Full Title:
A Season with the Witch: The Magic and Mayhem of Halloween in Salem, Massachusetts
Synopsis:
Salem, Massachusetts, may be the strangest city on the planet. A single event in its 400 years of history―the Salem Witch Trials of 1692―transformed it into the Capital of Creepy in America. But Salem is a seasonal town―and its season happens to be Halloween. Every October, this small city of 40,000 swells to more than a quarter million as witches, goblins, ghouls, and ghosts (and their admirers) descend on Essex Street. For the fall of 2015, occult enthusiast and Edgar Award-winning writer J.W. Ocker moved his family of four to downtown Salem to experience firsthand a season with the witch, visiting all of its historical sites and macabre attractions. In between, he interviews its leaders and citizens, its entrepreneurs and visitors, its street performers and Wiccans, its psychics and critics, creating a picture of this unique place and the people who revel in, or merely weather, its witchiness.
Edition:
Paperback
My Thoughts:
This was a recommendation from someone on Twitter. I really wish I could remember who, so I could thank them. Not only can I not, but I can’t even find the damned post where they responded with the rec! If it was you, please let me know so I can give a shoutout. This was a really interesting read!
I can’t find my notes on this anywhere, which really sucks. I recall taking a lot of notes. And yet, my notes for this one are NOWHERE. Stupid. This means I’m going to be winging it. I apologize in advance since I feel like I’m all over the place under the best of circumstances. Good luck to us all.
So, this book covers pretty much everything a person might want to know about the city of Salem, Massachusetts. From the obvious (the Salem Witch Trials) to the less so (the pirates, the literary canon both real and fictitious, the normie residents, and even the local non-witchy businesses and local government entities).
I love a good travelogue, and Ocker has a style of writing that is incredibly engaging. He’s funny, but he also clearly takes the time to get to know the places he’s writing about, as well as the people who are tasked with running, promoting, and/or caring for those places. I found myself walking away with a whole lot of knowledge about Salem and even the Witch Trials than I did not have before picking up this book. I also liked that he spoke with plenty of people on both sides of the Salem Witch divide: those who love the Witch City moniker, and those who want the whole to-do to go away (because the entire month of Halloween sees the city turn into something akin to New Orleans during Mardi Gras season).
Rating:
It’s informative and entertaining!
About the Author:
J. W. Ocker is the Edgar Award-winning author of Poe-Land: The Hallowed Haunts of Edgar Allan Poe, A Season with the Witch, and Death and Douglas. His work has appeared in the Guardian, the Boston Globe, CNN, the Atlantic, and elsewhere. (bio via Bookshop)
A Season with the Witch: The Magic and Mayhem of Halloween in Salem, Massachusetts By: J. W. Ocker Countryman Press Published: October 4, 2016 ISBN: 1581573391 Paperback, E-book 338 Pages Author's Website Authors Twitter: @jwocker
This does sound excellent! One of these days I’m going to read all of these books. It has to happen.
I believe in you!! 🤣