Inside Hex: Old World Witchery, one of Salem’s twenty-some witch-themed stores, masked customers were packed uncomfortably close that afternoon, bumping elbows and shopping bags as they browsed essential oils and tarot cards. The demographic skewed young, female, and (dare I say it?) decidedly witchy: lots of black midriff T-shirts and crystal necklaces harem pants bedecked with metallic suns and moons and Chuck Taylor high-tops in spider-web prints. There, tourists lined up at the Witch Mansion, billed as Salem’s “premier haunted house.” Nearby, throngs of visitors clogged storefronts, perusing window displays and sale racks. Instead, most visitors were packed into a few blocks of Essex Street, the city’s commercial hub. On this day at least, it seemed as if delving into the history of the Salem witch trials was not the main attraction. Inside, the museum itself was nearly empty, save for a couple of employees in the gift shop. A few blocks away, at the Witch History Museum, a handful of families mulled around outside, taking selfies and consulting maps before continuing their strolls through town.
Outside, near several stockades, two bored-looking husbands sat on a bench, languidly scrolling through their phones as their wives stood alone in a queue, waiting for the museum’s next reenactment to begin.
On a recent afternoon, visitor traffic was light at the Salem Witch Dungeon Museum.
