Salem Haunted Happenings Parade 2024

 On the first Thursday of October, Salem had its 27th Annual Haunted Happenings Parade to officially kick off the season...even though tourists start coming in mid-September.

 

You may think big things when you hear Salem and Halloween Parade, but this is very much any small town parade just with a Halloween twist. My favorite thing to do is to walk around the parade staging area and get photos. The parade doesn't get rolling until it's just about dark so it's a good time to get pics. Plus there's a really fun energy seeing everyone getting ready.

There's plenty of familiar faces around. Someone else was actually setting up this shot and I just couldn't pass up the opportunity to catch these two. This guy is an awesome Beetlejuice!

 

Speaking of Beetlejuice (that's twice, I swear I won't mention him again) here is the infamous Lawn Chair Drill Team. You can see them in action in the video at the end of this post. This year they're all dressed as characters from that movie. Most of the guys are dressed like Adam and you can see a little...whats-his-name up on the right.

These guys were really cool. It may be hard to see details but that's because they don't really have any. They are decked out head to toe in black. They look like living shadows walking around.

 Zoinks! It's the whole Scooby Gang complete with a real dog (with black spots painted on) and Miner Forty-Niner.

If you're out and about in downtown Salem on an October weekend, there's a good chance you'll run into Big Top Tiny and his equally large mallet.

It's not a Halloween parade unless the local Ghostbusters show up!

 

I don't know if these are any particular characters but the bodysuits were creepy!

I may have gotten a little over excited seeing this gentleman across the parking lot. Like many my age, Tom Baker's Fourth Doctor is the one that got me into Doctor Who. I did ask him if he had any jelly babies but he had just run out.

There are a few more pics on my Flickr page if you want to check them out.

 

Here is a video of the parade from Salem Local Access TV.

Here's some highlights:

04:25 - actual parade start
17:34 - the Scooby Gang
22:01 - Tree of Life (lots of costumes)
27:50 - Borah the Witch
28:35 - Ghostbusters
30:55 - National Park Service w/ Salem Sasquatch
43:10 - Speak Up for Nature
44:50 - Salem Addams Family & Beetle...folks
45:53 - More Ghostbusters
46:30 - Lawn Chair Drill Team
48:14 - Frankenstein & Bride
49:14 - Black Veil
50:10 - Freddy
56:25 - Big Top Tiny
58:05 - Pirates
1:07:00 - Drag Alice in Wonderland
1:04:40 - International Order of Mrs Ropers, Tomb
1:10:00 - lots of witches
1:12:20 - shadow people
1:13:06 - Jurassic Jeeps