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The Salem Witch Dungeon Museum
Rating Details »
Categories: Landmarks & Historical Buildings, Museums [Edit]
16 Lynde StSalem, MA 01970
(978) 741-3570
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
7 reviews for The Salem Witch Dungeon Museum
I remember coming here as a kid. I think it was alright when you are younger but I don't see how tourists can get off on coming here.
Halloween time in Salem is an absolute mess and this contributes to to the jambled roads and sidewalks.
Probably best to view it during the late fall/early spring. There is no reason to see it more than once unless you are a teacher and forced to.
Yes, this place is your typical tourist trap....BUT what a fun and cheesy time had by all! I took my visiting parents up to Salem this past weekend to escape the crappy Boston rain (which was not much better in Salem, but at least we went in the car). We bought the tri-facto museum pass that got you into the Pirate Museum, Witch Dungeon, and Witch Museum. I have to admit for $16 we were thoroughly amused for the whole day.
There is a courtroom reenactment that kicks off the tour, which was very entertaining. The building itself is pretty cool. The tour leads you down to the "dungeon" which really seemed like a dungeon because it smelled wet and cold. Spooky kinda. You look into recreated "coffin" cells to get the sense of what the prisoners had to endure. The best part by far was when my 60 year old mother almost crapped her pants when one of the prison "props" jumped up and pressed her contorted face on the glass to scare her. I almost died laughing.
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I think it was $8 per person to go inside the Witch Dungeon Museum without the combination ticket.
First off, you sit in some pews to watch a re-enactment of a Salem Witch Trial. There were 3 actors performing: 1 narrator, 1 accused woman I can't remember the name of, and 1 accuser: Mary. (I'm sure it's mentioned in The Crucible.)
We hear the testimony of each woman (from recorded testimony of the time) and watch as the lying Mary goes into witch-induced fits.
It's entertaining and educational.
Then you go downstairs into the re-creation of the Witch Dungeon. For my eye (and nose and ear), this could pass as a real dungeon. It's dank. It's musty. It's even equipped with one of the largest pieces of timber from the original dungeon. There are mannequins scattered through the cells (and even a coffin cell is shown).
Following the cells is a re-creation of what Salem looked like at the time of the trials. Gallows with hanging mannequins mark the end of your journey through the dank passageways.
All in all, I'd say it's a must-see tourist trap in Salem.
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I visited here during Halloween one year and was pleasantly surprised of the set up here. They put on a performance of the Salem Witch trials and its not bad at all. Then you are escorted down to the dungeons that hosed the victims of these trials in very small cells. The catch here is that during this time of the year, there is people dressed up hiding in this dungeon that scare the heck out of you!! I had my 5 year old with me and he almost jumped out of his skin. They do not warn you of this. Be very carefull with all attractions in Salem at this time of the year. they are all out to scare you. This place was well worth it though.
This place offers live reenactments of a witch trial and gives you tours of their witch dungeon. Unfortunately, they're only open from April - November. They're also attached to the New England Pirate Museum, which is only open from May - October and then only on weekends in November. And so we wait...
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This place was alright. My husband and I took our niece and nephew here in the summer of 2007. The kids enjoyed it but we thought it was ok. They had a live reinactment for about 20 minutes and then we did a guided tour in the basement. it was kind of dark and smelly but a cool part of the tour was that it was of old folklore or whatever that if a woman rubbed a certain beam they had on display it would bring her good luck. Well I still havn't won the lotto but I did get a new job. Maybe i will need to go back in april to rub for good luck in regards to the lotto.
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We went there twice. The first time, it was kinda dumb but entertaining nonetheless. We never planned to go back until some friends of ours who didn't know we had been there before took the liberty of surprising us with tickets. Surprise! Totally not worth a second visit, but silly enough to warrant one as long as you expect the silliness.