Advertisement
Thursday, October 16, 2025 Friday, October 17, 2025
Saturday, October 18, 2025
There are 3 sessions, per night:
6:00-7:15 PM
7:15-8:30 PM
8:30-9:45PM
In-person event
Location: 128 Essex Street, Salem
$49 members and Salem residents (with valid ID); $59 nonmembers
Tickets are nonrefundable.
Grab tickets at pem.org/events/haunted-histories-condemned?date=2025-10-16&time=06:00
The courtyard is haunted... again.
You came to Salem to enjoy the Halloween season, but have you enjoyed yourself a little too much? Enter a prison existing in liminal space, holding murderers, cult leaders and madmen. Tonight you will find yourself “locked” in the courtyard until sunrise, unless you can assist the Warden to find a crucial piece of evidence to tie a murderer to the most dastardly of crimes, which took place steps away from where you stand...
Houses featured in this program include the Gardner-Pingree House (1806), John Ward House (1684), Quaker Meeting House (about 1688) and Derby–Beebe Summer House (1799).
Playwright and Co-Director: Arielle Kaplan
Showrunner / The Warden: Cari Keebaugh
This performance includes sudden flashes, loud noises and fire effects.
These historic properties are not wheelchair accessible and will require visitors to ascend several steps to enter. Once inside, floors may be uneven and the space will be tight. Guests will need to stand while in some houses.
This program includes low lighting in the houses and courtyard. Actors will not be using microphones.
No restrooms are available on PEM property.
The storytelling experience lasts about 70 minutes. Please note, these stories are intended for mature audiences and contain themes (murder, violence and gore, suicide, cult activity) that some may find disturbing. Discretion is advised.
Guests must arrive 15 minutes prior to their ticketed time.
Tickets are single-entry; guests are not permitted to leave and return except to seek out restroom facilities. Rain or shine, we’ll see you there!
Learn more about all our events happening this fall at pem.org/halloween.
About our Collaborators:
Arielle Kaplan was until quite recently, a Boston-area actor, violence designer and award-winning costumer. She is still all of those things but has recently relocated from New England to begin her Master’s Degree in Sacred Music and Cantorial Ordination at Hebrew Union College. She has been the playwright and showrunner of Haunted Histories since 2022, and is delighted to be returning in a somewhat spectral form for this year’s production. Favorite roles include Mrs. Frost in the Mrs. Hawking theatrical series, Hodel in Fiddler on the Roof, Cathy in The Last Five Years and Edmund the Bastard in King Lear. See more of her historically-based storytelling on her short form video series “Spite! (and History)” on TikTok.
Cari Keebaugh, Ph.D, has been a beta reader for Haunted Histories since 2024 and joined the cast as the Dread Pirate Rachel Wall in 2025’s show. Cari is also a SAFD-certified actor combatant who loves to help tell stories through (safely designed) combat choreography. She has designed violence for shows ranging from silly to serious and everything in between, from Marian, or the True Story of Robin Hood (Theatre@First) to Macbeth (Dream Role Players). When she isn’t choreographing punches, she’s often throwing them as the titular character in the Mrs. Hawking theatrical series. Other recent roles include Eloise Trapeze (“The Madmen’s Guild”) on the PMRP podcast and Perkins the Butler (Quannapowitt Players’ The Play That Goes Wrong).
Advertisement
Event Venue & Nearby Stays
Peabody Essex Museum, 161 Essex St,Salem, Massachusetts, United States
Tickets
