If you’ve seen any of my previous posts on volunteering at the Haunted Happenings/Salem Main Streets Visitor Information Booth, or this hopeful post from 2019 exclaiming how Halloween 2020 was going to be epic (5 weekends AND a Full Moon on a Saturday Halloween?!?!?), then you can probably guess that my depression grew deeper and deeper as October came closer and the cases were increasing.

At the end of August, our Mayor cancelled the October 1st Haunted Happenings Parade and the Halloween Night Fireworks (the official beginning and ending of the season, respectively). The weekend street fairs then were cancelled and moved to online marketplaces. Businesses were given strict regulations on capacity inside their stores as well as their outdoor queues, and all restaurants had to serve guest outdoors at distanced tables. Given that many Salem businesses rely on the October Tourist money for a majority of their annual earnings, it was a difficult time for everyone. We even canceled the Info Booth.

In an effort to keep the city safe and keep the crowds away, the city cancelled all outside advertisements and promotions, however, the crowds still came and stood in line to visit shops and restaurants. Attractions and walking tours had to go to a timed reservation model, many of which sold out within minutes of going live. Destination Salem launched an app they had been developing to help tourists navigate the city. It proved invaluable, especially since it sent notifications as soon as attractions or tours sold out.

It became clear that people would come, no matter the circumstances. Massachusetts had a travel ban on several of the surrounding states, and there were strict rules about travelers flying in, but still we had people driving up from New Jersey and New York for the day without any plans or reservations. The Mayor and Haunted Happenings staff made the media rounds declaring that Halloween in Salem was cancelled and to please stay home, pleading with people to postpone trips until another time or for October 2021. Still, the crowds came. Attractions that went online for reservations at midnight, were sold out within minutes, or had their websites crash with all of the sudden, concentrated attention. The city closed all public parking garages at 10am on the weekends leading up to Halloween. With sidewalks being used for outdoor seating at the restaurants, or for the queues to get into shops, many streets were blocked off or temporarily made to be one-way, even the pedestrian street. Still, the crowds came. The city mandated that all downtown businesses must close at 5pm on weekends, with restaurants allowed to stay open until 10pm. Still, the crowds came.

Because people were showing up and facing long wait times, sold out attractions, and uncomfortable crowds, it was decided that the Info Booth should be reinstated, but in an altered form. We set-up an awning outside the National Park Service Regional Visitor Center (which had to close it’s exhibits, screenings, National Parks Info Desk, and restrooms for safety, so was only open as a shop with limited hours), and worked in shifts of 2 (typically, we would have 4). Using the app, we would update a dry erase board with a list of sold-out attractions. We had maps and “I wore my mask in Salem” stickers, as well as hand sanitizer and posters promoting the app. I refused to hand anything out, or to touch anyone else’s map, so I brought a pointer that I had attached a small pointing hand to. Other volunteers brought laser pointers or used a pen.

Tourists would walk up, see the board of unavailable attractions, and they would all ask the same thing:

What ISN’T sold out?

The first thing to sell-out every weekend was The Salem Witch Museum, so I would tell them this story:
“One of the most popular questions during a normal season is ‘Where is the Witch Museum?’, to which we all like to respond: ‘Which Witch Museum?‘ You see, we have several. The Salem Witch Museum is sold out, but we also have the Witch Dungeon Museum, the Witch History Museum, the Salem Wax Museum, and the Salem Witch Village. In addition (in normal years), Cry Innocent at Old Town Hall is a live reenactment of one of the witch trials, the Peabody Essex Museum is currently showing a special exhibition of artifacts from the trials (through April 4, 2021).

The other popular one this year (typically from the NY and NJ families that drove up without any plans):

We just got here. What should we do?

My favorite response to that was: “Well, what are your expectations for today?” I didn’t come up with that one, but I used it a lot, and it was very effective. I could usually steer them in the right direction finding out what they were interested in. I can see using this question during normal years as well.

Alongside having a knowledge of Salem, a friendly, approachable attitude, and a willingness to deal with the Public and all their foibles and demands, the most important part of the gig is the Costume!

I have amassed quite a collection of costumes, so I can easily grab one, but a lot of them are dependent on weather. Some are nice and warm for those chilly October days, and some are thin and cool for those Global Warming October days. I try to rotate my costumes throughout the season, so I’m not wearing the same thing each shift, and I try to add a new one to the rotation each year. Each year, I find myself working during a rain storm, and each year, I struggle to find and outfit that works. I had an epiphany during a cold rainy shift in 2019 – one of those days that the rain blows sideways and umbrellas turn inside-out. I could be the Gorton’s Fisherman! I’ve had the yellow overalls, jacket, and Sou’wester hat in my “buy later” list for a long time. I could easily whiten my beard and stick a box of fish sticks to my bag or something. When it looked like Halloween wasn’t happening this year, I didn’t go through with it. Maybe I will for 2021.

The first shift’s outfit is traditionally what I have come to call “Ambassador Witch” This was the first costume I put together for the Info Booth, and it now feels like my uniform (this year with the addition of a mask).

Since this year’s shifts were so last-minute, and I didn’t want to repeat, I went to social media to ask my friends to vote for the next outfits:

I told everyone that I would wear the outfit that got the most votes (with a caveat about the weather). Norma(n) Desmond got the most votes (obviously), but that outfit requires a cool, dry day, so I had to go with the runner-up:

While I did not make the boots, kilt, bag or belt, I did make the vest, shirt, hat and mask.

Because there were not a lot of us that were willing to volunteer, I was scheduled to work on Halloween day. It was my hope that I could wear Norma(n) Desmond (I made a much better matching mask and turban than in the above picture), but the day started with rain and it was very chilly, so wearing satin pajamas, slippers, and a satin kimono* that dragged behind me didn’t seem like the best idea, so I went with one of the Ravenclaw outfits:

The only things I made on this outfit were the hat and the mask. The blue Vintage Ravenclaw robe is based on the Fantastic Beasts movies. I purchased the robe and the tie at Remember Salem. My “wand” was the telescoping pointer with tiny hand I used each shift for pointing out all of the Hocus Pocus film locations on the guests’ maps. It was a big hit. What you can’t see is the Marauder’s Map backpack I made filled with disposable gloves, bottled water, extra maps (for walking to/from the booth), stickers, and a carabiner bottle filled with hand sanitizer.

Halloween Info Booth by the Numbers:

For those of you who are new to this, each shift is 2 hours long, and we have a clicker to count guests. If you are asked a question, or offer help to someone, you click it for the number of people in their group. So one easy question for a family of 8 or a dance troupe of 20 can really add up. Each of the numbers below are the totals for each shift. There are 2 listed on the 17th because someone called-in sick, and I didn’t want someone to handle the second shift alone, so I pulled a double.

October 3rd: 137 (Ambassador Witch)
October 17th: 277 (Black & White Beetlejuice Suit, top hat, black shirt, cravat & pocket square – seen here)
October 17th: 215 (ditto)
October 24th: 301 (Kilted Autumnal Ren Faire Mishmash)
October 31st: 301 (Ravenclaw Alumnus, vintage)

Total for 2020: 1,231 people helped over 5 shifts (10 hours).

In comparison:
2019: 1,388 over 5 shifts (10 hours).
2018: 1,967 over 6 shifts (12 hours).
I don’t have the 2016 and 2017 numbers. Also, these are all the “official” numbers. I wear my “Ask Me, I’m a Local” button anytime I’m walking around Salem, and because I am aggressively helpful, I stop to help loads of people on my way to and from the booth (hence the extra maps and stickers in my bag), so add a few dozen to each of those numbers.

You will notice that the numbers are not that far off 2019 to 2020, considering we were in a pandemic. Given the nice weather, the extra weekend, and the Saturday Full Moon Halloween, it is clear that this would have been a Haunted Happenings for the record books, had things been normal.

All-in-all, I am glad that I was able to get out and help people, especially since my free (to Salem residents) Covid-19 tests all came back negative.

Fingers crossed for a safe 2021 Halloween!

*I made Norma(n) Desmond on a lark. I had been working from home since March 12, 2020, and hadn’t left the house to do anything, so I remarked to a friend (on Zoom) that “If I’m forced to live like an eccentric recluse, I’m going to start dressing like one!” When my quarantine hair was out of control, I watched a video to learn how to tie a turban as a joke. I had already made a cotton kimono out of some Hawaiian fabric I had, and had designed and made a caftan just to learn how to do it. So, when I saw this video of Glenn Close, I knew I HAD to make that outfit (or something close to it):

https://youtu.be/4Y-hmaltmxs

I wore it one night (slightly drunk) while watching the original movie and once on Zoom as a surprise for a friend’s birthday. Since then, I’ve added gloves and a ring and upgraded the turban, so if you come to Salem in 2021 or beyond, maybe you’ll see it in person…