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What It’s Like Living in Salem, Massachusetts During October
Two years ago, I started my freshman year of college and attended Salem State University in Salem, Massachusetts. While Salem is more famous for the Salem Witch Trials in the early 1690’s, there is in fact a public university there. While this school wasn’t originally my first choice, I was excited to dive into the culture and history that Salem had to offer since I had never been before. Best of all, the parties in October would be out of this world.
But now that I have lived here for a couple of years, I have adapted to the new lifestyle of living in a new area of Massachusetts. However, if there is one thing I still have to mentally prepare myself for every year, it’s the entire month of October. Despite living in a town that screams all things Halloween and Hocus Pocus, it isn’t always all it’s cracked up to be. In a sense, it’s like living 10 minutes away from Disney World; to everyone else, it’s the most magical and happiest place on earth. But to me, as much as the culture and aesthetics are great, I’m not always wearing the same rose colored glasses everyone else is.
That being said, I wanted to share a few patterns I have noticed over my college career that makes Salem the best (but also the worst) place to be in the spookiest month of the year.