SALEM, MA – Celebrate magic in the air this fall at the Peabody Essex Museum (PEM). Enjoy seasonal ways to experience local history and global art, from immersive evening storytelling and new historic walking tours to an ongoing exhibition on the Salem Witch Trials. Visitors can enjoy a virtual workshop all about the mystical, ancient art of palm reading, or come to PEM for a horror movie shadow cast experience with local drag artists. Shop our new Ghost Box pop-up shop or walk over to the Ropes Mansion to see it decorated as it was in the classic Salem-based film Hocus Pocus. There is so much to see and do this fall at PEM. See all of our event offerings at pem.org/halloween.
NEW WALKING TOURS
PEM’s new walking tours offer an expert look at one of America’s most architecturally significant cities, guiding visitors through five centuries of happenings and characters from the Witch City. Tours run at select times Thursdays–Mondays through Sunday, November 17.
Sinister Streets: Witch Trials, Murders and Literary Legends
This tour starts by painting the picture of life in 1692 by examining the exterior of the Ward House – which stood within sight of the hangings on Gallows Hill, and within earshot of the cries of the accused from the Salem jail. Winding through more dark secrets from the city’s past, it finishes by following the steps of a notorious murderer into the Gardner-Pingree House.
The killing of Joseph White gripped Salem and the country in 1830 with its brawling brothers, custom-built murder weapons, conspiring family members and a body that was autopsied three times. Follow PEM’s expert guides into the room where it happened – if you dare!
Brick by Brick: Salem’s Hidden Architectural Stories
This tour explores Salem’s notable structures, from from a millionaire’s mansion to a working-class sailor’s house, and examines how building materials and stylistic choices all tell a story of a particular culture, time, place and family. Meet the hidden figures who built and lived in PEM properties like the Ropes Mansion and the Daniel Bray House and learn about Salem landmarks like Derby Square, the Lyceum and the courthouses on Federal Street. Along the way, learn how the city’s history of colonization, revolution and maritime trade shaped its people and architecture.
EXHIBITIONS
The Salem Witch Trials 1692 is PEM’s first ongoing exhibition on the trials. It shares the stories of the accused, accusers and judges through authentic historic objects — a sundial, a walking stick, a loom — presented as tangible fragments directly tied to people in Salem and nearby communities in the late 17th century. Dive deeper into the history of the witch trials with our free audio-guided Witch Trials Walk, which takes you inside PEM’s galleries and around downtown Salem to learn more about the infamous events of 1692.
Explore the essential role art and objects played for mediums and magicians “communicating” with the dead during the age of Harry Houdini in Conjuring the Spirit World: Art, Magic, and Mediums. If it’s nature you’re seeking, learn about the lives of the “unicorns of the sea” in Narwhal: Revealing an Arctic Legend, our newest exhibition opening on September 28.
CHILLING EVENTS
The Hometown Queeros Present: Shadow Cast Screening + Drag Show
Friday, October 4 | 7:45–10:30 pm | Rated R; ages 18+ with valid ID
$25 members; $30 nonmembers
Start your Halloween season with a special shadow cast horror movie experience! Watch the Hometown Queeros and special guests Killah Croc and Odessa Upchurch perform alongside the fan favorite A24 film X. Set in 1979, X tells the story of a group of filmmakers who set out to shoot a movie in rural Texas and find themselves fighting for their lives. Buy tickets!
Haunted Histories: Fatal Graces
Thursday, October 17 and Friday, October 18 | 6:30–10 pm | 3 sessions per night
Our chilling tales of murder and mystery return! Encounter the restless spirits of New England’s dark history as they roam through PEM’s historic houses in this immersive imagining. Tickets are going fast.
NEW POP-UP SHOP
The Ghost Box | 135 Essex Street
Open Wednesday–Monday, 11 am–6 pm
Browse parlor magic kits, Ouija boards, gifts from Salem artists and more to celebrate Conjuring the Spirit World: Art, Magic, and Mediums. All proceeds support PEM.
PUBLICITY IMAGES
High-resolution images are available upon request.
SPONSORS & PARTNERS
The Salem Witch Trials 1692 is organized by the Peabody Essex Museum. Conjuring the Spirit World: Art, Magic, and Mediums is organized by the Peabody Essex Museum. This exhibition is made possible by Furthermore: a program of the J.M. Kaplan Fund. Narwhal: Revealing an Arctic Legend is organized by the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service in collaboration with the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History. The exhibition at PEM is made possible by the support and guidance of the Art and Nature Center Visiting Committee. Exhibitions at PEM are made possible by Carolyn and Peter S. Lynch and The Lynch Foundation. We thank Jennifer and Andrew Borggaard, James B. and Mary Lou Hawkes, Chip and Susan Robie, and Timothy T. Hilton as supporters of the Exhibition Innovation Fund. We also recognize the generosity of the East India Marine Associates of the Peabody Essex Museum. The Salem Witch Trials Walk is generously supported by the George S. Parker Fund.
IMAGE CREDITS
- Tompkins Harrison Matteson, Trial of George Jacobs, August 5, 1692, 1855. Oil on canvas. Gift of R. W. Ropes, 1859 (1246).
- X movie poster courtesy of A24 film.
ABOUT THE PEABODY ESSEX MUSEUM
Founded in 1799, the Peabody Essex Museum (PEM) in Salem, Massachusetts, is the country’s oldest continuously operating museum. PEM provides thought-provoking experiences of the arts, humanities and sciences to celebrate the creative achievements and potential of people across time, place and culture. By connecting people through inquiry, empathy and dialogue, PEM encourages an understanding of our shared humanity and fosters a sense of belonging in a complex, ever-changing world. We build, steward and share our superlative collection, which includes African, American, Asian Export, Chinese, contemporary, Japanese, Korean, maritime, Native American, Oceanic and South Asian art, as well as architecture, fashion and textiles, photography, natural history and one of the nation’s most important museum-based collections of rare books and manuscripts. PEM offers a varied and unique visitor experience, with hands-on creativity zones, interactive opportunities and performance spaces. The museum’s campus, which offers numerous gardens and green spaces, is an accredited arboretum and features more than a dozen noted historic structures, including Yin Yu Tang, a 200-year-old Chinese home that is the only example of Chinese domestic architecture in the United States.
MEDIA CONTACTS
Whitney Van Dyke | Director of Marketing & Communications | whitney_vandyke@pem.org | 617-259-6722
Kristen Levesque | Publicist | kristen_levesque@pem.org | 207-329-3090