Salem’s Halloween Crowds Celebrate the City’s 400th Year

Salem’s streets filled with thousands of Halloween celebrants on October 31, as locals and visitors gathered for the city’s festivities during its 400th anniversary year. Costumes ranged from homemade ideas to detailed portrayals of well-known characters.

Friends arrived as characters from “The Little Mermaid,” while other groups chose the Mad Hatter and Queen of Hearts, Victorian ghosts, and Marie Antoinette and King Louis. The McGraws, visiting from Houston for the third time, said their costumes drew inspiration from a trip to France. A pair from Michigan wore outfits depicting the whimsical hat-maker and the playing-card monarch and have made repeated visits to Salem over the years.

Visitors also spotted a man dressed as Uncle Sam, who had come from Connecticut for his 15th Salem Halloween, and a hot dog costume worn by a visitor from Dallas. Helen Budz wore a vintage-camera costume and offered portraits for tips, giving customers printed pictures designed to resemble old Salem newspapers.

Other looks included Coraline and Wybie, Wonder Woman alongside a dog dressed as Super Girl, and several movie characters. Animals joined in, too: a seven-year-old dog wore a Sam costume from “Trick or Treat,” while other dogs appeared as a pumpkin or were pushed along in a buggy at the Salem Commons Witch’s Circle. One person dressed as Rapunzel let long hair hang from an Essex Street apartment window.