literature – Salem Main Streets

Nevermore? Not So. Poe Returns to Salem

History, Salem Event, Salem Festivals No Responses »

Oct 152015

Why didn’t someone think of this before? Transporting noted master of the macabre, Edgar Allan Poe and his chilling stories to Salem for an interactive event during Haunted Happenings. Makes perfect sense! Actually we did, or rather The Scarlet Letter Press & Gallery did last year and has opted for a return engagement Oct. 17.

Rebecca DeVries of Scarlet Letter Press reveals, “So many folks enjoyed the show that I was asked to repeat it this year. I actually booked the actor at the conclusion of last year’s event because it was so well received.”

The Scarlet Letter Press was participating in a national month of recognition to support the city of Boston’s installation of its life-sized Poe bronze in Oct. 2014. The Edgar Allan Poe Foundation of Boston had sought to honor Poe in the city where he was born on January 19, 1809.  The installation was in Poe Square (intersection of Boylston Street and Charles Street South) which had been dedicated to the author in 2009.

“This year we are hosting two smaller seatings (5:45pm and 7:45pm) at the event room in Wynott’s Wands retail store on Essex Street in Salem,” she explains.

Campbell Harmon returns as Mr. Poe to perform dramatic readings of The Raven and A Tell-Tale Heart. The latter of which was reported to have been based upon a true tale of horror from Salem’s past– and little to do with witchcraft.

Last year’s presentation garnered rave reviews.

Rebecca says “The audience was inspired by the actor’s large wealth of Poe knowledge in addition to his theatrical story telling abilities. He spent a good portion of the after show last year discussing the mysterious circumstances of Poe’s death and gave perhaps the best theory I have heard to date. The audience was thrilled to participate with their own theories!”

Also note that Scarlet Letter Press & Gallery is offering a $5 online coupon code which makes tickets only $20 each. Code is: OCT15.

For more info or tickets go to TSLPress.com or call 978-741-1850.

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.

Mass Poetry Festival this Weekend!

Salem Festivals, Uncategorized, Workshops No Responses »

Apr 192012

Spend your weekend downtown Salem April 20 – 22 at the Mass Poetry Festival. The poetry festival kicks off Friday with programs for Families and Children; then moves into adult programing in the later afternoon. In the evening enjoy a headline reading with Robert Pinsky, Maggie Dietz and Major Jackson. The night closes out with an intercollegiate poetry slam at Victoria Station.

Saturday begins with workshops and more programs for children and families. Throughout the day there will be activities for families in the Peabody Essex Museum. Across the street in the Museum Place Mall, the small press fair will run from noon to 5:00 pm. Montserrat College of Art will be silkscreening and giving away Mass Poetry festival book bags. At 1:30 pm there will be a reading of the 2012 Common Threads poets. More than 60 readings, workshops, panels and performances will sprawl throughout downtown Salem all afternoon. In the evening there will an amazing performance of song and poetry by powerful story tellers. The evening will end with a late night Poetry Slam organized by famed slam master of the Boston Poetry Slam Simone Beaubian!

Sunday also includes a full line up of events. Visit the official Mass Poetry website for full details. Festival buttons only cost $10. Link to full festival calendar here.

Are you going…?

SMS News, Uncategorized No Responses »

Sep 182009

…to the Suprise Birthday Party, on the Trolley tour, on the walking tour, to the plaque dedication or to one of the many fantastic events celebrating the life of Sophia Peabody Hawthorne this weekend.

Celebrate the 200th Birthday of Sophia Peabody Hawthorne downtown Salem, MA from Saturday, September 19 through Monday September 21th. Events to commemorate the life of Sophia Peabody, one of the famous Peabody Sisters, a gifted painter and illustrator and the wife of Nathaniel Hawthorne. For a full schedule of events, click here.

Come Celebrate Sophia’s Birthday!

History, Salem Festivals No Responses »

Aug 202009

Celebrate the 200th Birthday of Sophia Peabody Hawthorne downtown Salem, MA from Saturday, September 19, through Sunday September 20th. Events to commemorate the life of Sophia Peabody, one of the famous Peabody Sisters, a gifted painter and illustrator and the wife of Nathaniel Hawthorne. For a full schedule of events, click here.