Scary stories of spooky spirits

For a roundup of haunted houses, corn mazes, etc., see Halloween calendar

"You don't have to believe in ghosts to enjoy a ghost story." That's what Kristen Clay tells her customers to tell their spouses, if the spouses seem reluctant to board the bus for one of the Ogden or Salt Lake City Ghost Tours.

She also reassures the reluctant by explaining that folks who come on her tours are "not into the occult." They are just normal, run-of-the-mill ghost-story lovers.

And if they happen to bring a camera, and if their photos happen to capture an orb of mysterious light ... well, that orb may or may not be a spirit. (Clay thinks it probably is.)

This Halloween season, there are more opportunities than ever to celebrate spookiness. For storytellers and owners of haunted houses and corn mazes, and for the actors who relish their roles in such places, the fun has already started. Some haunts have been open for a month. Some will remain open into November.

One evening last week, at twilight, Clay met a reporter at the Salt Lake City Cemetery to retell the legend of Emo's ghost. Generations of Utahns have grown up visiting the tomb of Jacob Moritz and seeing the transparent face of a man they called "Emo."

Clay knows something of Moritz's true history: He was a local politician and brewery owner. But she has been unable to learn why his crypt became known as "Emo's" grave.

As it turns out, Moritz's ashes are no longer in his crypt. There was so much vandalism at his grave that his remains have been reburied "in an undisclosed location," Clay reports.

When the Ghost Story Tour bus comes to this site, and someone lights a candle and walks around the crypt backwards three times and then peers inside, they will see what Clay says they have seen annually over the four years of Ghost Tours — exactly nothing.

Clay wonders what all those generations of teenagers saw when they looked inside. She wonders if the marble was shinier 40 years ago and they saw a dim reflection of their own faces.

At any rate, Clay says her customers have had better luck at other stops on the tour. They've reported a few mysterious shapes at Fort Douglas or along the walkways of Trolley Square or in Ogden's Ben Lomond Hotel.

She adds one final Emo disclaimer: The Salt Lake City Cemetery is locked at dark, so only the 6 p.m. Salt Lake tour will visit Emo.