Walk with Hawthorne: It’s Immersive. It’s a little scary. It feels real.

And you thought you knew Nathaniel Hawthorne.

Fans of the 19th century bestselling author and his gothic works are in for an earful of surprises when they download “Hawthorne’s Shadow: An Intimate Tour of Salem” — one of two immersive guided walking tours of Salem and its neighborhoods produced by Intramersive, of Salem, on behalf of The House of the Seven Gables. The second tour, featuring what feels like a live walk through The Gables’ bygone neighborhoods, is titled “Passages of the Past.”

These two geo-located tours will be available on October 1. Those interested can use the QR code displayed on websites, posters and cards throughout Salem and The Gables. The code allows access to the app. Residents of Salem may then download the tours free of charge while general audiences are asked to pay a one-time fee that permits repeated access to the tours. Take the tours any time of the day or night, all at once or in bits and pieces, always at your own pace.

This year, Salem and North Shore families will find much to enjoy during a refreshed and reimagined Haunted Happenings. Changes made because of COVID-19 are also opportunities for inventiveness in this creative city. “Here’s an alternative that’s new and exciting,” says Carly Dwyer, founder of Intramersive. “It’s in no way a consolation prize. You’ll get off your computer. You’ll get outside. You’ll walk through the City of Salem, through our neighborhoods made up of stories.”

Accessible via QR code online and on posters throughout Salem and at The House of the Seven Gables.