St. Anne's Retreat

Jake TurnerFollow

Date Collected

2018

Place item was collected

Logan, Utah

Informant

Jake Turner

Point of Discovery/Informant Bio

This is a piece of folklore collected from my own experiences. I am a senior at Utah State University studying secondary education-history composite, with a minor in the classics. I am 21 years old. I am the Vice President of the Zombie Aggies Organization (ZAO) which is a campus wide game of tag that happens once a semester. I am not easily scared or spooked, so it’s an accomplishment for the thing/person who manages to do so.

Context

St. Anne’s retreat is a structure up in Logan Canyon that is rumored to be haunted. The story goes it was a retreat for nuns to get away from the business of the city, and be more involved with nature. There are a couple of versions on the murders of the nuns at the retreat, but the most common is that there were several nuns that were tied up and left to drown in a swimming pool on the estate; and their angered spirits haunt the cabin-esque building seeking revenge on the person who killed them. This example was retrieved from my own memory that has been told to others. I heard some stories of St. Anne’s retreat in my connections class, my freshman year, in the Fall of 2015. I have heard many stories from different people’s experiences at St. Anne’s retreat after my personal encounter with it. I plan to share this story with my students on Halloween once I enter the education field; as well as anybody I know who expresses interest in attending Utah State on the Logan campus, or interest in legend-trips and haunted locations. (I will leave out my part of running scared, and my skepticism in the retelling)

Text

I went to St. Anne’s retreat my freshman year after hearing the stories, and wanting to disprove some of the local haunts. It is important to note that I am religious, but a skeptic when it comes to monsters, vengeful spirits, and the like. I did not go very far on to the property, as despite my skepticism, I got an “evil”/cold feeling; and heard my inner voice (in charge of self-preservation) saying it was a bad idea to progress past the front door. Despite my inner voice I went into the building; only to have the feeling intensify. I ended up running back to my car (for safety), and did not check out the surrounding area. I have no idea why common sense overrode my skepticism, but it did (that outcome on a “haunted” legend trip had never occurred before, and hasn’t occurred since.). I still can’t say exactly what caused the cold feeling, though I still retain my skepticism on the “ghost theory”, but I haven’t worked up the nerve to venture back.

Texture

This story was told from memory, after 4 years being in the recesses of my mind. I felt calm at the beginning of this trip, but got scared fast after progressing past the front door of the building. I do not often get spooked on most legend trips I embark on to disprove theories and discredit beliefs in monsters to make people feel safer; so I cannot prove or disprove a haunting as of yet, I still refuse to believe in hauntings, but I do not have sufficient proof to deny it at this location. I will admit this location has something strange about it, as it got my common sense to override my skepticism. My nerve seems to be on edge with this one location, as something is definitely off, and I do not want to mess with anything beyond my comprehension; so I am reluctant to return. (Plus, returning now would prove difficult with all the security measures that have been installed) I have friends who have made this trip as well, that I may do write-ups on as well. I will dramaticize this, to offer things as a consideration to any that there is more to the world than what we understand.

Course

Introduction to folklore

Instructor

Prof. Lynne McNeill

Semester and year

Fall 2018

Theme

G7: Horror Stories

EAD Number

6.3.4.12

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Additional Files

St. Anne's Retreat.docx (7 kB)

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