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I f you’re looking to scare up some fun this Halloween season, guide Jamie Chadd has been taking groups on ghost tours of what are believed to be some of the most haunted locations in Omaha since April 2017. Since then, she has taken more than 1,640 locals and tourists on these tours, which focus on true crime, local history and the paranormal. The tours offer unique and historical insights into places many locals drive by on a daily basis. Most come with a side of spooky stories. Tours, ranging in price from $10 to $13, explore Hummel Park, local cemeteries and other areas of interest. Typically, locations aren’t disclosed until after tickets are purchased. On a recent night, I and a group of other Papio South students planned to meet at 7 p.m. for Chadd’s “Spirits of Sarpy” tour at the decided location, a supposedly haunted park in Bellevue. When our route took us into an unfamiliar cul-de-sac, I pulled to the side of the road to run the address through another driver’s GPS. Once the directions had been confirmed, I hopped back in my car, turned the ignition key and... unleashed the horrifying screams of a dying engine. Was this a sign that it was finally time to say goodbye to Claire, my 2002 canary yellow Ford Focus, or had something paranormal happened? A call to Chadd might have cleared things up, but my service suddenly dropped. Before panic could settle in, a text from Chadd came through, we rerouted as quickly as we had gotten off track, and Claire groaned back to life. As luck would have it, we were only a three-minute drive from the park. Once there, we doused in bug spray, armed ourselves with flashlights and mustered as much bravery as one could expect from a group of Monday- fatigued teenagers. Chadd gave a brief introduction, asking us to put ourselves into one of three categories: –Category A being full-blown believers in all things paranormal, such as ghosts, cryptids (e.g. Bigfoot, the Loch Ness Monster) and other legends. –Category B being the average fence sitter, meaning folks who believe spirits might exist but who haven’t had any experiences to convince them 100%. –Category C being full-fledged nonbelievers, who claim no faith in spirits, cryptids or any afterlife. These folks generally think when a person dies, they are buried and that’s the end. I raised my hand for Category B, as did most others. Chadd gathered believers and agnostics alike, and we together ventured into the woods. The 14 of us walked a winding trail, single file, before stopping at a curve where Chadd said she herself had experienced paranormal activity. She told stories of unsettling encounters, setting the eerie tone that would carry throughout the night. The idea that something sinister could be lurking so close to our group was frightening. As we listened, families of deer watched from a distance, weaving in and out of trees. Their snapping of leaves and branches turned heads. Group members were suddenly on high alert and engrossed in Chadd’s stories, talking less and less to their neighbors. We moved on from that location and stopped one last time, finding ourselves in the paranormal hotspot of the night, marked by two notorious trees and a solitary, seemingly misplaced, streetlight. Here Chadd shared a chilling, true-crime story centered on an infamous local murder case. The sun was setting, and before long, we couldn’t see without our flashlights. I found myself checking my surroundings as we hiked back to our cars, my light beam straying from the path to search for what might be lurking behind the trees. Out of the woods, we assured ourselves we had left the stories behind us on the trails. We laughed, exchanged stories and parted ways. Still, I was left wondering: If we had hiked the trails just a bit longer, might I have had my own paranormal experience? “Things that want to be elusive will stay elusive,” she explained, “whereas if you just kind of put your guard down, that’s when you tend to have more and better experiences” Chadd said. Chadd typically gives tours from April until late October or early November. If you’re looking for a way to celebrate spooky season, consider attending one of her last tours of 2019. You’ll learn about local history, and may just have a paranormal experience along the way. Spirited tour leads into the unknown BY KAIA SULLIVAN 11 REVIEW TITAN LEGACY OCTOBER 2019 A group of Titans ventured into the woods of a local park led by guide and paranormal enthusiast Jamie Chadd. (photo by Tessa Magner) “ “ Things that want to be elusive will stay elusive. -Jamie Chadd, tour guide STATE CONTEST ENTRANT: Kaia Sullivan
