Festival of the Dead gets a brief mention at the end of an article on Marblehead bicyclist Tyler Hamilton.

This is why Nosferatu always made such great time
North Shore Sunday, Friday, September 24, 2004

As print journalists who have settled nicely into our sedentary lifestyles, we must admit we aren't exactly experts when it comes to the intricacies of how oxygen-rich blood cells help enhance athletic performance. Although if there are any studies to show how it might help us burn calories while we're staring at our computer screens, we're more than willing to listen.

But considering our relative ignorance of this subject, we're going to hold off commenting on the controversy surrounding Marblehead bicyclist Tyler Hamilton, who is in danger of being stripped of the Olympic gold medal he recently won in the Athens games after an alleged blood doping scandal.

With tests showing that Hamilton's blood allegedly contained samples of another person's blood, Hamilton faces a two-year ban from competition since such an illegal blood transfusion can provide extra fuel to a person's muscles, thus giving him an unfair advantage.

So far, Hamilton has vehemently denied the charges, but if they do turn out to be true, we've got to think his North Shore roots might have had something to do with it. Marblehead isn't that far from Salem, after all. And where else but Salem - with all the witches and vampires - would you find other people's blood floating around in other people's bodies? Coincidence? Hmmm ...

Maybe next year, when the organizers of Salem's Festival of the Dead are trying out for the Tour de France, we'll really have reason to be suspicious.