Salem Halloween 2023: What To Know If You're Headed To The Witch City

SALEM, MA — So you are thinking of coming to Salem to soak up the Halloween vibe in the holiday's unofficial hometown this October?

The good news is there will be plenty of revelries filled with costumes, curiosities, attractions, street vendors, shopping, and ghoulish, garish and occasionally gory sights and sounds once you actually get there.

But to best enjoy the wicked times in the Witch City the first gauntlet is actually getting there. The second challenge is being able to do the things you want to do once you hit the downtown stretch.

City officials have stressed that planning ahead for travel, food, drinks and any tours that you have your scared hearts set on is a must with up to one million visitors expected over the next five weeks — including hundreds of thousands of visitors each weekend.

Patch has been covering the ramp-up to Halloween in Salem for the past month and has compiled a guide to what to know to have a bloody, good time in the city.

The first challenge is getting to Downtown Salem and the best way to do that is not to try to drive there. Nothing ruins a fun family frolic or friend reunion all dressed up as the cast members of "Friends" like sitting in a line of traffic for two hours only to find every public parking spot and garage in the area has been completely full since shortly after the sun rose in the morning.

The city of Salem has a set of scheduled road closures and no parking zones around downtown planned for weekends and special events all month — with additional closures likely based on pedestrian traffic as crowds necessitate.

Salem is once again offering free shuttle service from satellite lots outside of downtown that will serve more than 1,300 parking spots with continuous service from Salem High School, Salem State University and Salem Hospital to a dropoff site at Riley Plaza.

Halloween visitors are also encouraged to use the MBTA commuter rail while parking at the Bridge Street lot in Salem or, ideally, at the Beverly station lot or taking the train from Boston or Swampscott. Salem Ferry service is also available throughout the holiday season.

The MBTA continues to offer $10 unlimited weekend passes that can be purchased via the mTicket app, ticket windows at North Station, South Station and Back Bay stations, and on board with cash or credit.

Weekend passes can be purchased in advance. However, passes cannot be activated for travel until Saturday morning of the first scheduled trip or seven days before the holiday weekend for holiday passes.

Visitors are also strongly urged to plan out their itineraries ahead of time as many tours, museums and attractions will sell out, while bars and restaurants could have long lines with reservations fill up early in the day.

Destination Salem has released its annual Haunted Happenings Guide that serves as a map, a collection of attractions and restaurants, and plenty of dos and recommended don'ts when it comes to coming to the Witch City for the holiday season.

There will be events throughout the month that include the returning favorites like the Grand Parade on Thursday, as well as new events and activities this year, including Kid's Pub events, a Haunted Speakeasy at Hamilton Hall, a Salem Night Faire, Spirits Speak in Salem at the Hawthorne Hotel, and Wicked Night on the Wharf.

The Peabody Essex Museum will showcase objects that the Salem Witch Trials victims and accusers owned and touched in an exhibition that puts the dark history in a new light. The PEM will also launch its new exhibition "BATS!" where attendees can explore why bats are not only creatures of the night but also daytime participants in our food systems and growing seasons.

For fervent fans of the cult classic film "Hocus Pocus," there will be a cast member reunion called "It's Just A Buncha Halloween" — including Max (Omri Katz), Dani (Thora Birch), Allison (Vinessa Shaw) and the voice of Thackery Binx as the Black Cat (Jason Marsden) — on Oct. 20 and Oct. 21. The Friday night party is 21+ at Bit Bar and the Saturday meet and greet is at Salem Common (advanced ticket purchase required for both events).

Cinema Salem will also show the film on its 30th anniversary of release as well as a succession of horror classics that include "Night of the Living Dead," "The Shining," "Dracula," "Frankenstein," and the original "Halloween."

Salem Mayor Dominick Pangallo said Friday morning that the city is preparing for the possibility of a federal government shutdown on Sunday that would force the closure of the Salem Maritime National Historic Site on Sunday.

He said visitors will be directed to the new Destination Salem information center at 245 Derby Street and the Salem Main Streets information booth at 125 Washington Street.

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)