Travel Channel gets OK to go ghost hunting in Salem

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Travel Channel gets OK to go ghost hunting in Salem
September 27, 2010
By Tom Dalton
Gloucseter Times

SALEM — It's hard to stir up much Halloween controversy in a city where police cars are adorned with witches and where ghost tours are a serious business.

But there was a small dustup last week at the Park and Recreation Commission, when a majority of members gave permission for "Ghost Adventures," a popular show on the Travel Channel, to conduct a paranormal investigation inside the historic Witch House.

Next week, a large TV crew will pull into town with electromagnetic meters and night vision cameras.

This may be the first time ghost hunters have been allowed inside the home of witch trials judge Jonathan Corwin, which is a popular year-round tourist attraction on Essex Street. It is believed to be the last surviving structure in Salem with direct ties to the events of 1692.

Two years ago, the board turned down a similar request by paranormal investigators from Rhode Island.

Now, a new board has opened the door — or window.

"I had done a little research and looked up the show on the Internet," board member Leslie Tuttle said. "They had done a couple of National Park Service sites and seemed to handle (those shows) in a respectful fashion. I thought it would be really good exposure for the city — and I'd love to find out if there is a ghost living on Essex Street."

Robert Callahan, another new board member, had a different view. He said he wasn't impressed that this major TV network came in at the "last minute" and also said he has some concerns about the presentation.

"I wouldn't want to see anything that may possibly cheapen a historic site," he said.

A spokesman for Ghost Adventures said it is the most popular show on the Travel Channel and has done 40 episodes, including several at historic sites, such as Civil War battlegrounds at Gettysburg, Pa., and the Magnolia Plantation, a former slave quarters in Louisiana.

"A lot of times, these historic sites have got ghost stories attached to them," said Jeff Belanger, a writer and location scout.

Are there any ghosts at the Witch House?

"You have to talk to employees there," he said. "I don't want to ruin the surprise. You start asking around, and people do talk."

OK, Witch House, are you haunted?

"You know, it's funny," said Elizabeth Peterson, director of the 17th-century house. "A couple of people have claimed very, very small things, but it's mostly visitors who come through taking photos of the master bedroom."

Several visitors have shown her photos, Peterson said, of haze around the flame-shaped light bulbs.

What about the employees? Have they encountered spectral spooks?

"I've heard it actually from a few guides who have come forth and said they heard footsteps, but it was many, many years ago," the director said.

Belanger said Ghost Adventures will spend several days in Salem, interview many people, photograph lots of sites and collect information on the city's history.

"We're going to be all over town," he said.

Although exactly where the show will hunt for ghosts is a secret, The Lyceum confirmed it has been contacted. According to local legend, the Church Street restaurant is haunted by Witch Trials victim Bridget Bishop, who is purported to have had an apple orchard at the site and to "live" upstairs.

"I don't like using the term 'ghost,'" Lyceum owner George Harrington said. "I'd say maybe we have a presence."

The "presence," he said, has supposedly shown up in wedding photos and scared the daylights out of construction workers.

"These two young men were working at 2:30 a.m. putting in a sprinkler system," Harrington said, "and they said all of a sudden somebody started throwing these cardboard boxes down the stairs. ...

"These were like two 23-year-old guys. They said, 'We got scared. We ran out.'"