Dale Jarvis’ popular creations, The St. John’s Halloween Haunted Hike, and the educational, historical tour Tombstones & Tea, are back to the delight of all
Dale Jarvis is the go-to guy for Newfoundland and Labrador folklore. The Intangible Cultural Heritage Development Officer for the Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador is also a storyteller, tour guide, entrepreneur and more.
HAUNTED HIKE RETURNS
He has appeared on the paranormal television show Creepy Canada, detailing stories of the Sea Hag of Bell Island, the Ghosts of Newman Wine Vaults, and the Isle of Demons in Quirpon.
Jarvis is also the creator of the St. John’s Haunted Hike, a massively popular ghost tour focusing on the haunts and horrors of North America’s oldest city. The Haunted Hike returns this October, with a run of tours from October 27-30, just in time for
celebrating Halloween.
DISTURBING & EDUCATIONAL
Departing from the Anglican Cathedral on Church Hill, the hour and 15-minute long tour winds around the downtown core, recounting spooky tales associated with various locations along the route. Though suitable for ages 8+, the tour can be equally disturbing as it is educational – what one may learn along the tour will not be easily forgotten.
TOMBSTONES & TEA
Continuing in his dedication to preserve the history of his city, Jarvis recently created a new guided tour titled Tombstones and Tea. Running from July 14 to August 4, 2018, Tombstones and Tea repeatedly sold out, week after week.
Its popularity is particularly exciting for the General Protestant Cemetery Trustee Board Inc. A portion of the $35 ticket cost goes back to the Trustee Board, which in turn uses the funds towards maintenance and upkeep of the cemetery, which is over 175 years old.
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Markedly not a ghost tour, Tombstones & Tea is educational as opposed to supernatural, instead focusing on the history, art, and residents of the cemetery. The tour brings its patrons through the General Protestant Cemetery in St. John’s, “the final resting place to everyone from merchant families to labourers, soldiers, noted photographers, poets, Chinese laundrymen, and the tragic victims of some of Newfoundland’s worst sailing disasters,” the Tombstones & Tea website explained.
The tour provides knowledge of some of the cemetery’s many interesting inhabitants, as well as the significance of gravestone symbols, and the impressive work of local stone carvers. Considering its success over the summer, Jarvis remounted the show this October, with two tours on October 20 and 27. Unsurprisingly, the tours sold out in advance.
‘EXPERTS IN SPOOKY’
Most recently, Jarvis took part in the 2018 St. John’s Storytelling Festival, teaming up with Charis Cotter for a show at the Newman Wine Vaults. Titled “Ghost Tales & Port,” this festival event invited attendees to sample Newman Wine Vaults port and enjoy snacks while creeping “through barrens, lighthouses, seabeds, and even kitchen parties.”
With the “experts in spooky” running the show, it should come as no surprise that the event sold out, the only St. John’s Storytelling Festival event to sell out in advance. Though Jarvis’ tours tend to sell out in advance, thanks to his impressive knowledge and enticing event details, this year’s Halloween Haunted Hike does not require purchasing tickets in advance. Attendance is on a first-come, first-serve basis, giving Halloween lovers, history buffs and spooky squads equal opportunity to take in this amazing fright night.