October in Salem
October is its own season
For one month a year, our small city fills to the brim. It is crowded, joyful, a bit chaotic and unlike anywhere else. Here is our honest, practical guide to doing it well, from people who have done it every year since 1997.
What to expect
Salem is a city of about 44,000 people. In October it welcomes, by most estimates, around a million visitors or more over the course of the month, most of them on weekends and in the last ten days before Halloween. The city's month-long festival fills the calendar with parades, markets, concerts, haunted houses, museum programs and street performers, and the downtown pedestrian streets become a slow river of costumes, strollers, dogs in capes and people looking for somewhere to sit down.
It is a wonderful thing to see. It is also, on a Saturday afternoon in late October, a lot. The visitors who enjoy it most are the ones who arrive knowing what they're in for, so here's the short version:
- Weekdays in the first half of the month are calmer, and in our opinion the best time to come. The leaves are turning, the museums are open, the weather is often perfect, and you can get a table.
- Weekends are very busy from the first Saturday onward, and the final two weekends and Halloween itself are extraordinary. Expect lines for almost everything, crowded sidewalks, some streets closed to cars, and restaurants booked weeks ahead.
- Halloween night is a party for tens of thousands of people downtown. It's festive and well policed, but it isn't quiet, and getting anywhere takes time. Some guests love it; some prefer to watch from the widow's walk.
- Mercy Lane stays quiet, relatively speaking. We're a short walk from the busiest streets, close enough to dip in and out, far enough that you can hear yourself think on the porch. Quiet hours (10 pm to 7 am) are strictly kept in October; we think you'll be grateful.
Booking your room
Book early. We have nine rooms. October weekends are usually fully booked by late spring, and the last two weekends often by the previous November. Midweek stays open up later and are sometimes available into September.
Minimum stays. Any stay that includes a Friday or Saturday night in October has a three-night minimum. That applies even if just one of your nights touches an October weekend. Midweek October stays have a two-night minimum on most dates. We can't make exceptions on weekends, so please don't ask Samuel; he hates saying no.
Rates. All rooms are at their peak rate for the whole month, from $249 for a Garret room to $529 for the Widow's Walk Suite. See each room page for the details.
Cancellation. For October stays you'll need to cancel 30 days before arrival for a full refund (the rest of the year it's 14 days). Inside 30 days we refund 50%. We strongly suggest travel insurance. If you have to cancel, tell us as early as you can; there is always a waiting list and we'll do our best to re-let the room.
The waiting list. If the dates you want are full, ask to join the waiting list by email (stay@cranelantern.example). Rooms do come back, usually in late August and again in the two weeks before Halloween.
Getting here in October: take the train
We say this every year and we mean it: if you can come by train, come by train. The commuter rail from Boston's North Station takes about 30 minutes to Salem station, and from there it's a nine-minute walk to our front door (downhill-ish, past two good bakeries and one very photogenic cemetery fence). In October the railroad usually adds extra trains on weekends and has often offered special weekend fares; check the current schedule before you travel. Trains on October Saturdays can be crowded, especially between 10 am and 2 pm heading in and after 6 pm heading back to Boston. Board early and travel light.
The seasonal ferry from Boston's Long Wharf runs into October as well and is a lovely way to arrive, about an hour across the harbor. It sells out on weekends, so buy tickets ahead, and check the operator's schedule, as the last sailings of the season vary.
Driving is possible but slow. A drive that takes 35 minutes from Boston in July can take two hours on an October Saturday, and the last mile into downtown is often the slowest. Some streets close to traffic on weekends and Halloween; GPS doesn't always know. If you do drive, aim to arrive before noon or after 7 pm.
Parking and valet
We have ten on-site parking spaces, first come, first served for most of the year. In October we switch to valet parking, at $25 per night, because the lot simply doesn't work with guests coming and going all day. Pull up to the front door on Mercy Lane, leave your keys with us, and we'll take it from there. We park cars in our lot and, on the busiest weekends, at a reserved lot a few minutes away. If you need your car during your stay, give us 30 minutes' notice (an hour on Halloween weekend). Honestly, you won't need it. Everything you'll want is within walking distance, and leaving a parking space in Salem in October is a decision you may regret.
Arriving by rideshare? Ask your driver to drop you at the corner of Mercy Lane and walk the last block if traffic is stopped. On weekends it usually is. See Getting here for full directions.
What's different at the house in October
- The Ledger restaurant
- Open every day in October, including Mondays and Tuesdays. Lunch 11:30 am–3:00 pm, dinner 5:00–9:30 pm (to 10:30 Friday and Saturday). Reservations essential; book dinner when you book your room.
- Breakfast
- Included for inn guests, 7:30–10:00 weekdays, 8:00–10:30 weekends. Public breakfast Wednesday–Sunday 7:30–11:00 am, no reservations. Inn guests are always seated first.
- The Undertaker's Parlor
- Open from 4 pm daily, until 11 pm (midnight Friday and Saturday). It fills up after 8. Inn guests can ask the desk to hold a corner table.
- Ghost walks
- Two walks every night: 8:00 pm and 9:30 pm. Both sell out.
- Séance Supper
- Fridays in the Great Hall, $145 per person, 18 and over.
- Costume brunch
- The last Sunday of October in the Lantern Room.
- Tarot & Tea
- Sundays 2–5 pm as usual; booked solid by late summer.
- Valet
- $25 per night, all month.
- Pickleball
- Open as weather allows. Courts are wonderfully empty on October mornings; everyone else is downtown.
A word about breakfast: the Lantern Room doesn't take reservations, and on October weekends the line for public breakfast can stretch down the porch steps by 8 am. Inn guests don't wait in that line; tell the host your room and you'll be seated as soon as a table opens. That said, if you'd like a window seat on the porch, come early. In October, "first" means about 7:15.
Extra ghost walks
Every night in October we run the Lantern Ghost Walk twice: at the usual 8:00 pm and again at 9:30 pm. The later walk is darker, quieter on the side streets and, for many guests, the better of the two. Samuel leads most of the early walks himself; our other guides lead the 9:30. Both are the same route and the same price ($35, inn guests $25, under 12 $15). Walks run rain or shine and sell out, so book yours when you book your room. Because of quiet hours, the 9:30 walk finishes outside on Mercy Lane rather than in the front hall; please keep voices low as you come back in.
The Séance Supper
Fridays in October · 7:00 pm · the Great Hall · $145 per person · 18+
The Séance Supper is a theatrical dinner, and we want to be clear about that from the start: it is theater, an evening of food, candlelight and storytelling, performed by actors. We do not claim to contact anyone, living or dead, and no real person's spirit is invoked. Nobody will be asked to share a personal loss. It's a play you can eat.
The evening takes place in the Great Hall, which served as the chapel of the Hollis & Vane Funeral Parlor from 1893 to 1946. The long tables are set with candles and old silver. Over five courses from Chef Dee Okafor's October menu, a small company of actors tells the story of a (fictional) gathering held in this room in the autumn of 1912, when a grieving family asked a traveling medium to help them say goodbye. The story unfolds between courses, around and among the tables, with music, a few surprises and a great deal of candle smoke. It is atmospheric and occasionally startling, but never gory.
The price includes the five-course dinner, a welcome cocktail (a Widow's Lantern, or a zero-proof Little Tom), coffee and the performance. Wine pairings are available. Tax and gratuity are added. The evening runs about three hours. Guests must be 18 or older; ID may be checked. Costumes or period dress are welcome but entirely optional.
The Séance Supper seats 60 and sells out every Friday, usually by August. Inn guests can reserve when they book their room.
The costume brunch
On the last Sunday of October the Lantern Room throws a party. The costume brunch runs from 9:00 am to 1:00 pm, with the full breakfast menu (yes, the johnnycakes, and yes, the Graveyard Shift), a few October specials from Dee, cider doughnuts, a hot cider bar, a pianist in the corner, and Madame Corvina reading short cards at a table on the porch instead of her usual Sunday in the Library. There's a costume parade at 11, judged by Ledger the cat (Theo interprets). Prizes go to the best historical costume, the best group and the best effort under ninety seconds' notice.
Costumes are encouraged but not required. Inn guests staying that weekend are included as their usual breakfast. Public seats are by reservation only on that one day, released on September 1. Please, no masks that cover the whole face inside, no realistic weapons and nothing that would frighten a ten-year-old, as there are usually a few.
Reservations: what to book, and when
If you remember one thing from this page, make it this: in October, book everything before you arrive. Here's our checklist.
| What | How far ahead | How |
|---|---|---|
| Your room | 6–12 months for weekends | Reservation request or (978) 555-0148 |
| Dinner at The Ledger | When you book your room | table@cranelantern.example |
| Séance Supper | 3–5 months | Front desk or stay@cranelantern.example |
| Ghost walk | 4–8 weeks | Booking form |
| Tarot & Tea | 2–3 months | Booking form |
| Costume brunch (public) | Seats released September 1 | table@cranelantern.example |
| Museums and timed-entry attractions downtown | As early as they allow | Directly with each venue |
| Train and ferry | Check schedules the week before | The operators' websites |
Our tips for a good October visit
- Go early, come back for lunch. Downtown is gentle before 10 am. By noon on a weekend it's shoulder to shoulder. Do your sightseeing in the morning, come back to the house for lunch, and head out again at dusk.
- Visit the memorials with care. The city's memorials to the victims of 1692 are places of remembrance. They are often very busy in October; a weekday morning visit is quieter and more fitting.
- Wear real shoes. You'll walk five to eight miles a day without noticing, much of it on brick.
- Pack layers and a rain jacket. October weather here can be 70 degrees and sunny or 45 and sideways rain, sometimes on the same day.
- Eat at odd hours. Lunch at 2:30, dinner at 5. You'll walk straight in where others wait an hour.
- Carry a little cash for street vendors and a phone charger for the long day.
- Take an evening off. Spend one night in: the ghost walk, a drink in the Undertaker's Parlor, the fire in the Library. It is the best show in town, and it's on Mercy Lane.
- Book next year before you leave. Half our October guests do.