As a general rule, I tend to avoid watching horror movies because they give me nightmares, and even though I am now a grown up, after a good ghost story, I still feel the need to keep the lights on. With Halloween just around the corner, it’s the season of horror flicks on TV, planning spooky-themed parties, and picking out costumes. But if you’re looking for a real bone-chilling time, check out some of these ghost walks across Canada. The stories behind some of these places might surprise you. In fact, they may even be enough to make you keep the lights on the next time you’re home alone.
Historical Haunted Winnipeg Tour, Winnipeg, Manitoba
This family friendly bus tour takes you through the city of Winnipeg on a discovery mission to where the local spirits roam. Some of the stop-off locations include the Fortune Building, Roslyn Apts., Manitoba Museum, Hamilton House, the Fort Garry Hotel, and a special walk to the Vaughan Street Jail, where the eerie, late-nineteenth-century stories of punishment and executions of men, woman and children, most of whom had suffered from physical or mental disabilities, might send you running back for the bus. Some past tour goers report having experienced the feeling of their clothing being tugged, or the sensation of holding a child’s hand while walking through some of these spots. More info: www.heartlandtravel.ca
Haunted Hike, St. John’s, Newfoundland
This creepy, not-so-kid-friendly walking tour located in one of Canada’s oldest cities, nicknamed the “city of legends” promises a paranormal adventure, filled with tales of murdered, scorned lovers, torture, death duels, and the like. For those brave enough to join the trek, the walk takes you through hills surrounding the misty St. John’s harbour, and into the dark alleys of the city’s historic downtown core. On this journey, the legend of a headless sailor waiting in the harbour for his unpunished murderer is bound to send chills down your spine. More info: www.hauntedhike.com
Montréal Ghosts, Montreal, Quebec
Old Montreal transforms into a spooky evening of exploration on this ghost walk. A perfect adventure for groups, especially students, looking for a jolt at every turn of a dark corner, Montreal Ghosts promises a night of intrigue filled with tales of witchcraft, hangings, crimes, fires, and unexplained phenomena. Relive the legends of infamous Montreal crimes in this historic city through stories of hangings, slavery, and torture, told by real-life ‘ghosts,’ played by professional actors. More info: www.fantomontreal.com
Ghost Walks, Victoria, British Columbia
Victoria takes its ghost walks to the next level by dedicating an annual festival to the ghouls throughout the city. These tours are ideal for groups, students or clubs who want to explore a different side of the picturesque coastal city. Some notable places along the tours are Point Ellice House, Bastion Square, and Helmcken Alley, Ross Bay Cemetery, the Old Burying Ground, the Haunted Vortex on Shelbourne Street, and many more. You’ll hear tales like the one at Beacon Hill Park, where the “Screaming Doppleganger” the ghost of a woman whose murdered body was found nearby is said to appear on the rocks at sunrise. More info: www.discoverthepast.com
Haunted Walk, Kingston, Ontario
The Haunted Walk is one of the most famous ghost tours in Kingston, and promises a guided evening walk through the city by lantern-light. Some of the tour’s features include the hangings at the old Courthouse, the Organist’s ghost, the haunted student ghetto house, and the ghosts at Old Fort Henry. Locals say that one of the most haunted places in Kingston is the pathway between Princess Street and King Street East, where some people have reported being approached by a woman dressed in black and wearing a cross saying, “Help me find my bones.” Other people who have walked through the specific spot say they have felt frozen to the ground, unable to move. More info: www.hauntedwalk.com
Ghost Walks, Niagara on the Lake, Ontario
The story goes that in the early 18th century every building and structure in this historic town was destroyed by a fire, and while the locals rebuilt it from the ground up, some of its residents who died refused to leave. The tour takes you through the library, the courthouse, the post office, the old pharmacy, the newspaper, Prince of Wales Hotel, the Royal George Theatre, and two of the first churches in all of Canada. Some notable features of are the angry ghost at the Angel Inn, and the house that makes cameras malfunction. More info: www.ghostwalks.com
Ghost Tour, Edmonton, Alberta
This walking tour takes you through Old Strathcona in exploration of ghosts of theWalterdale Theater, the Strathcona Hotel, Old Scona Academic High School, and the Arts Barn, where the tale of an old maintenance worker who was killed in an explosion in the building in the 1950s, is said to be seen lurking in the shadows watching as actors rehearse on stage. Another spooky sight is the Princess Theater, one of the oldest surviving theatres in western Canada, where locals report seeing a ghost of a woman in white walking the staircase, which legend says was a bride who hanged herself in her wedding dress. More info: www.edmontonghosttours.com
Ghost Walk, Halifax, Nova Scotia
Established in 1990, this is one of the oldest ghost walks in the North America. The family-friendly tour promises an evening walk full of stories of hauntings, pirates, buried treasures disasters, and shipwrecks. The walk begins at Citadel Hill and old British fort with a dark, damp prison buried deep in its basement, where some tour goers have spied former soldiers lurking in the shadows. Halifax’s historic harbour is another famous area for ghost sightings. The ghost of Mr. Keith himself supposedly inhabits a waterfront spot near the Alexander Keith’s brewery. More info: www.thehalifaxghostwalk.com
