Naturally Spooky
Oct 31, 2018
We wear scary costumes on Halloween. We spread wispy, faux spider webs across our doors and play haunting music when kids come trick or treating. But South Dakota’s great outdoors need no help when it comes to being spooky. Photographer Christian Begeman assembled this gallery of ghostly photos gleaned from his many travels across the state.
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A rattlesnake along the Sage Creek Wilderness Road in Badlands National Park. “I can’t tell you how many near heart attacks I’ve had when encountering these bad boys," Begeman says. -
Short-eared owl north of Bear Butte in rural Meade County. “The bandit eye-black on these guys makes them creepy cool.” -
Full moon in rural Minnehaha County. -
Abandoned home with grove of dead trees in rural Hand County. -
An atmospheric phenomenon called STEVE (Strong Thermal Emission Velocity Enhancement) south of Creighton in eastern Pennington County. Scientists are just beginning to research STEVE, but they know the dancing, violet lights are something separate from the aurora borealis. “I was looking nearly due west for this photo and it moved overhead like no other northern lights I've seen.” -
A firefly caught in a spider’s web near Skunk Creek in rural Minnehaha County emits its last light. -
The photographer uses a flashlight to create a ghostly image at Lake Alvin east of Harrisburg. -
A snowy owl found in northern Sioux Falls. “An old timer back home told me about a Native legend that says if you see a white owl one of your relatives will die soon. He’d hired a Native neighbor to help him fence one summer. One day near a creek, he flushed a white owl. He wouldn’t go back to that place. And one of his family members did die later that week.” -
The Old Courthouse Museum in downtown Sioux Falls. “It reminds me of the Dark Tower in The Lord of the Rings.” -
A spider in the tall grass at Makoce Washte Native Prairie near Wall Lake. -
A spider in the tall grass at Makoce Washte Native Prairie near Wall Lake. -
The Eminija Burial Mounds south of Brandon. “Knowing it’s an ancient burial site is enough to make you pause, but that tree ... there’s just something about it.” -
Fog on the eastern edge of Custer State Park. “I'm not sure why, but I've always thought low lying fog is the creepiest kind.” -
An abandoned country school in Campbell County. “ I know folks like old abandoned buildings, but I think they can be ominous.” -
A barn owl perched inside an abandoned church in Fall River County. “It was hissing and bowing at me as a defense mechanism. It was a bit disturbing. I can only imagine hearing that at night and being totally freaked out.” -
Low lying fog in Badlands National Park. -
Monotropa uniflora found at Newton Hills State Park. It’s also known as ghost plant, ghost pipe, Indian pipe or corpse plant. It appears waxy white because it lacks chlorophyll and is parasitic, getting its energy from nearby trees. -
Monotropa uniflora found at Newton Hills State Park.
Photo Galleries
When Autumn Meets Winter
The two seasons collide in the Black Hills.
Black Hills Blooms
Wildflowers are adding a splash of color to the granite and pines of the rugged Black Hills.
Photo of the Week
Foggy morning down east Main Street in Butler. Photo by Duane Huwe
A Photographer’s Playground
South Dakota provides the perfect backdrop for toy photography.
Big Game, Big Crowd
The annual Dakota Marker game brought thousands to Brookings.
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