Halloween – Page 6 – Salem Main Streets

Stoker and Price to Speak in Salem

Haunted Happenings, History, Salem Event No Responses »

Oct 122014

Obviously neither Bram Stoker (creator of the popular Dracula character) nor Vincent Price (celebrated actor in many a macabre movie) can be here. Both have passed on. But descendants are keeping the memories, stories and work alive… and will be sharing with you this month during Haunted Happenings: Dacre Stoker on 10/16 and Victoria Price on 10/20.

Dacre Stoker is the great-grandnephew of Bram Stoker, and himself an author, having written Dracula: The Un-Dead (with Ian Holt) said to be based on handwritten notes of Bram Stoker’s for characters and plot threads. He will be in Salem to discuss the Stoker family perspective on all things Dracula as part of a film screening of the award winning documentary Vampires of New England at CinemaSalem, 7pm on Oct. 16.

Canadian by birth and now living in South Carolina, Stoker has been a teacher and an athletics coach (in fact he is a former Pentathlon world champion and coached the Canadian Pentathlon team in Seoul at the 1988 Summer Olympics). And from this clip, you can hear he is also an engaging speaker.

Dacre Stoker – Garlic and Vampires from Historical Haunts on Vimeo.Called “The Blood is the Life: A Night of Dracula and New England Vampires” the event is presented by Historical Haunts LLC and Cinema Salem. Stoker will be available for photos and autographs afterwards.

For more info go to www.histhaunts.com or www.cinemasalem.com.

This month has also been a celebration of another author, Edgar Allan Poe. Of course one could not visit the written works of Poe without the visual memories of the stories as presented by Vincent Price in many movies. Rounding out the celebration of all things Poe will be a special appearance by Victoria Price, the actor’s daughter on Oct. 20th.

Price will make herself available in three different areas of Salem:

5:30 pm, a walking tour of Count Orlok’s Nightmare Gallery
6 pm, a lecture/talk at the next-door STV studios.
After the lecture ends, Price will meet with participants at The Scarlet Letter Press & Gallery for an evening of wine & words (she will sign autographs).

Victoria has established herself as a lively, popular public speaker (as you will see in the below clip) on topics ranging from the life of her famous father, to interior/industrial design to the role of the art collector in society.

Victoria Price from thesoundofvincentprice.blogspot.com.Her stories about her dad will charm, entertain and give you insights to the man that we loved to have scare us.

For more info go to The Scarlet Letter Press or The Nightmare Gallery.

Sanderson Sisters Return to Salem Rescheduled; Hocus Pocus on the Common Oct. 18

Haunted Happenings, History, Salem Event, Salem Festivals No Responses »

Oct 092014

Come little children, I’ll take thee away; into a land of enchantment. Come little children, the time’s come to play: here in my garden of magic.

Hauntingly chanted by a Sanderson sister in the 1993 film Hocus Pocus, that is something as children we learned was a bad thing to hear echoing in the cloud-filled skies— be you in Salem Ma or elsewhere. But, after all it was just a movie. And that movie is fondly recalled every year here in Salem, where the producers actually took the time to film several scenes.

Radio 92.9 is presenting a free, weekly Haunted Movies Series in Salem during October; this week Hocus Pocus, rained out last week (perhaps the burning rain of death?) has been reset for Saturday, October 18 from 6:30 to 8:30 pm on the Salem Common under the stars.

Bring a blanket or beach chairs to watch this movie, which picked up 2 wins and 11 overall nominations during the 1994 Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films, USA awards.

Last year was the 20th anniversary of the movie. Here is a bit of trivia: did you know that the actor playing Thackery (not Zachery) Binx was Sean Murray who now plays Tim McGee on NCIS? You did? Well, did you also know that he was the voice of neither Thackery nor the cat? Movie Magic.

Hello Salem! My name’s Winifred, what’s yours? I put a spell on you…

Fantasy Becomes Reality In Salem Parade

Haunted Happenings, Salem Event, Salem Festivals 1 Response »

Oct 062014

Marching orders came down last Friday and we all had a great time participating in the Salem Chamber of Commerce 19th Annual Haunted Happenings Grand Parade. Whether in costume or not (the theme this year was “Fantasy” characters), the kids had a great time either in the parade or standing on the sidelines and watching.

For those of you not in attendance, here, courtesy of John Andrews at Social Palates from the Creative Salem website, is a visual slide-show tour of the event.

Look closely to catch a few shots of our own Kylie.

Haunted BizBaz Returns to Salem

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Oct 032014

You never know who you’ll meet during the Biz Baz…

Street fairs are a welcome sight in Salem; walkers and vendors chat, joke, shoot the breeze, bargain, and in most cases seal a deal. This weekend the Chamber of Commerce presents its annual version, the Haunted Biz Baz, October 4 (10am-8pm) & October 5, 2014 (10am-6pm).

Booths will be lined up essentially along the Essex Street Pedestrian Mall walking path, as well as down into Derby Square.

What will you find? What won’t you find? Arts, crafts, jewelry and a great deal more. It’s a bazaar! It’s also a weekend. Weather looks to be co-operating with partly cloudy/partly sunny skies, mid to low 60 degree temperatures. That translates into a fine day trip forecast.

There will, of course, be food vendors along the route. Plus there are all the brick and mortar restaurants that line our main roads and streets. And afterwards, you can always check out the diverse, eclectic and just plain strange offerings of the merchants in Salem’s Downtown District.

Of course, if you need some directions or advice, our Info Booth volunteers are ready and willing to help answer your zaniest questions! Stop by the intersection of Essex St. and Washington St. any time between 10 am and 6 pm on Saturday or 1 pm and 5 pm on Sunday for some friendly assistance.

Info Booth ambassador Paula is ready to help!

So, Anything Going On This Week in Salem Ma?

Haunted Happenings, Salem Event, Salem Festivals, SMS News No Responses »

Oct 012014

Step right up, though this may not be the “greatest show on Earth,” Salem Ma does try its best to give residents, North Shore neighbors and visitors the most for their time & money spent here during the month of October. Just this week we are opening our Info Booth to be staffed with ambassadors of goodwill to assist fun-seekers and officially kicking off festivities with the Chamber of Commerce 19th Annual Haunted Happenings Grand Parade, as well as once again launching the Mayor’s Night Out and Trick or Treat with the Mayor events.

Practically speaking there are more activities scheduled for the first three days of October than we have room for in this blog. We suggest you look at the calendar information supplied by at least these three great community websites. Mix and match the information.

Specifically we would like to point out that:

The 19th Annual Haunted Happenings Grand Parade, presented by the Salem Chamber of Commerce steps off Thursday, Oct. 2nd at 6:30pm. This year’s parade theme is “Fantasy.” Children from grade school through high school and perhaps a big kid or two from college will march through our streets in costume as a tip of the hat to all the activities to follow this month. The spotlight, though, is where it should be, on the young people who keep Halloween alive with their imagination.

The Mayor’s Night Out is Oct. 3rd and that Friday Mayor Kimberly Driscoll, in partnership with Salem’s attractions and museums, encourages Salem residents to leave their homes to sample attractions, museums and even parking (at East India Mall garage after 4 pm) free of charge! Just bring your Salem ID and be on the look-out from 3 – 10 pm for “Mayor’s Night Out” signs at participating businesses.

Trick-or-Treating with Mayor Kim Driscoll at the East India Fountain takes place from 5:30 – 6:30 pm. Bring the kids, join the Mayor as the procession will Trick-or-Treat along the Essex Street Pedestrian Mall, The Museum Place Mall Shops, and beyond. Trick-or-Treat Bags provided. Costumes encouraged. And of course, it is another free of charge event.

Salem’s Downtown District is prepared to show you a good time this month, this 5th season of our calendar year. We welcome “kids of all ages,” to explore and be entertained.

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