LOCAL NEWS

Provo guide leads ghost tours to teach Utah’s folklore

Oct 31, 2024, 11:57 AM | Updated: 12:07 pm

Utah folklorist Danny B. Stewart started collecting stories when he was a kid, and he documented th...

Utah folklorist Danny B. Stewart started collecting stories when he was a kid, and he documented them as the years went by. (Danny B. Stewart)

(Danny B. Stewart)

PROVO — The Beehive State has a surprisingly deep history of legends and folklore. Cryptids, paranormal activity, and fantastic rumors linger across Utah.

Folklorist Danny B. Stewart works to preserve those stories.

“I’m not a paranormal investigator,” he says, “I hunt for ghost stories. I don’t hunt for ghosts.”

Stewart started collecting stories when he was a kid, and he documented them as the years went by.

By the time he was working as an adjunct professor at Utah Valley University in 2011, he wanted to share the hundreds of stories he had collected.

The method? Extracurricular ghost tours in downtown Provo.

Utah folklorist Danny B. Stewart leads a ghost tour in downtown Provo. (Courtesy Danny B. Stewart)

“Edu-tainment”

“I’d have somewhere around 198-200 people following me around downtown Provo … I was like Moses,” Stewart joked, saying the crowd size made it difficult at first.

By 2016, the tours were more managed, condensed, and public-friendly. Despite being a ghost tour, Stewart didn’t focus on fear.

“My stories are about community. People need to understand these stories are in their own backyard … People leave my tours with a different view, they’ll think, ‘Wow, this was really cool! It’s cool, it’s entertaining.”

Since then, Stewart has described his style of tours as “edu-taining.”

Utah folklorist Danny B. Stewart leads a ghost tour in downtown Provo. (Courtesy Danny B. Stewart)

While he’s been busy with the tours, Stewart hasn’t stopped collecting other stories.

Utah’s established and modern folklore includes stories of giant rabbitshaunted train depots, fairy sightings in Provo and even a rumor of raptors living in caves on Mt. Timpanogos.

Stewart heard that last one from a man at a bigfoot convention.

“The absurdity makes it fun. And people want to hear that kind of thing,” he said, adding that, “Stories like that, you don’t put much credence to.”

But true or not, Stewart wants to preserve these legends, and he hopes people choose to show up to a tour and learn a thing or two about Utah folklore.

“If you have stories to share, from grandparents or your own encounter … I like to preserve these stories. I would be more than willing to document it.”

Stewart has an archive at BYU.

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Provo guide leads ghost tours to teach Utah’s folklore