What It’s Really Like to Grow Up in One of the Most Haunted Towns in America (Exclusive) 

Steeped in a dark history and believed to be a hot spot for all things paranormal, Salem, Massachusetts has unsurprisingly become a Halloween destination.

Famous for its infamous witch trials of 1692, the town attracts huge crowds every autumn and is one of the most visited destinations during the spooky season. In fact, the city welcomed 1.2 million tourists last year and is expected to surpass that number this year, according to NBC 10 Boston.

Believers (and skeptics!) can book one of the many haunted history tours offered around town in the hope of catching a glimpse of a ghost, witch or even a vampire. Mason, originally from Salem, grew up in the city and now leads such a tour for many visitors.

People dressed up for Halloween in Salem, Mass.

JOSEPH PREZIOSO/AFP via Getty

The US Ghost Adventures guide was actually created on the 300th anniversary of the 1992 witch trials, and tells PEOPLE that growing up in Salem, he easily made Halloween his “favorite holiday” for as long as he could remember. Of course, making a career out of Salem’s dark history has led him to some gruesome first-hand experiences.

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Mason of US Ghost Adventures (right) and a photo of him dressed up for Halloween when he was younger (left).

Aaron Ashcroft-Page (2)

As a child, he remembers, “the Halloween atmosphere here was really great, especially downtown. They had re-enactors dressing up like early colonial settlers. They would ride horse-drawn carriages up and down the cobblestone streets that are now mostly brick. We had a lot more of that sense of history and it wasn’t as busy.”

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The tour group stops to take photos of the House of Witches.

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While he remembers an older cousin telling him “strange stories” about the old town jail in Salem, his own first-hand experiences with the supernatural happened when he was an adult.

His strangest encounter happened last year on Halloween.

He stopped near Samuel Pickman’s house, which dates back to 1665, to tell a story to a tour group he was leading. While he had his back against a nearby low stone wall, something ominous happened.

“In the middle of the conversation, I felt someone’s hand grab the back of my jacket and pull me, like a child trying to get your attention. He pulled three or four times,” he says. “I finished speaking and looked behind the wall — there is no one there. At some point I would see or hear someone rushing. There was nothing.”

Samuel Pickman’s House in Salem, Massachusetts.

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Mason came to the conclusion that the encounter could be connected to the children he says died of smallpox there in the 1700s. And he notes ominously that “people have seen the faces of children in the windows on the second floor.”

Some of his other spooky experiences include seeing a glass go off the shelf while sitting at the bar and hearing blood-curdling screams in the alley behind the Rockafellas restaurant.

“It’s strange to me that it actually happens often in the October season. I talked to people about it,” he says. “Are they drawn to the energy the crowd brings when they expect to see something haunted?”

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Salem, Mass. during Halloween.

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As for what locals think about the growing crowds that have poured into Salem in recent years, Mason says “most people hate it,” especially because of the traffic and difficulty finding parking. However, he notes that small businesses and restaurants thrive during this time, and the revenue they generate during the fall helps them “get through the slow season.”

He adds that tourism especially experienced a boom after the COVID-19 pandemic and that the largest tourist group that he has led since then numbered 40 people.

Salem, Mass. during Halloween. JOSEPH PREZIOSO/AFP via Getty Images

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“We’ve gotten a lot busier in the last few years since COVID ended and we’ve gone viral on social media,” he says, referring to the popularity of the TikTok phenomenon dubbed “WitchTok.”

Looking back, he notes that Salem “was always busy during the Halloween season, but nothing like today.”

To book a tour of Salem’s haunted history with Mason, visit salemghosts.com.

Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education