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From Washington Street to Pleasant Street, Halloween in Marblehead drew hundreds of costumed families Thursday evening for downtown trick-or-treating, the St. Michael’s Episcopal Church “Spooktacular” and one jaw-dropping creation that seemed to crawl straight from the sea.
The Marblehead Chamber of Commerce’s annual business district trick-or-treat filled the downtown corridor with costumed kids and candy-laden shopkeepers. Pirates, princesses, superheroes and skeletons darted through puddles as steady rain fell, turning sidewalks slick and shining beneath the streetlights.
Police closed Washington Street for safety, giving families free rein beneath the town’s flickering gas lamps. Umbrellas and ponchos mixed with plastic fangs and glittering capes as parents hurried between shops, laughing and calling to children who splashed from doorway to doorway.
Inside nearby St. Michael’s Church, the “Spooktacular” provided a welcome retreat. Volunteers in costume transformed the parish hall into a glowing refuge where families could linger, dry off and celebrate together with games, crafts, pizza and Halloween films.
But it was the scene at 32 Pleasant St. that stopped traffic and stirred curiosity across town.
What first appeared as an otherworldly structure revealed itself as the massive shell of a hermit crab, its bright orange claws and antennae stretching from the garage while the shell itself rippled with barnacle-like textures and sea-worn detail. Architect Tom Saltsman’s annual Halloween installation turned a driveway into a full-blown seaside spectacle.
From candy trails downtown to the glowing crab shell by the sea, Marblehead’s Halloween once again proved that imagination here runs deep.
