Haunted and True Crime Tours with Spirit of Arizona
It’s officially Spooky Season! And Phoenix has several haunted pubs and spine-tingling tales to discover. Spirit of Arizona Tours offers a Haunted Phoenix Pub Crawl Ghost Tour, a Murders and Mysteries True Crime Tour and a new one-hour Phoenix Boo Trail Express Tour.
Delve into the city’s enigmatic history, explore haunted locations, and discover the chilling stories that have lingered through time. The tour is led by a certified Arizona historian and guests are welcome to bring their own food and beverage on the 14-passenger tour bus. Visit SpiritoFArizonaTours.com for more info.
Delve into the city’s enigmatic history, explore haunted locations, and discover the chilling stories that have lingered through time. The tour is led by a certified Arizona historian and guests are welcome to bring their own food and beverage on the 14-passenger tour bus. Visit SpiritoFArizonaTours.com for more info.
Transcript
00:00 So it is spooky season and if you know anything about Arizona, it's that we have some seriously spooky history.
00:08 And that's why we have Jared Riddle from Spirit of AZ Tours here to tell us about some of these kind of Halloween style tours.
00:15 So we were just kind of talking about it. You have other tours, but we're really focusing on these kind of spooky season tours.
00:22 So Jared, tell us first of all what you guys do at your business and just kind of give us the overview.
00:27 So at our business, Spirit of Arizona Tours, we focus on Phoenix history and Arizona history.
00:33 So like I mentioned, I am a historian, so I'm very proud of our history.
00:36 We have a very unique Old West history and I love showing that off to people from out of state.
00:41 They come here for our Old West history.
00:44 But the tours that we're talking about, the Phoenix Murders and Mysteries, the Phoenix Haunted Pub Crawl, the brand new one, Phoenix Shadows, the Boo Trail,
00:52 those all focus on true crime here in Phoenix with haunted reputations.
00:58 Oh man, that is so cool. Okay, so we were kind of talking about some of the places that you take these people to.
01:04 So we're talking cemeteries, we're talking like interesting old houses where murders have happened.
01:10 I mean, give me like an inside, like give me a little taste of some of the cool places that people get to go.
01:17 So probably the one that draws a lot of people's attention is the case of Winnie Ruth Judd, the trunk murderess.
01:25 It's the most infamous crime to ever happen in Phoenix. Books have been written, movies loosely based.
01:31 Wow.
01:32 There's one play based on this, another one coming out next year.
01:35 And it is a private location and the owner, Robert Warnke, has been gracious enough to allow me to bring guests inside.
01:43 Okay, so really quickly, what happened?
01:46 So that's the crazy part is we're not totally sure.
01:49 The only thing we know for sure is two women were murdered, one was dismembered, both of them found in trunks in her possession in Los Angeles.
01:58 Oh man.
01:59 But there's a lot of different versions of what may have happened.
02:02 Right, the story keeps changing. That's what makes it so interesting and why people want to see it on one of your tours.
02:08 Okay, so we were also talking about some other things that you do like your pub crawls, which is great.
02:13 So on those, people get to drink on those?
02:16 That's correct. So that one, we make three different stops at true crime locations here in Phoenix.
02:21 The locations, they weren't always pubs. They're pubs now, but they're historic locations here in Phoenix.
02:26 And every place does come with a unique, 100% true, fact-based crime story.
02:33 And if they want to buy a drink, they can. Some people just run along for the stories.
02:36 But yeah, you can purchase a drink on that one if you want.
02:38 I mean, man, I feel like that would make the stories even better, right?
02:42 Having a cocktail, a beer, whatever it is, while you listen to some of these kind of cool stories in the exact location.
02:49 I love it. And you were also telling me, because I was saying, you know, I've been on some kind of haunted tours.
02:54 I went on one in New Orleans. And what was so cool is you get to walk through some of the cemeteries, which is really, really crazy.
03:00 And definitely gives you that kind of like Harris standing up on the back of your neck feeling.
03:04 You were saying that you are working with one of the cemeteries here in town.
03:08 That's correct. Yeah. The oldest cemetery in Phoenix is the Pioneer Military Memorial Park.
03:13 It's closed off to the public. And I am working with them right now to hopefully get my...
03:18 I have a meeting this Thursday, and I think it's going to happen, where we will have exclusive access to this cemetery,
03:24 where a lot of local Phoenix legends are buried. There's a reputation of a man in white that roams the cemetery.
03:30 So, and really good stories of the Old West in that cemetery.
03:34 Oh, I'll bet. I mean, talk about ghost tours. I mean, woof, man.
03:38 So, do you do a lot of these tours at night?
03:40 So, I do. I have a 2 o'clock spot and a 7.30. So, the night tour does book more often.
03:47 But with the day tour, I like that one, too, because you can see the locations a little bit better.
03:51 So... Oh, sure.
03:52 Yeah, yeah, yeah. So, both of them have their pros.
03:54 Gotcha. Gotcha. Yeah. I'm sure going during the day, getting to really see everything.
03:58 But I'll bet that nighttime one gives you that real spooky vibe.
04:01 Yeah, it definitely does.
04:02 So, I want to know about Union Station, too, real quick. What's the story behind that?
04:06 So, that, when I take people... First of all, that's a very historic location here in Phoenix.
04:10 So, I'm very happy it even still exists.
04:12 But that is where Winnie attempted to escape Phoenix with the trunks.
04:18 Oh, it's giving me chills just hearing about it.
04:20 So, that's the last place in Phoenix those bodies ever were, was at the Union Train Station.
04:25 Gotcha. Okay, wow. Well, you got a lot of great locations on each of these tours.
04:31 And the one is new, you said.
04:33 So, there's three specific tours that are specifically for kind of this season, Halloween season, spooky time.
04:39 Tell everybody where they can book these tours with you.
04:42 SpiritofArizonaTours.com or they can call 602-551-6246.
04:49 And these ghost tours, they run year-round.
04:51 So, it's not just right now. I mean, I'm sure...
04:53 They're very popular right now.
04:54 I was going to say, I'm sure this is your busiest time.
04:56 Absolutely.
04:57 But you could go any time of the year.
04:58 Any time, yep.
04:59 And there's other tours as well because I know the holidays are coming up.
05:01 So, I know you do holiday light tours, things like that.
05:03 That's correct, yep.
05:04 Awesome. So, yeah. So, go hear about some of the spooky history right now.
05:08 And then in a couple months, go check out all the Christmas holiday lights.
05:12 We'll take care of you.
05:13 I love it.
05:14 Whatever you want to do, we'll take care of you.
05:15 I mean, I feel like just from interviewing you now for a couple minutes, I've learned so much about Arizona history.
05:20 So, that's awesome.
05:21 Jared, thank you so much.
05:22 Thanks for having me.
05:23 All right, guys. Don't go away.
05:24 The Arizona Daily Mix will be right back.
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