Other Sellers on Amazon
FREE Shipping
100% positive over last 12 months
FREE Shipping
100% positive over last 12 months
FREE Shipping
100% positive over last 12 months
You’ve got a Kindle.
Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required. Learn more
Read instantly on your browser with Kindle Cloud Reader.
Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.
Enter your mobile phone or email address
By pressing "Send link," you agree to Amazon's Conditions of Use.
You consent to receive an automated text message from or on behalf of Amazon about the Kindle App at your mobile number above. Consent is not a condition of any purchase. Message & data rates may apply.
A Season with the Witch: The Magic and Mayhem of Halloween in Salem, Massachusetts Paperback – October 4, 2016
|
J. W. Ocker
(Author)
Find all the books, read about the author, and more.
See search results for this author
|
|
Price
|
New from | Used from |
Enhance your purchase
-
Print length352 pages
-
LanguageEnglish
-
PublisherCountryman Press
-
Publication dateOctober 4, 2016
-
Dimensions6.1 x 1 x 9 inches
-
ISBN-101581573391
-
ISBN-13978-1581573398
The Amazon Book Review
Book recommendations, author interviews, editors' picks, and more. Read it now.
Frequently bought together
Customers who viewed this item also viewed
What other items do customers buy after viewing this item?
Editorial Reviews
Review
― Publisher's Weekly (starred review)
"What better place to celebrate Halloween than Salem, Massachusetts? Festivities begin with a parade on October 1 and end with Halloween parties and costumed celebrations on October 31. In between, Ocker, a travel writer with an Edgar Award, and family stay the entire month, exploring Salem’s many attractions. Although the witch trials in 1692 only lasted for nine months, Salem has been branded “Witch City,” overshadowing its maritime history. Ocker samples everything: cemeteries, museums, gift shops, performances, wax museums, and more. He talks to street performers and street preachers as he tries to understand the appeals of the city. He interviews curators, haunters, costumed tour guides, a policeman, the mayor, and cemetery caretakers. Ocker devotes whole chapters to real witches, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and TV shows and movies set in Salem. His comic asides lighten the details of haunted houses, hangings, and hysteria without disrespecting the history. The result is a fresh, fun glimpse of a town that has come to grips with its sordid history and prospered. Armchair travelers will enjoy the trip."
― Booklist
"An entertaining and historical guide to the varied sites of Salem, with Ocker interviewing everyone from the mayor to local archivists to men in scary costumes, covering burial sites of witch trial judges, and perhaps the most awesome Halloween street party ever described in print, with Ocker’s good humor and touch of sarcasm marking his readable style."
― Library Journal
About the Author
Don't have a Kindle? Get your Kindle here, or download a FREE Kindle Reading App.
Product details
- Publisher : Countryman Press; 1st edition (October 4, 2016)
- Language : English
- Paperback : 352 pages
- ISBN-10 : 1581573391
- ISBN-13 : 978-1581573398
- Item Weight : 12.6 ounces
- Dimensions : 6.1 x 1 x 9 inches
-
Best Sellers Rank:
#129,675 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #110 in New England US Travel Books
- #192 in Ghosts & Hauntings
- #383 in Occultism
- Customer Reviews:
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 other places people stick writing. He's from Maryland but has lived in New Hampshire for more than a decade.
He is also the creator of OTIS: Odd Things I've Seen (Oddthingsiveseen.com), where he writes about his visits to oddities of nature, history, art, and culture.
Customer reviews
Top reviews from the United States
There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.
This nonfictional account of a man who packs up his belonging and gains extensive support from his wife and two daughters to spend all thirty-one days of October in Salem, Massachusetts exceeds the classification of mere travelogue. The book gives history lessons without the fulsome tour guide embellishments, provides way findings to see the key spots in Salem, and delivers conversationally toned interviews with all the infamous and local figures that make the modern town as interesting as its past.
The author acts as a window between modern day Salem and the days of the witch trials, providing a well-researched glimpse into the past courtesy of interviews with those living in the present day Witch City.
And all this is done with an air of fun and adventure that will have readers turning a shade of witch green with envy about spending the most interesting month in the spookiest town in the Northeast.
Like David J. Skal, J.W. Ocker works exhaustively to legitimatize Halloween as a source of study. The candid interviews chronicle the city with a magnificent eye for detail. For instance, the interview with “Steve the Vampire” street performer may seem whimsical, yet it unearths a sociological facet reflective of society. We have a fascination with the macabre that is as undeniable as the billions spent yearly on Halloween in the United States. Ocker’s Salem works as a microsomal reflection of the greater whole, so when he studies the events in Witch City, he illuminates the modern world that refuses to shake its fascination with ghosts, goblins, and, of course, witches. Even interviews with the police chief and mayor of Salem capture the sense of identity that the paranormal mascot imparts on the people of the historically rich city.
And Ocker hides his philosophical explorations so well behind a mask of innocent inquisitiveness that readers will want to shower him with treats for his work.
My only reservation and lack of a perfect score comes from the decision to make the beautiful photos taken by Ocker’s talented wife Lindsey in black and white. The publisher did a disservice to the readers by not allowing the rich colors of Salem to come through.
And now I must go and look up flights and hotels in Salem because the book compels me to visit.
By Carl Boehm on October 4, 2016
This nonfictional account of a man who packs up his belonging and gains extensive support from his wife and two daughters to spend all thirty-one days of October in Salem, Massachusetts exceeds the classification of mere travelogue. The book gives history lessons without the fulsome tour guide embellishments, provides way findings to see the key spots in Salem, and delivers conversationally toned interviews with all the infamous and local figures that make the modern town as interesting as its past.
The author acts as a window between modern day Salem and the days of the witch trials, providing a well-researched glimpse into the past courtesy of interviews with those living in the present day Witch City.
And all this is done with an air of fun and adventure that will have readers turning a shade of witch green with envy about spending the most interesting month in the spookiest town in the Northeast.
Like David J. Skal, J.W. Ocker works exhaustively to legitimatize Halloween as a source of study. The candid interviews chronicle the city with a magnificent eye for detail. For instance, the interview with “Steve the Vampire” street performer may seem whimsical, yet it unearths a sociological facet reflective of society. We have a fascination with the macabre that is as undeniable as the billions spent yearly on Halloween in the United States. Ocker’s Salem works as a microsomal reflection of the greater whole, so when he studies the events in Witch City, he illuminates the modern world that refuses to shake its fascination with ghosts, goblins, and, of course, witches. Even interviews with the police chief and mayor of Salem capture the sense of identity that the paranormal mascot imparts on the people of the historically rich city.
And Ocker hides his philosophical explorations so well behind a mask of innocent inquisitiveness that readers will want to shower him with treats for his work.
My only reservation and lack of a perfect score comes from the decision to make the beautiful photos taken by Ocker’s talented wife Lindsey in black and white. The publisher did a disservice to the readers by not allowing the rich colors of Salem to come through.
And now I must go and look up flights and hotels in Salem because the book compels me to visit.
JW Ocker moved his family to Salem to live thru the month of October in the Witch City (they did live) and explore the town's history and the effect that history has had. They discover way more than the witches but, yes, that is a huge part of the story. From the touristy gift shops to the magnificent museums; they see it all...and take you along.
In the end, yes, Salem is a tourist trap come October but it's so much more. It's a party, it's a celebration of a town and it sounds like a lot of fun.
One thing... Many years ago, I saw the Witchcraft collection at the Peabody-Essex Museum in Salem., It was fascinating!. I was very sad to learn in this book that the Museum has all these items in a back room and has no intention of exhibiting them. You don't have to hype them, PEM, but at least have them on display! They are historically significant!
Count Orlock's new location is fantastic, most of the witch shops delightful (avoid the ones that feel really touristy and go for the quaint ones closer to PEM and at the Wharf (Enchanted and New Aeon in particular). Food excellent, service excellent, etc.
The book really helped us navigate the town. Kudos!
By JP Ferraccio on December 29, 2018
Count Orlock's new location is fantastic, most of the witch shops delightful (avoid the ones that feel really touristy and go for the quaint ones closer to PEM and at the Wharf (Enchanted and New Aeon in particular). Food excellent, service excellent, etc.
The book really helped us navigate the town. Kudos!
Top reviews from other countries
Libro ricco di contenuti e immagini davvero interessanti per alimentare l’attesa della festa più entusiasmante dell’anno


















