A local ghost guide says he can’t guarantee participants will see a spirit on one of many visits to the most haunted places in Hamilton and Niagara Region, but there is chance.
“No, if I could (guarantee that), I’d be a millionaire,” Ghost Walks guide Daniel Cumerlato told 900 CHML’s Good Morning Hamilton.
It’s a busy time for Ghost Walk’s tours with paranormal believers seeking stories of alleged sordid truths behind horrible deeds and tragic accidents across municipalities in Canada with Halloween just weeks away.
Local stopovers include the screaming tunnel in Niagara, Hermitage ruins in Ancaster and a story or two about the oldest known ghost in Hamilton – the Dark Lady.
Mentioned in a poem back in the 1800s as the “devil himself,” it’s believed she inhabits what many consider the most haunted building in Hamilton, Custom House near Stuart and MacNab streets downtown.
Cumerlato says he’s never seen her outright, but insists an investigation a few years back records Ouija board movements in an experience.
“She made the connection,” he remembers.
“I asked her why she was angry and she said ‘poem’ … so I promised her from that point forward, we would never read the poem. After that, things calmed down a bit.”
The apparition chaperone says his interest in ghost walking dates back to 1999 and a visit to the Bellevue Mansion on Belvidere Avenue near the escarpment.
“We had some pictures of the place before they tore it down, and it was the very first article I ever wrote … the history and the ghost stories around that house,” according to Cumerlato.
At the time he reported energy still existed on the empty land via a video allegedly capturing flashes of light and orbs – evidence in parapsychology used to determine a ghost’s existence.
“So from that day forth, I realized I really enjoyed the history and ghost stories,” he said.
Ghost Walks began four-years later in Hamilton and today is highlighted through a small shop on Queen Street in what they call “the most haunted town” in Canada, Niagara-on-the-Lake.
Tours are ongoing throughout the year visiting historic and haunted places across the GTHA with each journey lasting 75 to 90 minutes
Walks can be booked online at ghostwalks.com