How To Freak Out A Tour Guide
Last night - which happened to be Friday the 13th - my wife and I went on a "ghost tour" of Salt Lake City. The bus took us to several of the haunted sites in the city, and the tour guide - a local storyteller - told accounts gathered from first- and second-hand reports of hauntings and "supernatural activity" from these sites they'd gathered during the years.

The tour guide told us in the beginning that if she actually spotted a ghost, she'd notify us by a very clear signal - and then did her best rendition of a bloodcurdling scream. Then she let us know what an incredible coward she was. At one point, she told the story of her own first-hand ghostly encounter, following her young son up to the kitchen of one of Utah's haunted locations. The creepy feeling she experienced was followed by the sound of footsteps approaching through the kitchen. In one of her least-proud moments, she turned and fled in terror, completely abandoning her son to whatever haunt had come to make its presence known. It was also clear as she was telling some of the stories that they gave her the willies as she told them.

Unfortunately, when we got off the bus at the Salt Lake Cemetary where "Emo's Ghost" reputedly haunts, we discovered what happens in the rare year when Friday the 13th hits in an October. The place was PACKED with teenagers all trying to summon Emo's Ghost, freaking each other out, and screaming. Not that I really blame 'em. I mean - it's Friday the 13th! Sounds like a good idea to me. I doubt the neighbors near the cemetary would have shared my view (especially as I imagine things got more active closer to midnight...), but ah, well.

The most entertainment of the night came when we stopped off the bus at Fort Douglas. Fort Douglas is supposed to be haunted by Clem the ghost. Nobody is really sure who Clem is supposed to be, but they say he wears a civil-war era uniform and is often found at his old post outside the main door to the museum. Or leaning on the tanks or helicopter on display in the back. The tour guide told us many, many stories about Clem.

We wandered around the museum front for a few minutes in the dark, experiencing no sign whatsoever of ghostly disturbance (well, at least I didn't). Then a man came up to a couple of us, with a young girl in tow, asking about the tour. Interestingly enough, he was wearing a civil-war era hat and a plain brown button-up shirt. We explained that it was a ghost tour, and he expressed interest, as he'd been on a similar one at Gettysburg. Evidently a civil war enthusiast. He asked for more information, so we took him over to the tour guide.

Well, the tour guide had been freaking herself out with her own stories the whole evening. And here everyone was looking to catch a glimpse of Clem, the civil war ghost. Then this stranger - not a member of the tour group - wearing a civil-war hat approaches her.

The look of shock and horror on her face was priceless as she performed one of the most dramatic double-takes I've ever seen. In fact, if it was actually a dramatic performance, I'm sure critics would have panned it as being "overacted" and "unbelievable." Her eyes widened, her mouth quivered as it seemed to alternate between deciding whether to whimper, scream, cry, or answer the man's "Excuse me?" Eventually, with our prompting, she settled within two or three seconds on the latter, and provided him with a flyer and the information he wanted.

As we got back on the bus and started driving away from the site, she sheepishly said, "Okay, I hope you all had a good laugh at my expense. I warned you I was a coward." Then she explained what happened to everyone. I imagine that story will find its way into her future tour sessions.

We ended the tour where we'd started, at the historical Rio Grande Depot. We'd started the tour with the story of the "Purple Lady" who, according to the story, went to meet her fiance as he returned from World War II. Apparently, their meeting wasn't joyous, and it ended in an argument. She returned the ring, and he threw it down onto the tracks. As the story goes, she jumped down to retrieve it, and was struck by a train and killed.

As we left the tour, the guide added a new twist. The Utah Ghost Organization, another Ghost Hunting Group, recorded an EVP during their investigation of the Depot a few years ago that sounded suspiciously like a woman saying, "My boyfriend pushed me."

Happy Halloween folks!
- posted by The Rampant Coyote @ 8:52 AM (Permalink)