Our country’s ghost stories span from coast to coast, and Halloween is the perfect time to discover them.
Google Canada is once again sharing our nation’s most notorious haunted landmarks, which you can explore from the comfort (and safety) of your home.
Here’s the spooky roundup:
Craigdarroch Castle stands on a hill overlooking Victoria. Built by Robert Dunsmuir, the wealthiest and most important man in Western Canada at the time, the house was still under construction when he died in 1889.
Rumours of paranormal activity have swirled since, including a piano that plays by itself, sightings of a ghostly woman in white and objects moving on their own.
Street view imagery of Craigdarroch Castle lets you enter the premises and tour around the haunted site for yourself.
Plenty of ghost sightings have been reported by hotel staff and visitors of the Banff Springs Hotel.
The most notable ones are a young bride, who died in the hotel of a broken neck after falling down a flight of stairs on her wedding day, and a retired bellhop named Sam Macauley, who died just after announcing his retirement.
Both are believed to haunt the hotel dressed in a wedding dress and a full uniform, respectively.
Back when the Keg was Massey Mansion, one of the family’s maids hung herself in the front foyer.
Numerous reports have been made by restaurant goers of creepy happenings, including sightings of the maid hanging from a rope at the front entrance, footsteps of children heard on the upper floors, and a haunted presence felt in second floor women’s washroom.
Business tycoon Charles Melville Hays commissioned the Fairmount Château Laurier, located in downtown Ottawa. However, he never saw the completion, as he died tragically aboard the Titanic just days before the hotel’s grand opening in 1912.
It’s believed his spirit returned shortly after and has never left. Many hotel employees and guests have reported strange noises and ghost sightings since.
The HI-Ottawa Jail Hostel is also known for some spooky stories, from sounds of incorrigible crying at night to returning to a room with items mysteriously moved out of place.
And at the Bytown Museum, ghost trackers say six ghosts roam the old building, known as one of the most actively haunted places in Canada. One ghost allegedly types his name on one of the museum’s computers. Visitors in the doll exhibit say they’ve heard the faint sound of crying in the room along with seeing the dolls’ eyes blinking.
Plains of Abraham, Quebec City
Being the location of one of the most famous battles in Canadian history, it’s no wonder there have been numerous eerie sightings of ghostly soldiers appearing throughout the Plains’ fields and tunnels.
Visitors wandering this park say they’ve seen ghosts crawling through tunnels. Some even say they smell cannon sulfur and hear sounds of battle.
Caledonia Mills, Nova Scotia
This spot isn’t on Google Canada, but the farm is rife with urban legends.
Once the family that owned this farm adopted a mysterious little girl, fires would light spontaneously, doors would fly open and close and strange voices were heard. Storytellers say the girl still roams the property.
Visitors are warned not to take anything with them – and for those who do, the story goes that unexplained fires start in their own homes.
Read more about Canada’s haunted stories here:
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