1. Witch House

    1. Witch House

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    Salem, MA

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    Witch House

    3.7 (180 reviews)

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    A doll used in black magic.
    Alex N.

    This is the house where Jonathan Corwin lived with his wife, Elizabeth Gibbs. Jonathan Corwin presided over the Salem Witch Trials, during which a group of teenage girls claimed to be bewitched and accused numerous adults of practicing witchcraft. Corwin and fellow local magistrate John Hathorne not only took these accusations seriously but also contributed to the mass hysteria that led to the execution of 19 innocent people and the imprisonment of more than 150 others. No trial-related activities were conducted in this house, and very few items on display originally belonged to Jonathan Corwin. This house is the only authentic building that survives from the Salem witch hunt era. It was moved from its original location because of road construction.

    Maggie D.

    This is a small museum in an old historic house with real history throughout. There's a guide on each level and they were all really enthusiastic and open to questions. It's especially cool to explore a historic building itself instead of a museum that's just set up. There are some real relics and great information panels. It is on the smaller side, but that actually works well if you have a busy day in Salem, since it's a solid 40 minute stop. There's also a cute small gift shop at the end. The only thing I would change is giving a little more history. A lot of the panels talked about theories instead of real events, and also there were a lot of questions that came up while reading. More info cards could be given.

    Jo W.

    While I did not get to enter Witch House, I did get to admire the building from the outside and get photos with it from the front. I came in the late afternoon in late August, before the Halloween tourists started swarming Salem. It's a very aesthetic black house, rich with Salem history. Definitely an easy landmark to catch if you visit Salem.

    Exterior of the house
    Samantha G.

    The house was tiny (unexpected for that era). It was interesting to learn so much about the early settlers of Salem surrounding the Salem Witch Trials. Overall, the house was in good shape, and a piece of history is very well kept. The house had a musty smell to this. We were there in Jun and just walked in at 10 AM when they opened. However, during the Halloween season it seems like they sell out quite often!

    Alyssa G.

    I really enjoyed the Witch House. It had nothing to do with witches but it is the last standing structure that has direct ties to the witch trials during that time period owned by a judge who was involved in the witch trials. If you are a history buff, this is a great place for you to check out and see. The tour is self guided and the house has some really cool artifacts from that time period. The whole aspect of the house is really cool with it being so old. We were in the house for about 20 mins. It was nice being able to go during off season, we were able to buy tickets there and get in right away, I heard during the busier season you need to buy tickets online and it can be difficult to snag one.

    Kate C.

    This is a small museum in Salem compared to some of the other museums. I don't know if you're necessarily learning anything new about the Salem witch trials, but you do get to see how a family lived during this time. There are stairs and it isn't handicap accessible.

    Michael C.

    It was all sold out by the time we got there but it was really cool to see this part of history and also to get a picture. I recommend that and it's free

    Marisa P.

    The Salem Witch house was the home of Jonathan Corwin who was one of the main witch trial judges. This home was considered stately for it's time, and offers a glimpse into daily life during the 1600's. Tickets are tricky because they are released at 8AM the day of and sell out quickly. Wake up early because by 9AM the tickets were sold out for the day. The tour is self guided with nice signs that explain the room and some of the historical items from the trials. The tour starts at the back of the house at the gift shop and ends exiting the front door of the house. If there is anything you want in the gift shop it has to be bought at the beginning, which is a bit backwards. Anyhow, the home offers a rich history for the time and is worth a tour.

    Whitney L.

    My boyfriend and I visited Salem on Halloween this year and made sure to take pictures outside of the witch house. We didn't actually go in but the architecture/color of the home definitely gave the perfect spooky vibes. From the reviews and what I read, the house tour is just ok. Probably not a must but only if you're really interested or have time to kill. People were really patient and made time and an appropriate line for pictures.

    Jennifer D.

    This was the one place I really wanted to see in Salem but admittedly did not do any research on. You enter through the back of the home, into a small gift shop area. There are some interesting items here but overall, the displays and reading materials are a bit boring. We did a self guided tour and were in and out in about 30 minutes. I don't know if a guided tour is offered but if it is I would suggest taking that instead.

    Linda M.

    If you visit Salem, this is a must-see stop. The historical artifacts here are amazing to see first hand and are all in great condition. There are very few opportunities to walk into and experience what homes were like so many years ago. I am grateful for the preservation efforts on these historical sites. Planning our visit in August rather than the busy Fall season was the best decision we could've made. It allowed us to take our time reading the information and really take in the significance of what we were seeing without dealing with massive crowds or being rushed through.

    Danielle G.

    Minus the waiting until 8am and then start the panicky frenzie of trying to get a reservation, it's a good experience to see... because it's quintessential October in Salem, it's pure puritan living in real time, and lastly, you scored a ticket to enter, rejoice and then do it. It's probably 20-30 minutes total, some interesting history and living information, it's cool, but only if you don't have a conniption trying to obtain a ticket at 8 AM on the dot. Don't even try it at 8:01 folks.

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    8 years ago

    Could've gotten better historical content from a second graders book report. Save yourself the money.

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    10 years ago

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    9 years ago

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    8 years ago

    Awesome place to explore and to learn history. Very informative and answered questions we had.

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    7 years ago

    I enjoyed the history of this museum. It was neat to see a structure that was so old & to see how people lived back then.

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    Page 4 of 5

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    Review Highlights - Witch House

    As I referenced above, there are a good handful of so-called museums about the Salem witch trials in town.

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    The House of the Seven Gables - The House Of The Seven Gables 10/25/2024

    The House of the Seven Gables

    4.3(354 reviews)
    0.8 mi

    Excellent site to visit! Beautiful views! We had a great docent lead tour. Our guide shared lots…read moreof details and did a great job trying to answer our group's many questions! Learning about the different architectural phases of this property was very interesting. The Secret Staircase is special! Gift Shop was a fun stop! Friendly staff. They have their own parking lot with ample and FREE parking while you visit. Now that's a plus. Everywhere else in Salem is paid parking, including the Peabody Essex Museum (park and hike!) Highly recommend visiting The House of Seven Gables if you are in the area.

    My mom and I toured the House of the Seven Gables when we spent a day in Salem a week or so ago,…read moreand it was one of the highlights of our time in Salem. The house dates back to 1668, when it was built for a wealthy sea captain and merchant. It remained in that family for three generations before it was bought by another family. The house is mostly famous for being the setting and subject of a novel by Nathaniel Hawthorne, who was a second cousin of Susannah Ingersoll, who lived in the home for years. In 1908, the home was purchased again, this time by a woman who made it her life's mission to restore the house, protect it for posterity, and to turn into a museum that could be visited by tourists to Salem. The home was renovated many times (by different owners of the house) - it didn't even always have seven gables, but that's a part of its interesting story! We learned all of the above and more from our tour guide on a guided tour of the house. Our tour guide was great - friendly, informative, and interesting! After our tour, we explored Nathaniel Hawthorne's birthplace home, which was moved to the grounds of the House of Seven Gables to avoid demolition. It was a great way to learn a little more about Hawthorne. There was also a gift shop, where my mom and I both bought copies of The House of the Seven Gables, stamped so we always remember where we bought it. Our tour was interesting, and the house is striking and fascinating. It's well worth a visit if you're exploring Salem.

    Photos
    The House of the Seven Gables
    The House of the Seven Gables
    The House of the Seven Gables

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    Peabody Essex Museum - Yin Yu Tang: A Chinese Home

    Peabody Essex Museum

    4.3(380 reviews)
    0.3 mi

    I'm a local and previous member of PEM. I would recommend this museum to history buffs and Asian…read moreart enthusiasts. I appreciate that the museum has held workshops with the Mashpee Wampanoag and has held events with iconic Native artists like Joy Harjo (Muscogee). The Native American exhibit is refreshingly good. As a Native person (Choctaw Nation of OK) I feel really comfortable going here.

    I visited the Peabody Essex Museum (PEM) with my mom at the end of our day in Salem about a week or…read moreso ago, and we really enjoyed our visit. The museum has an extensive collection of Asian Art, but it holds more than 800,000 works of historical and cultural arts covering maritime, American, Asia, and Oceanic and African art. The highlight of our visit was visiting the Yin Yu Tang House. The house dates back to the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). Huang, a prosperous merchant, built this stately 16-bedroom, two story-house with a courtyard and called it "Yin Yu Tang," meaning "Hall of Plentiful Shelter." It was home to the Huang family in the Huizhou region for more than 200 years until the last of the family descendants moved from the village in 1982. In the 1990s, as part of a cultural exchange, the home and its contents were dismantled and transported to Massachusetts, where it was re-erected in the PEM. The PEM opened to the public in 2003. The house is currently undergoing work to preserve its roof tiles and masonry walls, so there was a lot of scaffolding obstructing views of the home and pictures taken of the museum. But it still well worth a visit; it's incredible. (The website says the house is closed 7/27-7/31 and 8/3-8/7, so maybe they'll have the work done by the end of those stretches!) I only wish the staff that had walked us into the house had explained exactly how much time we'd get inside the house before being ushered out for the next group, because my mom and I were using the audio guide to learn about the house as we explored. Before we finished several rooms, we were told our time was up, which was a bummer - we barely had time to peek into the rooms we hadn't gotten to yet, so I wish we'd known and could use our time better. They call it a tour on the website, but it's a self-guided experience; no museum staff walk you around the house. (FYI: You need a separate ticket for the Yin Yu Tang House, which you can buy on the website.) We explored the rest of the museum as well, including some of their interesting temporary exhibits: "Anila Quayyum Agha: All the Flowers Are for Me," "On This Ground: Being and Belonging in America," and "Beyond the Broom: Salem Short Films." Other highlights of our time were visiting the East India Marine Hall and seeing art and artifacts relating to the Salem Witch Trials. They also have a great gift shop, so save some time for that. A very nice regional art museum that is worth visiting if you have time in your Salem itinerary!

    Photos
    Peabody Essex Museum - Yin Yu Tang: A Chinese Home

    Yin Yu Tang: A Chinese Home

    Peabody Essex Museum - Yin Yu Tang: A Chinese Home

    Yin Yu Tang: A Chinese Home

    Peabody Essex Museum - Yin Yu Tang: A Chinese Home

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    Yin Yu Tang: A Chinese Home

    Salem Witch Museum - Displays in the second exhibit.

    Salem Witch Museum

    2.5(832 reviews)
    0.4 mi

    I visited the Salem Witch Museum with my mom when we spent a day in Salem a week or so ago. Yes,…read moreit's entirely kitschy, cheesy, and dated. But I didn't have a terrible time, and it does tell the story of the Salem Witch Trials in a way that is a pretty good introduction to the history if you haven't heard it in a long time! So why are the reviews so bad? The name of the business is probably a mistake, because museum is the wrong word for this experience (they did tell us when we walked up that they are not a traditional museum and explained what the experience was like, so people should be aware if that is their standard process). The Salem Witch Museum is really a two-part experience. The first room is a square room that functions as a theater. As the story of the Salem Witch Trials is told, different tableaus around the room are lit up. They don't move, and a narrator (a dated 1960s-sounding British narrator) uses that tableau to explain the next part of the story. The mannequins are clearly old - you can see some are not in great condition when the tableau is lit up. But I hadn't read about the Salem Witch Trials in so long that I didn't remember much of the story, and that first experience wasn't a bad introduction! And I do like a little kitsch! The second experience is more like a museum. A guide that works at the museum walks the group to different displays, using them to explain different parts of the history of witch trials. Then there's a big gift shop where you can all kinds of things relating to witchcraft and the Salem Witch Trials. I don't think this experience is bad. I do think it's cheesy and dated and not for everyone. But I think it's possible to get something out of this experience, too. I hope this review helps people figure out if the experience is right for them!

    This was...not a good museum. It's essentially two rooms/exhibits. One is the main auditorium,…read morewhere they do a "show" featuring an extremely dated voiceover lighting up dioramas on the walls. The other is a small, underwhelming hallway with a handful of rare books in it and, confusingly, what seems to be a diorama of...wiccans? Like, just two regular contemporary humans, standing in the woods. There were also quite a lot of inaccuracies in the voiceover, especially when it comes to Tituba. I had thought they'd be corrected after by the guides, but it seems like this place is less interested in historical accuracy and more in macabre vibes. Pretty sure they get all their custom by having a building that looks cool from the outside.

    Photos
    Salem Witch Museum - Outside the museum.

    Outside the museum.

    Salem Witch Museum - Wax figure show

    Wax figure show

    Salem Witch Museum - Witch trials display

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    Witch trials display

    Count Orlok's Nightmare Gallery - Amazing wax displays!!

    Count Orlok's Nightmare Gallery

    4.2(182 reviews)
    0.2 mi

    Count Orlok's Nightmare Gallery was on my list of places to check out while visiting Salem last…read moreweek. It is located on Essex Street and they have you wait in line outside of the museum. Tickets are $15 for adults and $8 for kids (ages 6-12). You can either buy your tickets while waiting in line using a QR code or at the counter once you go inside. They do not allow photos or recording while walking through the gallery - the staff even states that they are watching on the surveillance cameras for anyone pulling out their phones. We enjoyed walking through each section and reading about each horror character and the fun facts about the movies or TV shows they were from. I really liked that the characters actually looked like the people and not some knock-off wax museum. Some of my favorites were the wall of actor face molds and the slasher room. I also like that you can walk through each room and area at your own pace and I never once felt rushed by the other people or staff. They have a small gift shop with t-shirts and other items you can buy. You are allowed to take photos inside of the gift shop. This is a must if you are a horror fan!

    An unexpected surprise! While not a particular fan of the horror genre there were so many nicely…read morecollated objects, models, masks and wax works of recognizable characters, from early Bram Stoker, Christopher Lee, all the at upto contemporary figures like the demagorgon of Stranger things fame. No pics allowed which somehow made it more enjoyable.

    Photos
    Count Orlok's Nightmare Gallery - Horror Masks

    Horror Masks

    Count Orlok's Nightmare Gallery
    Count Orlok's Nightmare Gallery

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    Hocus Pocus Tours - Town Hall

    Hocus Pocus Tours

    4.9(203 reviews)
    0.3 mi

    I found Hocus Pocus Tours while seeking things to do in Salem on Yelp and TripAdvisor. Fellow…read moreYelpers' rave reviews did not disappoint! In messaging Hocus Pocus Tours with a couple questions about the tour and travel to and from Salem, the owner Susan replied immediately and suggested that I call her. This led to a one hour phone conversation where Susan was so gracious with her time, knowledge, and suggestions, not just about how to make the most of the tour, but how to appreciate a day in Salem. I can see why those who had the opportunity to take the in-person tour with Susan really enjoyed it. Covid changed the business model and Hocus Pocus now offers a self-guided tour by purchasing one of two tour apps. I opted for the $19.99 grand tour and it was well worth it. It has 37 points of interest. The app is user friendly and well designed. It provides a map of all stops, tracks where you are, and guides you to the next stop that you select on the tour. When you get to your stop, you can confirm you're at the right spot by comparing a photo of the site with what you see. Then you click on a 2-3 minute audio recording that provides a great snapshot of the significance of the site. As Susan had pointed out to me, there is much more to Salem than the historic witchcraft trials. It includes author Nathaniel Hawthorne's The House of Seven Gables, America's oldest candy company, and other interesting sites. Of everything I visited, I experienced a very deep emotional connection with the 1692 Witchcraft Memorial with 20 stones dedicated to each of the victims of the witchcraft trial. The tour includes brief descriptions of some of the victims including those written about in Arthur Miller's The Crucible. If you plan to visit Salem, I highly recommend this tour. All sites can be visited on the outside and some on the inside at no charge. Some sites, such as The House of Seven Gables, charge separate admission fees. If you want to travel to Salem and don't have a car, the ferry from Boston offers a nice, scenic, and entertaining 50 minute ride. The commuter trains run more frequently and can come in handy if the ferry schedule coming or going doesn't meet your needs. There are plenty of good places to dine at to break up the tour. We had lunch at FINZ and really enjoyed it (I'll post separately about that).

    This was legit SO much fun! The name Hocus Pocus kinda throws you off because you may be thinking…read moreabout the movie, but this tour really is amazing. Start off with the tour guides, extremely friendly and beyond knowledgeable. They really know their history for Salem. The tour itself was a few hours and you walk to all of the sites in Salem with historical significance. There is so much to learn from Salem. So much history and heartbreak. It really is eye opening to hear the stories oof the witch trials and how the witch trials began and who all was wrongly persecuted. The tour guides were so nice and explained everything with such great details. This tour was definitely the highlight of our trip in Salem. I highly highly recommend Hocus Pocus Tours, I learned so much regarding Salem, the witch trials, the history behind the two, and a little bit of Hocus Pocus and Bewitched. So much fun!

    Photos
    Hocus Pocus Tours - Bix's House

    Bix's House

    Hocus Pocus Tours - Allison's House

    Allison's House

    Hocus Pocus Tours - Max's House

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    Max's House

    Ropes Mansion

    Ropes Mansion

    4.9(32 reviews)
    0.1 mi

    We almost didn't make it see the Ropes Mansion before heading back home last week, but we decided…read moreour trip wouldn't be complete if we didn't see it. Do you remember in the movie when Dani and Max are outside the mansion just staring up at it in awe? That was me. The infamous mansion where Allison lives is a sight that can't be missed! It is located in a residential neighborhood at the very end of the street, but it is worth the quick detour away from the hustle and bustle of the tourist area. We came later in the evening so were only able to get a couple of night time shots - we wanted to get one of us in front of it, but a tour group was coming through at the same time and we didn't want to be too distracting. I'm not sure if they ever do tours inside, I believe the Ropes Mansion is owned by the Essex Museum, but the outside was definitely enough for me. If you're a fan of Hocus Pocus, this is a must stop!

    As a fan of Hocus Pocus (it's one of my favorite Halloween movies!), I was very much looking…read moreforward to visiting Allison's house. While I didn't enter the house, it was great to see the exterior and take photos from outside. The Ropes Mansion garden is free to enter, and is accessible through an arched pathway at the side of the mansion. The garden, while small, is beautiful and tranquil to walk through, complete with plenty of roses and a small pond. It's a great spot to take tourist photos as well. A must-visit for Hocus Pocus fans!

    Photos
    Ropes Mansion
    Ropes Mansion
    Ropes Mansion

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    Witch House - museums - Updated September 2026

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