours!

The Salem Trolley is producing two special night-time tours this October, and you can buy tickets for both now!

The Eerie Evening Tour - Tales and Tombstones will take passengers to the scenes of grisly murders and ghastly executions, sharing tales of ghosts, haunted hotels, and long-forgotten passageways.


The Ghost & Legends Tour - Journey into Salem's eerie past! is an interactive journey into Salem's supernatural past. Your guide will resurrect legendary stories of witches, ghosts, murder, and more. The tour will stop at The Witches Cottage for a live, theatrical presentaiotn featuring witches, ghosts and frightening effects!

Tickets for each tour costs $20 adults, $15 seniors, and $10 children (6-14). Each tour is tickets separately, and reservations are strongly suggested.

Visit SalemTrolley.com for tour times and to purchase tickets. Call 978.744.5469 for more information.

Image (c) Kishgraphics

Have you requested your guide to Haunted Happenings?

Destination Salem's Guide to Haunted Happenings is out, and while we have sent more than 4,000 of them out to Halloween and Salem enthusiasts around the world, perhaps we have not sent one to you yet! Filled with 31 days of programming, listings of museums, attractions, tours, transportation, accommodations, shopping, and dining, it's a must-have for your Haunted Happenings planning.

And it's free!

So, if you haven't received your brochure yet, drop us an email at info@hauntedhappenings.org and we will put one in the mail.

And keep checking the schedule at HauntedHappenings.org, because we are adding new events every day!