Justin A. Rice for Boston.com
Despite the dismal weather, Nicole Bernardo of Wakefield dressed up as Neytaci from the movie Avatar.
After a weekend of moderate crowds due to the dismal weather, Salem businesses are looking to bounce back on Halloween night.
“Definitely I think the snow and the rain made it more difficult for people to walk around over the weekend, that had a huge impact,” Din Kelesoglu, who owns Kushco Bistro (128 Washington St.), said during a telephone interview on Sunday afternoon, noting this weekend’s sales were down between 10 and 15 percent from last weekend and last year’s Halloween weekend.
“Salem seemed busier last week compared to this week. I’m feeling like [today] is going to be a lot better. People will be around.”
Luckily, Halloween night is usually the main event for the most hardcore Halloween revelers anyway, regardless of weather or what day of the week it lands.
“Common sense is people have to work on Tuesday morning so they won’t be here, but people come no matter what day of the week Halloween is they end up showing up,” said Salem Police Captain Brian Gilligan, who coordinates the Salem Police’s public safety operations. “It ends up being an event of international flair because of the proliferation of the Internet. You have people who stay here three or four days because that’s what the hotel packages sell for.
“Traditionally Halloween night is always bigger.”
As the snowstorm settled in on Saturday evening, Gilligan estimated that 10,000 people came into the city for Halloween festivities during that afternoon. He said a typical Saturday before Halloween could draw as many as 50,000 to 75,000 visitors.
And while there were only 14 arrests for the entire weekend according to the police logs (not all related to Halloween celebrations), Police are preparing as if 100,000 people will show up tonight. Gilligan said they will deploy about 250 to 300 officers tonight.
Regardless of how many people end up turning out tonight, destination Salem Executive Director Kate Fox said business has been strong in the city all month long.
“Fortunately we had good October,” Fox, who promotes programs for Salem’s month-long Halloween celebration called Haunted Happenings, said during a telephone interview Saturday morning. “The first three weekends have been good to us. I’m optimistic we’ve done well. [Saturday] is going to be a hit for some businesses that rely on last minute drop in customers. I’m hoping at the end of the month when it all averages out it’s going to be OK.”
Due to weather conditions on Saturday, the Haunted Movie Series on Salem Common, which was scheduled for 6:30 p.m., was canceled along with the all day-long Radio 92.9 Concert Stage. 
Justin A. Rice for Boston.com
