Bewitching hours

Amelia, our 6-year-old daughter, plans to dress up as a witch for Halloween, so we headed to Salem to do a little research. While some of the goings-on there are too frightening for small children - the spooky attractions go into high gear this time of year - there is plenty to take in with even the littlest kids. There is so much, in fact, that you need to be picky, or else you'll (a) run out of time or (b) run out of money.

We started with a visit to the House of the Seven Gables. You needn't have read Nathaniel Hawthorne's classic to enjoy the tour, which illuminates a great deal of history. Children will get a kick out of the secret staircase, which winds a narrow path up to the second story.

Nearby are a couple of good choices for lunch: In a Pig's Eye and the Witch's Brew Cafe, which are next to each other on Derby Street. Even better was Captain Dusty's Ice Cream, right across the street, where I had some of the best pumpkin ice cream I've ever savored.

But back to the point: witches. With so many witch-themed attractions, you have to choose wisely. I'd recommend a thorough Internet search before settling on any one place, because there is a lot of overlap. Fearing that our kids would be freaked out by the more intense attractions, we walked across town to the Witch Dungeon Museum, which isn't half as scary as it sounds. A brief reenactment of a witch trial is followed by a trek through the basement, which has been turned into a replica of the dungeon where people accused of being witches were confined in the 1690s. (As it turns out, the actual dungeon was turned into an office building 50 years ago.)

What else? Bruce Lawson, who makes the most elaborate balloon animals I've ever seen, kept a gaggle of children entertained on a street corner downtown, and we wound up finding Amelia a perfect witch's hat - a huge purple-and-black one, with a spider dangling from it - from a street vendor for $10. We'll be heading back to Salem one of these days, and not necessarily near Halloween.

STEVE GREENLEE

House of the Seven Gables. Hours: 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. this weekend; 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily through Oct. 31; normal hours 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily. Admission:

$12 adults; $11 seniors; $7.25 children 5-12. 978-744-0991. www.7gables.org. Witch Dungeon Museum. Hours: 10 a.m.

to 9 p.m. today; 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. tomorrow and next Friday;

10 a.m. to 7 p.m. next Saturday; normal hours 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily. Admission: $8 adults, $7 seniors, $6 children 4-13. 978-741-3570.

www.witchdungeon.com.