Overton Ghost Walk Provides Frightfully Fun Time

By ELISE DALLEY

The Progress

The downtown area of Overton took on an ominous tone for visitors and bystanders on the nights of October 28-29. Ghosts were lurking around the corners of familiar local stores and shops due to the annual Ghost Walk, put on by the Moapa Valley Community Theatre group.

The Ghost Walk began at 6 pm, just as the sun was setting on both days. During the earlier twilight hours, the tours were kept kid-friendly and there were no startling spooks. However, as the darkness descended, starting at 8 pm each night, the tours became more eerie with plenty of jump scares and scary stories to keep the participants on their toes.

The Ghost Walk began at the Pro Plaza Parking lot, where the sign-in table was set up, along with a raffle for a big screen T.V., courtesy of Infowest, and a table where Tshirts, fortune cookies, and other treats were being sold.

After signing in, groups were assigned a “Ghost Host” who would then walk participants all through Overton’s main street, entertaining their groups with their thrilling stories and a few cheesy jokes. The walk was about a 0.7 mile loop, which took about 45 minutes to complete.

The Ghost Host guided participants to Overton’s oldest and most storied buildings. The tour included seven different stops with spooky stories and ghostly characters awaiting at each one.

Ghost Host Amber Leavitt had great things to say about the Ghost Walk. “I enjoyed showing people around different historical buildings and watching people just have fun with it,” she said. “It turned out to be a really great event, we had some great ghost actors. I had a lot of fun and I think most people did too.”

During the darker, more spooky hours, the Ghosts would be standing at each selected store and tell a spooky story about their death. One ghost in particular stood in a dark corner of the Pioneer Theater, formerly known as “El Notrevo,” and entranced the crowd with a frightening death story.

They had been swallowed whole by a mutant fish while fishing with their grandpa. They eventually made it out of the fish, but died nonetheless. After the animated ghost was finished with this eerie story, another Ghost jumped out and ran screaming toward the Ghost Host and the group, startling the crowd as a whole.

Throughout the rest of the tour, there were many more jump scares and frightening stories, entertaining the audience through blood-curdling acts and bone-chilling narratives.
“I really enjoyed the ghost walk!” said participant Kristi Dalley. “Our ghost host Carol was very animated and kept our group on our toes. It was fun to get a little history about our local shops and also listen to all the scary stories. Overall I think it was the perfect Halloween event!”