Salem’s cemeteries are getting ready to come alive after dark for the Salem Museum’s Ghost Walk. The living are invited to visit Salem’s graveyards to meet characters from Salem’s past and learn about our region’s history.
The ghosts will come out for a walking tour through East Hill Cemetery on October 4-6, while a different set of ghosts will put on a performance in the Sherwood Memorial Park Amphitheater on October 11-13. All events are family-friendly, fun and informative, but not too spooky. Tickets are $10 for adults, $5 for students of any age, and free for children three and younger, available at the Salem Museum or online at SalemMuseum.org. Proceeds benefit the Salem Museum & Historical Society.
Walking tours will leave the Salem Museum every fifteen minutes between 6 and 8 PM. The East Hill tour will introduce visitors to a number of new spirits this year. Meet dearly departed residents of the Williams-Brown House, the Fort Lewis Mansion, and the historic Water Street community, plus Salem’s Civil War mayor, a few of Salem’s brave WWI doughboys, and get the scoop on General Andrew Lewis himself. Tickets for the Ghost Walk in East Hill are limited and expected to sell out again this year. Good walking shoes are recommended. In case of rain, the event will be held at the Salem Museum.
On October 11-13, Sherwood’s ghosts will tell their stories in the cemetery’s outdoor Amphitheater at 7 PM. Guests travel deep into the cemetery to reach the Amphitheatre and will be seated for a performance of ghosts’ stories under the stars.
A variety of spirits will share stories about Salem’s colleges—Roanoke and Elizabeth, the D-Day invasion, Salem’s Centennial Celebration, Lakeside Amusement Park, and the Moyer Sports Complex. The Sherwood Amphitheater has concrete risers, so guests are invited to bring folding chairs, cushions, and/or blankets. The rain location is Riverside Evangelical Methodist Church in Salem, VA.
