But some city officials think the time has come for the Witch City to play down the history that has linked Salem to the supernatural ever since 19 accused witches were hanged on Gallows Hill in 1692. The city's tourism group has hired a Boston firm to reinvent Salem's image, to emphasize its art, ships, architecture, restaurants, and shopping.
"The witch history has always been an important part of the city and always will be, but [Salem] has sort of gotten known very narrowly in terms of the Halloween thing," said Mark Minelli, president of Minelli Inc., the consulting firm hired by the city. Minelli has proposed a new slogan: "Think you know Salem? Think again."
The soul-searching over Salem's public image has angered some residents; they say the city should not forsake the witch theme, which helps attract more than 1 million visitors each year. Highlighting the city's arts and culture, they argue, will mean less tourism money.
"People come here for witch history," said Leif Rochna, executive director of the Salem Witch Village and the Salem Wax Museum. "We have something that is so unique. It's a huge tourism tool. For many, many, many years, we've been known as the Witch City."
The witch permeates Salem's everyday life: At high school football games, the mascot wears a pointy black hat and sits atop a broom. The same image is emblazoned on police cruisers, and the witch rides the masthead of the local newspaper.
Others say that the whole witch image has descended into kitsch. They point to the posters that appeared around town this month to advertise the annual Vampires' Masquerade Ball in October, depicting a woman wearing a black bikini, fresh blood smeared across her mouth and body. After protests that the posters were too racy, organizers took them down.
Despite Salem's history, witch-related tourism only recently came to the town of about 40,000 residents. When Arthur Miller came to Salem to research his 1953 play "The Crucible," based on the witch trials, he reportedly was astounded that no one in the city wanted to talk about witches, said Jim McAllister, a local historian who runs Derby Square Tours.
