On the first Saturday of September, as the long Northwest summer begins to cool and the first leaves turn, a tent goes up in Clocktower Park in DuPont, Washington. By 6:30 in the evening, guests begin to arrive with their own camp chairs, light refreshments are set out, and a small crowd settles in beneath the canvas. At seven o'clock sharp, the stories begin — not the kind you'd find in a history textbook, but the kind that have been whispered around campfires and kitchen tables across the Pacific Northwest for generations. This is Spooky Stories, the DuPont Historical Society's annual celebration of the region's strangest tales, and on September 5, 2026, it returns to the park with a new theme: the haunted history of cryptids, aliens, and monsters.
The evening is the handiwork of the DuPont Historical Society, and its featured storyteller is Chris Staudinger, the Tacoma-based tour guide, author, and TikTok personality who has made a career out of unearthing the weird, wonderful, and obscure corners of Washington's past. Together they promise a dive into "the tales from Sasquatch to the sea serpent," as the society's own promotional material puts it — an exploration of the iconic sightings of creatures that have long haunted the Pacific Northwest's forests and waters.
Staudinger is a natural fit for the role. A travel journalist turned tour guide, he co-founded Pretty Gritty Tours with his wife after years of writing for outlets like USA Today, BBC, and Expedia. Growing up in Eastern Washington — moving from Spokane to Leavenworth and eventually Pasco — he developed a deep affection for the small towns and rich histories of the region, and he has said he hopes to be "the champion of Eastern Washington." When the pandemic arrived, he turned his research into a steady stream of TikTok videos sharing informative facts, creepy stories, and deep dives into the state's past, from the legends of Coffin Road to the true history behind Leavenworth's transformation. His approach is that of a journalist: he digs through old newspapers, photos, and archives, and he has spent cumulative months in the Northwest Room of the Tacoma Public Library. "The most difficult and exciting part of my job," he has said, "is to present something that is easy to understand but is verifiably true." That commitment to verifiable truth is what makes his ghost stories so compelling — more than once, he has noted, digging deep into a "ghost story" has revealed it to be something else entirely, sometimes even a cold case.
In 2024, Staudinger was named one of South Sound Business's 40 Under 40 honorees, and he has since published his first book, "Secret Tacoma: A Guide to the Weird, Wonderful, and Obscure," a tour of the city's most niche lore. For the DuPont Historical Society, he has become something of a recurring headliner. In 2025, he told tales of "mysterious, unexplained, and ghostly happenings with a maritime theme" at the park. The 2026 edition shifts again, this time to the creatures that lurk in the region's imagination.
The Spooky Stories event is a fundraiser for the DuPont Historical Museum, and tickets — $5 early bird until August 31, $7 after — go directly to supporting its mission. Children under 12 are admitted free, though all children under 14 must be accompanied by an adult, and light refreshments are included. The society has asked guests to dress for the outdoors and bring their own camp or folding chairs, a small reminder that this is an evening spent under the open sky.
For the DuPont Historical Society, the event is about more than entertainment. It is a way to kick off spooky season while drawing attention to the museum and the history it preserves. On a September evening, with the tent glowing against the dusk, the stories of Sasquatch and sea serpents feel like a natural extension of the region's long, layered past. The tent opens for seating and snacks at 6:30 p.m., and the stories begin promptly at seven. For one night, the history of the Pacific Northwest gets a little bit haunted — and the crowd under the tent wouldn't have it any other way.