HELENA — Spooky season is right around the corner, and the Haunted Helena Trolley Tour is making a return for those who dare.

The tour started in the late 1990s and ran until historian and author Ellen Baumler, who guided the tours, passed away in December of 2023. She was, and is still, well known in the Helena community.

“I have one or two of her books,” passenger Janna Cawlfield said. “She was so well-versed in all the hauntings around here.”

“The Haunted Helena tour was kind of her baby,” Last Chance Trolley owner Lani Schlater said. “Ellen Baumler, they called her the queen of Halloween, was her nickname.”

Schlater and her husband purchased the trolley and reached out to the Foundation for Montana History to find a guide to help bring back Ellen’s legacy.

“We would see Ellen ever

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