Time to go ghostal
Haunted Taft will leave you in high spirits
By Gretchen Ammerman
Oregon Coast TODAY
The mouse in my hand acted as if frozen in fear while the cursor acted on its own, scrambling about the page like a real mouse racing through a maze.
Pages appeared and then disappeared and the last sentence I had written popped up in a new document after I had already taken my hand off the mouse and backed away from my laptop.
This isn’t the first eerie thing that has happened in the process of writing about Haunted Taft, a fun and spooky walking tour featuring the ghosts and legends of Lincoln City’s historic bayfront area. But this time, I had a witness.
I had been, until my computer took on a mind of its own, in the middle of interviewing Tour Director Shellie Stuart about the scary new season kicking off with a special tour on, appropriately enough, Friday, May 13. Another special Full Blood Moon Eclipse tour will follow on Sunday, May 15. Saturday night tours start on May 28.
“We have a lot of different stories and every season we add new ones in and stop using others, so it's always fresh,” she said. “We have a new story that we are super excited about and we don't want to say anything about. I will spill that it’s a classic Pacific Northwest myth that has a local tie in.”
When my computer went ghostal, Stuart had just finished telling me the new story, which I persuaded her to share only by promising to keep it to myself even if tortured.
First launched in 2018, Haunted Taft has grown to become one of the premier ghost tours in Oregon.
“The outpouring of support from the Taft community allows us to add surprises and new stories every year,” said Stuart, who is also executive director of the Bay Area Merchants Association, which put the tours on. “For some of our new special effects this year, though, we contacted the Lincoln City Police Department to check that they were all okay to use.”
You’ll hear new stories by the glowing light of the Lincoln City Glass Studio’s glass furnaces. Some favorites like Bigfoot on the Oregon Coast Trail, the Ghost Schooner of Siletz Bay and Whiskey Jack, will be back, but with some fun new twists and tales. New ghosts will also be roaming the “haunted bayfront.”
As in years past, guests will check-in and begin their tour at the Sapphire Center. Owner Claire Hagen readily admits that her store in the historic Bailey Building is home to many spirits, but emphasizes that they are playful, not bad.
“There’s no shortage of unexplained happenings in Taft,” she said. “We’ll never run out of stories to tell.”
In case you’ve read this far with the question in the back of your mind about other eerie things that have happened while writing about Haunted Taft, I’ll tell you a tale I happily share whenever I have, or occasionally even when I haven't, been asked.
It happened while trying to capture images for the very first tour, which was to include a supposedly haunted fire truck retired many years ago after the death of a fireman.
After taking a number of photos of the front of the truck, the very clear image of a handprint appeared on the foggy window. I scanned the previous photos — the fog was the same, but there was no handprint. Chills went down my spine as I continued snapping shots to show skeptics.
Create your own eerie memories by joining the tour, and if you live locally or visit often, check with Stuart — new “ghosts” are always welcome to be a part of the fun.
The experience lasts roughly one and a half hours and covers just under a mile of walking on mostly flat surfaces. The route can be made wheelchair accessible upon request.
Tickets are $25. Following opening weekend, tours will be offered on Saturday evenings. The Sapphire Center is located at 4840 SE Hwy. 101 in Lincoln City. For the complete schedule and to purchase tickets, go to HauntedTaft.com.