Andrew Acomb

Inside Cilantro, we watched the day turn into night and the streets of Salem fill with thousands of people. With a couple of good drinks in us, we headed out.

I think what makes this celebration of Halloween great is the people. There were no multi-million dollar companies flashing their gear, just regular people in some fantastic costumes. For the night, they were the stars of the show.

I ran into many people who made their costumes completely from scratch. Two guys really amazed me. They made their own Ghostbuster Proton Packs! These things were made from metal and had fully working lights and LEDs. They even made a working ghost trap.

Strange costumes were the norm. I heard someone honking an old bicycle horn. Then I see this killer clown riding a tricycle through the crowd covered in blood with a giant knife!

There were many people dressed as some of the all time classic horror heroes. I was lucky enough to run into Pinhead, one of my favorite horror movie characters. Others I saw were Freddy Krueger, Michael Myers, and the Frankenstein Monster.

Of course Halloween isn’t just about scary characters. I also saw two guys dressed up as Jay and Silent Bob. Just like most everyone else in full costume, they acted the part. Others I saw were the Family Guy, Chewbacca, Tigger, Winnie the Pooh, and a dog as Piglet.

In addition to the thousands of people dressed up, there were all sorts of vendors and booths set up. There was even one where you could get custom fangs!

I also saw many street performers. One guy in particular was really amazing. As part of his act he seemed to fly as he did a flip over five girls and somehow landed on his feet!

I saw two guys dressed up as scarecrows just standing in the middle of one of the main streets in Salem. They would stand so still for so long. Many people thought they were statues and would stop to get a closer look. Then they would scream and run after an unsuspecting victim!

Why are clowns so creepy? This guy was wondering around shooting people at random!

You really had to pay attention and look around. There were so many creepy characters hiding in random places, standing still ready to scare people passing by. I found Leatherface in a doorway.

If you have never been to Salem, Massachusetts for Halloween, you have to add this to your list of places to see. We are definitely going back!!!