Fear not: This is only a tall tale from the sea, one of the scary stories that the Salem Theatre Company's "Chilling Tales" will bring aboard the tall ship Friendship this October.
The annual Halloween event is haunting the Friendship for the fourth year. "Tales" brings guests off the mainland and onto the ship, where they explore the main deck and go down into the dimly lit crew's quarters and the captain's cabin, where costumed actors will tell original maritime ghost stories.
"The star of the show is really the boat," says Steven Stuart, who has directed "Chilling Tales" for its four years.
Traditionally, Salem Theatre has incorporated local lore or stories by such writers as Nathaniel Hawthorne and Edgar Allan Poe into "Chilling Tales." This year, they've taken a different approach, using all new ghostly material by regional writers.
"Imagine that the boat has set sail," Stuart says. "We're telling supernatural stories set at sea. It's very nautical in nature."
Cambridge playwright Art Hennessey, who runs the Essayons Theater Company in Boston, wrote a story for this year's production. Hennessey, a self-described "big ghost story fan" who has been involved with "Tales" for three years, has woven a tale of a ship caught in the ice in the Northwest Passage.
"You have to tell it to a live audience, and try to keep things visual and draw people in and keep people's attention," Hennessey says, and keeping it fresh can be tricky, especially when the tours get busy toward the end of the month. "You could end up telling your story six times in row in an hour. But what's great is every group is different."
He adds a different spin for a group of adults or a group of children, and the audience helps change up the storytelling.
Tours usually last about a half-hour. Passengers start on the main deck with a light, comedic introduction before venturing below the deck to hear three ghost stories. Fourteen local actors will tell the tales on a rotating basis throughout the month.
Stuart says the show is family-friendly and not too scary for children; he says it's more "literary" than some ghost tours.
"They're not terribly creepy; it's a family show," Stuart says. "That's one thing that differentiates us (from other ghost tours)."
If you go
What: "Chilling Tales" presented by the Salem Theatre Company
When: Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays through October from 5 to 10 p.m., as well as Monday, Oct. 30, and Tuesday, Oct. 31
Where: The Friendship, Derby Wharf, Salem
How: Admission is $10, $5 for children, under 4 free. Call 978-790-8546 or visit www.salemtheatre.org.
