GHOSTBUSTERS: SPIRITED SITES FOR 'PHANTASTIC NIGHTS
By Paul Wade in Essentially America (2002)

A mere 20 years ago, the last night of October was just for kids, who dressed up in costumes, went 'trick or treating' and took home enough sweets for a million stomach aches. Now, it's the fastest-growing festival in the world - a jamboree for adults as well. This year, Americans alone will spend $7 billion on spooky parties, ghostly decorations, ghoulish costumes and supernatural-themed weekends. That makes Halloween second only to Christmas as a holiday season! There isn't a self-respecting town in the USA that doesn't offer ghost tours, led by 'certified ghost hunters'. Paul Wade tracks down a 'phantastic' Halloween hotspot in New England.

SALEM, MASSACHUSETTS
Spectral images have floated around Salem ever since 1692, when the accusations of hysterical young women led to the infamous Witch Trials. Centuries on, that legacy overshadows the splendid old mansions and seafaring history of this town, just a short drive from Boston.

"There's the idea that Salem has a curse on it," says Greg Liakos of the excellent Peabody Essex Museum. Nathaniel Hawthorne, the 19th century author who lived in Salem and was a direct descendant of one of the witch trial judges, is also to blame. "In novels such as The Scarlet Letter and The House of Seven Gables, Hawthorne explored the idea that the town had committed the original sin. That's hung round the town's neck like an albatross ever since."

Today, Salem bears the nickname of 'Witch City, USA', with more wickens and white witches living there than anywhere else. There are witch-themed museums and dungeons, plus ghost and vampire tours, with guides dressed in capes and hoods, muttering about spectres and the undead. Shops offer everything from tarot cards and angelic readings, to psychic channelling and "magickal supplies". The Joshua Ward House, on the site where witch trial interrogations took place, is rated as "the most haunted house in the USA". The annual Haunted Happenings last from early October to All Souls Night (Halloween) - then Salem returns to normal.