Haunted Ghost Tours Puts On 2nd Annual Event

By GRACIE LEAVITT

The Progress

Downtown Overton was full of haunts and scares as the second annual Ghost Tours event came to town on October 22-23.

The tour ranged up and down the main street of Overton. Spooky stories, some fictional and others historical, were told and sometimes re-enacted by the local Notrevo Productions group.

The evening’s activities were divided into two sections. A more tame tour, geared toward young children was held each night from 6 to 7:30 in the safer and brighter period of twilight. But after dark, the tours amped up with more intense experiences. These jump-scare-filled expeditions took place from 8 to 9:30 when the October darkness had descended on the downtown area.

Each tour group was assigned a “ghost host” to lead them through the darkness with a candle-lit lantern. The tours began in the InfoWest parking lot and went north up the street with stops at the Pioneer Theatre and the haunted car lot that, during the daytime, is known as Town and Country Auto.

The tour continued with various stops all the way to Maverik where the groups crossed the street and started back with stops at the Barber Shop, the old Overton Motel site and more. Then the groups arrived safely back to the starting point.

One hair-raising tale told of a hooked man stalking a young couple from the highway to their home.

Another told of two different times that the bank building in Overton had been robbed in the past.

There was a story of a past librarian and his puppet friend who died long ago of the Spanish Flu. But he still haunts the local library to this day.

Other frightening tales told of a clown statue that was more realistic than expected, a vampire with descriptive detail on how he captures his victim and many more.

The idea for the Haunted Tours event was developed only last year, during the middle of the COVID pandemic. Logandale resident Kim Hardy explained that the group was looking for ways to entertain the community without bringing crowds together indoors.

“Last year we couldn’t do any plays in the theatre,” said Hardy. “So we just wanted to do something fun. We came up with the idea of doing ghost tours in downtown Overton. It was outside, it fit all of the COVID regulations and we had so much fun. The community loved it so much we decided to do it again and make it an annual thing.”

Hardy said that the group hopes to continue this event every October for many years to come.
“The money (made in ticket sales) goes back to the community theatre to the plays we put on,” Hardy said. “We will be putting on another play in February.”

Many of the cast members at the Ghost Tours were members of the Moapa Valley High School Theatre program and the Moapa Valley Community Theatre (MVCT) organization, including actors from past productions.

Dave Learned worked as one of the storytellers. He told the story of a newspaper man who died during his job. “This is my first ghost walk and I loved it,” Learned said. “Sometimes it’s a lot of work but it’s very rewarding.”

Emma Brown is co-head of the committee that helped coordinated the event. She has high expectations of the event for many more years to come.
“It’s definitely a way to get people out and help everyone enjoy the nice Walk-tober weather,” Brown said. “Last year it was really great because it was during a lull in the COVID chaos, and people were so tired of being inside.”

Brown said that it was perfect because it fit the regulations and precautions, but it was also a great way to get into the October spirit.