Salem, Massachussetts, US

Salem is famous (or infamous) for one thing: witches.

The witch trials of 1692, when 19 people were executed for witchcraft, established the thenvillage’s reputation as a centre for toil and trouble of the spell-casting female kind.

Most of the Salem ‘‘witches’’ were convicted on the spurious evidence of young village girls who claimed to have been bewitched, creating a wave of hysteria.

Hysteria of a celebratory rather than sinister kind can still be felt in the city’s streets during

October, when it throws a monthlong Halloween party known as the Festival of the Dead. Events include psychic readings, seances, a ‘‘mourning tea’’ and a witches’ gathering but the highlight is the Official Salem Witches’ Halloween Ball.

Hosted by modern-day witches and their supporters, the ball aims to recreate ‘‘the days of old when fires burned on every hilltop and witches gathered to feast, rejoice and cast spells for the New Year’’. Goth features heavily on the music playlist, but no one would call the ball a downer.

This year’s theme is ‘‘Signs of the Zodiac’’ and guests will be treated to live performances by the likes of the Dragon Ritual Drummers, old-school rituals led by Witchdoctor Uru and a ‘‘magic circle’’ to honour the dead.

Even if you’re a Gothic Cinderella and can’t go to the ball, it’s impossible to go far in Salem without bumping into a witch of some description.

Essex Street alone is lined with shops run by modern witches where you can buy books on magic and spell ingredients and get readings via various mediums.

There’s also the Salem Witch, Witch Dungeon and Witch History museums, eerie Witch House - once home to one of the judges in the trials - ‘‘haunted houses’’ such as Witch Mansion and even a statue of Samantha from TV show Bewitched, now filming its seventh season in the city.