A Day in Salem Part 2

Hello again! My mother is still en route to the nearest wi-fi spot, so once again I will be sharing more Salem pictures with all of you awesome people.

Before we begin, I should also point out that upon conferencing with my mother, I have learned that we have apparently been going to Salem for closer to twenty years, and that we initially started visiting because she used to live in Boston. So, while the Hocus Pocus story might seem pleasantly quaint, it is apparently inaccurate. I'm trying to hard to make this non-fiction, really I am!

While looking for a place to park by the House of the Seven Gables, I happened to wander down a side street towards the Salem docks. It was a very fortunate meandering, because I found this awesome house.
I've always liked outsider art. The idea of someone turning their residence into an art installation populated by years of works of art has always been very intriguing to me. I am, after all, my mother's son!

I spent a good while trying to figure out if this house was actually a museum of sorts, but I don't think it is. Rather, its awesome occupant has a way with metal scraps and welding torches, and they have put it on display for all to see and appreciate.
Quite the surreal location. Whoever did these sculptures was very successful in creating a place that honestly felt rather like an alternate dimension.
Caution: if you ever decide to weld and have never done so before, make sure you wear one of those visors. Apparently the flame can cause blindness. Don't ask me why I know this, because I have never come close to welding anything. But it's true.
I love how constant exposure to the elements has caused the sculptures to slightly rust. Thanks to mother nature for putting on the finishing touches.
Here is an example of a house that went for a Day of the Dead theme.
Another house that has fallen into disrepair. As opposed to the house by the graveyard that began yesterday's post, I'm thinking this house's signs of decay are a little less intentional. However, in another sense, it is very well-decorated for Halloween as a result.
Even the Flower Shop is getting into the Halloween tradition. In a very big way.
This is a shot of the alley next to said Flower Shop. I appreciate the boldly-grotesque decorations put on display so prominently.
That guillotine has actual flowing blood. Well, it's not blood of course, but it does in fact flow.
This alley wins the award for best Halloween decorations. Come for the flowers, stay for the terror.
One of Salem's many places to get a tarot reading, palm reading, or whatever other Psychic-related service one might seek.
A moment of empathy for the residents. The scariest part of their Halloween is surely the invasion of tourists.
Another very well-decorated house on one of Salem's main streets. I think the pumpkin art is hand-made.
A VW Bug parked out front of the previous house. The eyelashes have nothing to do with Halloween, which means that they are probably a permanent fixture. Which is awesome.
Probably the most well-known of the Salem Psychic businesses. I actually did not get any kind of Psychic analysis while in Salem, because I have had several Tarot readings in my past that were disturbingly accurate and now I feel like it's sort of skipping ahead and reading the final chapter of a book first. Except the book is your life.
The Hawthorne Hotel in the center of Salem, Mass.
In recent years, it seems that Salem has started to have a problem with young, trouble-making hooligans like the folks shown here. When I took this picture, it really looked like the guy standing in front of the bench and gesticulating with his hands was going to start a fight with someone. Frankly, I only like it when I pretend scared.
That's a cool hat the guy on the left is wearing, but I don't know how good of a job it does in terms of intimidation.
I like this photo a lot. Here we see a guy walking around with his son. He is in full costume, and Halloween is still over a week away. Way to pass on the tradition, while simultaneously teaching your son a thing or two about boldness.
And then there's this devil person on the left. Perhaps the scariest costume of them all, because I really have no idea what she's supposed to be, and yet she wears it so casually. I would not be surprised to find out that this is a typical look for her even in, say, June.

Thus concludes my time as guest editor and my recollections of Salem. As I write this, I can almost taste the fried scallops that I enjoyed so well only a few days ago. I feel very lucky that I am so close to a place like this, the home of Halloween. Stay tuned; my mother will be back tomorrow, and in the coming week I will be doing another post about my trip to the Eerie Horror Film Festival. Happy Halloween!

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Comments

Dirgesinger said…
Thanks Blog Tech, Your two post and the pictures were immense fun:)If I had been a guy and Salem had been a girl, we would have to fight for her:)

Happy Halloween to You!
Leanne said…
Thanks for the tour! You have got our kids saying - oh gee we would love to visit.

Love Leanne NZ
Chris said…
Another great, entertaining guest post, BT! That first house with all the metal art is what some of us here in the northwest would call a "house with a hat". You know...an addition put on that didn't quite go with the original architecture of the house and usually, way too tall! We've seen alot of them in recent years, so when someone exclaims..Look..a house with a hat!, you know exactly what they mean!
Yes, your photos do show us some really "scary" things going on in that town.
Thanks again..it was fun!
Teresa said…
I am so glad you two have shared this with everyone. It is a place that I am curious about, and now I feel almost like I've been there.
Barb said…
I have really enjoyed your two days of posting! Your Mom is very lucky to have such a capable assistant!
It is always fun to "see" through another person's eyes. You have a clear eye for off the beaten path. You see the people other's may not notice.

Thanks for being the guest editor, it was fun!
brokenteepee said…
Mmmm, fried scallops. I so miss good seafood.
Thanks for another great post.
Anonymous said…
I do like the way many Americans decorate for Halloween! We don´t celebrate it especially much over here and we certainly haven´t decorations like that :-) Would be fun to have something like that next to the bog where it happens strange things from time till time :-) :-)

Great blog!
Have a great day!
Christer.
Guillaume said…
Lovely pics. As usual.
once again..great job blog tech...nicely done..

i enjoyed all of this so much..being in california i don't have a chance of getting there this year..but in a way...i was able to visit..thanks to you...

happy halloween to you too, my friend

kary and teddy
Rosemary said…
BT great post, loved your point of view..
most intriguing.
Hmmmm, where can I get me one of them guillotines?
Divaeva said…
yay BT for keeping us in the loop! Love the eyelashes on the bug!
Ann said…
I wouldn't love to visit Salem and I'm sure that this time of year it has to be amazingly fun
Great post! I really enjoyed the tour. And I totally want some of those eyelashes for my Mustang!! ;)
Wow! Now that is what I call celebrating Halloween. But...being Salem, had it been any different I would have been disappointed. GREATLY! Thanks for sharing your pictures... LOVED it!
Thank you for another great guest post!!! All bloggers should be so lucky, as to have sons who are so skilled with this how-to-blog thing. :-)
Birgit said…
The outsider art is cool, but the best of all is the VW buy with lashes! ;)