Last month, just a few weeks after the Halloween Dracula Tour to Transylvania, a group of horror fans spent their Friday the 13th in Salem, MA experiencing the "Weekend of the Witch." Joe and Melissa Schmidt arrived safely home from their drive back to Chicago after their participation in the "Weekend of the Witch" in Salem, and they were kind enough to write about their travel adventure...
"We just wanted to tell everyone what a wonderful time we had. It was so nice to meet all of the people on the tour and especially nice to see a couple of familiar faces; namely, Jansen (DracTour '03 / GHOSTour '06) and Lynn (DracTour '04 / GHOSTour '06). We also wanted to say thank you to Kelley, who despite battling the flu and the disagreeable weather, was able to get us to as many points of interest as possible. There were so many highlights of this trip, it was difficult to decide what our favorite parts were, but ultimately we agreed on a few. 
Count Orlok's Nightmare Gallery had some amazing monsters. Most of these were the old movie monsters that you would expect to see, but there were also some surprises as well, including one of our favorite creatures -- "Darkness" -- from the movie "Legend."
Of the museums we visited, the "Witch Dungeon" was the one that made the witch trials seem the most real to us. Here there was a reenactment of a witch on trial, and afterward you were invited to visit the dungeon which mimicked the actual conditions of the holding place of the accused with its cold stones and dark coffin cells. There was also a very creepy scene at the end of multiple bodies hanging from a tree.
The walking tours were extremely interesting. We liked the fact that these tours told you some of the lesser-known pieces of haunted history associated with the town of Salem. With each tour we did not hear the same story twice. I must also mention that we were actually mooned on one of these walking tours by a man looking out from his window! That was scarier than some of the ghost stories we were being told!
The Old Burying Point Cemetery, which is the second oldest cemetery in America and the location of the witch memorial, so consumed our interest that we visited it three different times while we were in town. We also visited the cemetery that was directly behind the old jailhouse. This was the spot where Giles Corey was crushed to death and where his ghost is known to be seen wandering. These old grave stones tell you how the person died as well as when they died. To our delight, the cause of death was often written in a lovely little epitaph full of rhyme and wit. Some were shipwrecked and many died of consumption or other physical ailments or maladies.
The House of the Seven Gables was also very enjoyable and impressive with its hidden doors and passageways. Even in the rain we were able to wander the garden and admire the view of the pier.
Many of the shops were magical and full of unique fare such as "Fool's Mansion" and "Crowe Haven Corner," but the one that stood out the most for us was the "Life and Death Tours" store which actually sold human rib bones!
The town of Salem was very charming with its cobblestone streets, old houses and little witch signs attached to the street lights. Thanks to this tour we have a much better understanding of what actually happened during the nine month period in 1692 where so many people were accused of witchcraft and some even lost their lives. The weather was rainy and cold, but really didn't bother us. What better ambiance for this type of tour? Although there were so many things to do packed into our little weekend, we feel that there is still more to be seen in Salem and would love to go back one day." ~Melissa & Joe Schmidt (DracTour '04 / GHOSTour '06 / Weekend of the Witch '09). 
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