“You have brains in your head; you have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself in any direction you choose.” ―Dr. Seuss Keaton Larson is a sneakerhead. Like others his age, the 16-year-old high school sophomore sees shoes as a social statement ― the more expensive their shoes, the more elevated their social status ― and due to a trend in second-hand fashion, those shoes … [Read more...]
Why Do Utahns Hate Valentine’s Day?
“How’s your love life?” It’s a question we ask jokingly, but for people who are single by chance, divorced, widowed, or who were betrayed by a partner, it’s a vexing question that can’t be answered by a gushy card or a heart-shaped box of chocolates they may or may not have gotten. It can be a cruel reminder that they are alone, possibly just because Cupid’s arrow … [Read more...]
A Crazy Cat Lady Helping Feral Cats in Salt Lake, Utah
She does a lot of stalking, researching, and strategizing for a retired “crazy cat lady.” Julie Davis traps feral cats. Today she is working behind an extended-stay hotel that called her when they found a litter of kittens out back. She places a kennel next to the wall where she can hear the tiny kitten roars coming from under the shed. Newspaper inside for … [Read more...]
Rocket Test Range and Soviet Signs in Utah Desert
In a remote part of the desert in Tooele County, about 80 miles southwest of Salt Lake City, stands an abandoned yellow shed that was once used to test rocket motors capable of delivering a retaliatory nuclear strike in the event of a Soviet missile attack. Like the anachronism that it is, politically and otherwise, the shed stands in stark contrast to the surrounding … [Read more...]
Salt Lake’s Early Days: Prostitution in Utah
Red Lights & Scarlet Ladies Salt Lake's Early Brothels You won't read about it in the history books, and you won't hear about it at Sunday School, but Salt Lake’s early days were rife with vice, including prostitution. Although the Mormon settlers practiced virtuous living and eschewed sins of all sorts, it wasn’t long before the saloons, gambling halls and … [Read more...]
The Scariest Place in Utah
Just away from Highway 89 in the Logan Canyon, a large piece of property sits with overgrown foliage adorning the paths, run-down cabins in view, and the remnants of a camp left behind still standing. Most know it as St. Anne’s Retreat, despite the Sisters of the Holy Cross not being there since the 50s and even then, only staying at the site sporadically. Paranormal … [Read more...]
A Ghostbuster in Search for Paranormal in Ogden, Utah
Most avoid the paranormal, while others, like Ogden local Andrew Tims, chase it, record it, and even collect it. Tims is a filmmaker, an abandoned building explorer, and a collector of haunted items. In his home live an array of things many people would never touch, such as a handmade Ouija board carved from a cemetery tree, a cursed candle, graveyard dirt and a demon in a … [Read more...]
Helping Ghosts Move On in Moab, Utah
Moab-Based Fiona Raison Helps Ghosts to Move On. Fiona Raison has been a healer for 30 years, helping both the living and the dead. She can help living people find the roots of physical and emotional pain, resolve internal dilemmas or get in touch with lost loved ones. She can help ghosts — “trapped souls” — get unstuck from the “in-between.” Raison explained that ghosts … [Read more...]
Peter Sinks: One of The Coldest Temperatures Ever in The United States Recorded Near Logan, Utah
One of the coldest temperatures ever recorded in the lower United States happened in a place called Peter Sinks, near Logan, Utah. Peter Sinks is a natural limestone bowl that sits at 8,164 feet above sea level in the Bear River Mountains of the Wasatch-Cache National Forest. On February 1, 1985, the bowl reached the bone-numbing temperature of −69.3°F. It was the second … [Read more...]
TOP FIVE HAUNTED PLACES IN UTAH
Utah is a haunted state. More so than most people realize. There are all manner of folkloric and legendary spooks and boogies lurking about in our backyard. Here is my list of the top-five most “haunted” and interesting places in Utah: Number 5 North Temple. In 2018 I spent several dangerous nights (collecting stories here was one of the stupidest, most dangerous … [Read more...]