Donna Vinson, a Salem resident and history professor at Salem State College, is one. They don't know anything about it, and they don't care to know. I could lighten up if there's only three weeks of this, but it's getting larger and longer every year. It's in our best interest to do the best job we can or they won't come. She says her museum can't ignore the fact that it's next to the cemetery where a number of famous Salem residents are buried, including witch trial Judge John Hathorne.
Private enterprise is generally beyond the control of the city.
Tad Baker, another history professor at Salem State whose specialty is witchcraft, says he's concerned such private enterprise isn't giving visitors the full story. That's what a lot of people here object to. A lot of it has to do with giving people what they want. The audience doubles in October. This month 8,000 will go through Eerie Events, double last year.