Haunted & Paranormal

From Ogden up to Logan, northern Utah claims more than its fair share of restless spirits. The Ben Lomond Hotel was rumored to be the site of a honeymooning bride who tragically drowned in her bathtub, only to have her distraught son consequently commit suicide in the adjoining room. The iconic Union Station still houses passengers in the form of apparitions and disembodied voices. The owner of the Shooting Star Saloon purportedly continues to monkey around with the jukebox and a phantom piano, while Crystal Hot Springs hosts a bevy of spirits, including a crying child, a stabbing victim and multiple pool-related fatalities. Author Jennifer Jones unearths the stories behind the ghosts that continue to preside over their final destinations.

Manatee County's history is filled with tales of Native American battles, shipwrecks and the expeditions of Hernando de Soto. It's no surprise that spirits still linger on these sunny shores. Anna Maria Island's first permanent resident still returns to the island more than one hundred years later to flirt with the female tourists. A convict hanged in the county courthouse in 1907 is sometimes heard singing on the courthouse grounds. In the 1970s, the specter of a blond woman was seen hitchhiking along the old Skyway Bridge, only to vanish once she'd been picked up. Join author and paranormal investigator Liz Reed on a tour of Manatee County's most haunted locales.