A peek at Utah’s haunted sites: Four places to visit this Halloween season

SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) — With Halloween coming up, autumn colors, pumpkin spice, cornfields, mazes, and candy are making appearances. Among the places on that list are haunted sites.

From Asylum 49 (formerly Old Tooele Hospital) to Mountain Meadows, here are four locations across the state to visit this Halloween season that are supposedly haunted.

Mountain Meadows: Cedar City, UT

According to Only In Your State , Mountain Meadows, the site of the infamous “Moutain Meadows Massacre,” is the most haunted place in Utah.

On September 11, 1857, one of the biggest tragedies in Utah history took place. A group of militiamen, assisted by Native Americans from the Paiute Tribe, carried out a brutal and heinous set of attacks on a wagon train of people emigrating to California from Arkansas. According to the LDS Church , several members were involved in the Mountain Meadows Massacre.

According to the Church website , 120 people were killed and 17 children — many too young to tell what happened — were spared. A letter from Brigham Young, President of the Church and Governor of the Utah Territory which said to “not meddle” with the emigrants, was received by the militia group two days after the massacre.

Nine people were indicted, and one person was convicted for their role in the massacre. Two members of the Church were excommunicated, which means, being cut off from the church and no longer having membership in the Church.

Only In Your State says that many visitors report hauntings. People say they hear cries of children, women screaming and men shouting. An older man, thought by people to be John D. Lee, has reportedly been seen crying at the memorial site. Lee was the person convicted and then executed for his actions.

Skinwalker Ranch: Duchesne County, UT

One of the most famous Utah landmarks is Skinwalker Ranch. The ranch also lands itself on the haunted list, thanks partly to a movie and a show about the ranch.

In the History Channel show “The Secret of Skinwalker Ranch,” paranormal investigators investigate the expansive 512-acre property. It is reported to be the sighting of many UAP (Unidentified Aerial Phenomena) sightings and other odd and paranormal encounters.

Before the TV series on the former Sherman Ranch, there was the 2013 movie based on the same property.

In April, ABC4.com spoke to Brandon Fugal , owner of the ranch. Fugal said the remote location was the center of a Pentagon-funded black budget project studying UFO activity, cattle mutilations, and strange phenomena, and is also known as a living laboratory for studying other intelligence and possible inter-dimensional phenomena. Other legends come from the Navajo, which is how the ranch got its name.

“[The ranch is] located near the Ute Indian reservation, these people have long thought that the Navajo put a curse on their tribe in retribution for many perceived transgressions. Since then, the skinwalkers have plagued the Ute people,” the website Legends of America said .

Devereaux Mansion: Salt Lake City, UT

This piece of haunted history is right in the center of downtown Salt Lake. Located across the street from the Delta Center and three blocks west of Temple Square, the Devereaux home was finished in 1857 and two spirits are said to call this place home, according to Haunted Rooms .

“The first is a young girl who has a particular affinity for playing tricks on the kitchen staff. She is also known to wave at people at night. The second spirit is thought to be either the former lady of the house or a head housekeeper. In contrast to the cheerful little girl, she is said to be far more aggressive towards visitors although it is believed that she believes she is simply protecting the mansion from misuse,” the site says.

The mansion is tucked in next to the Triad Center, which houses Ensign College.

The Great Saltair: Magna, UT

Famously seen on the Discovery Channel show “Ghost Adventures” episode “ The Great Saltair Curse ,” the Great Saltair has a history that’s all its own.

The show chronicles the unfortunate history of The Great Saltair when three fires plagued the property. The third fire burnt the building to the ground. Before the building burned in 1970, it was the site of the horror film “Carnival of Souls.”

The building was rebuilt in the 1980s but shortly after, was flooded by the Great Salt Lake and rendered unusable for two decades. The Discovery Channel show claims that “dark ritualistic practices” took place during the time the building couldn’t be used.

According to many, including the cast, Saltair Sally haunts the property. The show claims that “Saltair Sally” is a “hostile paranormal energy.”

“Saltair Sally” is said to be the spirit of a woman who vanished from Seattle many years ago and whose body was found by duck hunters dismembered on the property of the Saltair .

Credited as an employee of The Great Saltair, Maile Roberts was interviewed by Ghost Adventures’ Zak Bagans. In a 10-minute video on Discovery Channel’s YouTube page , she states that one to two bodies are found on the property every year.

“Every time I come in here, I hear voices and it gets really heavy. There’s usually a lot in here,” she said.

Another paranormal investigator and friend of Zak Bagans, Vincent Lords, claims he was pushed down the grand staircase of the Saltair. Bagans and members of the show claim that the attack “appears to represent a hostile pattern of highly charged poltergeist activity at the Saltair.”

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