We all have a friend who has a friend who claims to have witnessed some seriously mind-blowing stuff in the paranormal activity department.
Or perhaps you’ve had a ghostly encounter of your own.
If not, the odds of doing so are increased if you hit one of these 13 haunted spots in the country.
1. The Keg Mansion, Toronto
It’s a known fact among Torontonians that your steak could very well come with a side of ghost at Toronto’s historic Keg Mansion. The iconic house-turned-restaurant was once the private residence of industrialist Hart Massey and his family. Word on the street is that one of his distraught maids hung herself, and an image her hanging has been seen by multiple Keg guests.
2. Fairmont Chateau Laurier, Ottawa
Ottawa’s historic Fairmount Chateau Laurier was the vision of business tycoon Charles Melville. He died on the Titanic days before the hotel’s grand opening in 1912, but it looks like he’s been there for the hotel’s successful run ever since – his ghost has reportedly been seen roaming throughout the sprawling property for over a century.
3. Maritime Museum of BC, Victoria
If you’re looking for some paranormal excitement while in sleepy Victoria, hit the Maritime Museum of BC. – it was once the site of the city’s jail and gallows. According to the newly wed or nearly dead locals, if you look through the window at the entrance, the ghost of Sir Matthew Baillie Begbie, Victoria’s infamous “Hanging Judge” is often seen.
4. Jasper Park Lodge, Jasper
For all of Jasper’s beauty, this one really creeps us out. Apparently, there’s a steep staircase in Point Cabin, one of its signature cabins, that remains haunted by a housekeeper who fell down the stairs and broke her neck. And if you venture up the staircase, you can even (allegedly) risk being watched – or PUSHED – by her. The ballroom isn’t safe either, and children’s handprints are known to appear on the window in the main ballroom.
5. The Old Spaghetti Factory, Vancouver
A family favourite, The Old Spaghetti Factory may not be as “safe” a bet for dinner after all – especially if your fam is into trolley cars. Apparently, a train conductor lost his life in an underground railway track during the 19th Century. Only he never left – and now he’s seen wandering the trolley car in the restaurant since it opened in 1970.
6. Acadia University, Nova Scotia
If you’re an Acadia University student, your degree may come with a complementary minor in the study of paranormal activities. A pregnant Baptist girl hung herself in the 19th century on campus and her ghost never left. She’s been seen by faculty staff members on the back stairwell at Seminary House’s campus, along with things like lights turning on and off by themselves, doors opening and closing on their own, and objects moving by themselves.
7. Kingston Penitentiary, Kingston
Not that there’s anything warm and fuzzy about the Kingston Penitentiary in the first place, but add the ghost of prisoner George Hewell and his on-going quest for revenge on the security guard who took his life in 1897 and prison just got even more terrifying.
8. Capitol Theatre, Moncton
Talk about ample entertainment value. While the building was operating as a movie theatre, a little girl fell down the stairs and died. Her ghost has been spotted behind the ticket booth at night. And to make matters worse, a volunteer firefighter named Alexander Lindsay lost his life in 1924 when the main stage fell on him while fighting a fire.
If you’re lucky enough, you may just find yourself sitting next to the ghost of the little girl in the seat she occupies in the theatre. While Lindsay’s apparition is known for causing cool breezes to blow through this theatre.
9. Chateau Frontenac, Quebec City
To add a little extra dose of excitement to your romantic Quebec City weekend, stay at the Chateau Frontenac. You may just catch a glimpse of the 17th Century governor, Louis de Buade, who’s frequently seen by staff members and guests in period clothing sitting on windowsills, wandering the hallways and the ballroom, and (yikes!) staring at sleeping guests in their rooms. A longhaired ghost of a woman is also known to lie down in bed with guests. So ya, enjoy that shut-eye.
10. Queen Elizabeth Hotel, Montreal
Apparently, ghosts really like hotels. At Montreal’s Queen Elizabeth Hotel, a ghostly “woman in white” wanders the halls and staircases of the hotel. She also has a soft spot for guests’ rooms, and will push, knock, and bang to make her presence known.
11. St. Paul’s Hospital, Vancouver
As if a hospital environment isn’t unsettling enough, ghosts can really add insult to injury. At Vancouver’s St. Paul Hospital, staff and patients witness paranormal activities on the regular, like electrical interruptions, unexplained sounds, unaccounted for voices, moving objects, and a feeling of being watched.
12. Peterborough Lift Lock, Peterborough
The Peterborough Lift Lock is haunted – actually, cursed – by an anonymous woman who was burned alive at the stake in the 1840s. This curse has been responsible for the large number of accidents since. Other paranormal activity includes the sighting of disembodied faces looking out of the tunnels, unexplained footsteps and foot prints, unexplained smells and unaccounted for voices. Men have claimed to have been attacked by the burned woman.
13. Alexander Keith’s Brewery, Halifax
The ghost of Alexander Keith himself is known to check up on business, wandering around his old stomping grounds to make sure all runs smoothly. On a more disturbing note, there was also a report about a spectral man covered in blood and a claim by a tourist of a boy running at him with a distorted face.
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