Haunted Vancouver – Scare Me
byI admit, I’m a sucker for a good ghost story. Although I have never experienced any paranormal activity (that I’m aware of) a good chilling tale will put me on alert and make my pulse race.
Best way to take in a story about hauntings and messages from beyond the grave? Take the Ghostly Walks tour in Victoria, the West Coast’s most haunted city. As for Vancouver, well there are haunted trolley tours and a few walking tours but they just don’t have the same effect since I’m fairly familiar with the ‘same old stories’… the Lady in Red at the Hotel Vancouver and the mysterious passenger in the trolley car inside the Old Spaghetti Factory… but are there any more tales out there? Something new, something recent?
Matt from Metblogs wrote about the Century Restaurant last year and this morning I saw a little write up in the Metro about the Irish Heather in Gastown. They could just be rather timely marketing ploys, but who knows.
Here’s a quick write up I’ve heard before about a place I honestly never plan on visiting:
The Irving House Museum was the former home of the Irving family from 1862 to the 1950s. Staff and visitors have seen the ghost of Captain William Irving, the man who built the house, sleeping in his old bed where he passed away. Sometimes, the imprint of a body can be seen on the bed. Footsteps can be heard for no apparent reason and some staff members have heard a voice calling their name. Several visitors have reported animal heads on display turning their heads. [suite101]
If my aunt read my blog she could probably say a thing or two about working at Woodlands in New West. Just thinking about it makes me shiver.
Since it’s the day before Halloween and I’m all costumed-out, lets share a few stories. Leave your best personal experience with eerie happenings in Vancouver (and surrounding cities) in the comments below, and I’ll be sure to read them all tomorrow night, by candle light, with a baseball bat on standby.
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The most curious events have occurred where a breeze or a slight gust is experienced in a closed-room with no open windows and any other vents are clear on the other side of the apartment. “Well, hullo there ….”
I’m just creeping myself out at this point. It doesn’t help that I work in a 100 year old building and everything creaks….
My grandparent’s house used to be haunted, not anymore 🙁
Why not anymore?
K here’s another story from the Sun about the Macaroni Grill and Balthazar (I did know about the tunnels, but not the hauntings)
When I worked at the PMS, one evening, I watched my coworkers leave. I was upstairs, all the doors were closed except the office door. Suddenly the doorknob of the closed door next to the office started twisting on its own. I packed up and left for the day.
Another time, I thought I’d shut a coworker in that room because I heard footsteps inside after closing the door. “J.?” I called out. Turns out she was behind me, not in the room. We looked at each other and both kind of ran out of the building.
What I really hated was having to go to the bathroom. The bathroom was in the basement and it was creepy. We called the bathroom creep the “Gaunt Ghoul Basement Man.”
Then there was something knocking from inside a travel trunk that about five of us heard. We also invited a couple of paranormal investigation groups over.
Anyhow, my stories are better in person.
the mysterious passenger in the old red trolley car in the OSF? WHAT mysterious passenger? I eat there periodically. Should I be nervous?
I dunno. I hope they didn’t get the house exorcised or whatever! I used to be the kind of kid who would not sleep if the light wasn’t on because I was afraid of the dark. And once I found out my grandparents’ house wasn’t haunted anymore I kinda lost the fear.
I used to work at Brock House restaurant and on more than one occasion I was led to believe it was / is haunted. Apparently, the spirit of a 12 or 13 year old girl still resides there on the top floor, and every staff member I’ve known has had some experience with her.
She did all of the following things to me, while I was working there…
Opening and closing windows
Moving and changing place settings
locking the boys bathroom door, when I’m inside changing
Giggling, and laughing, and there was no one else on the floor
Flicking the lights on and off…
And the most telling was one afternoon, a coworker was at the top of the stairs, and couldn’t figure out why it was foggy just at the top of the stairs. We figured that the ghost was standing there; and the temperature definately dropped…
Oh well, she was harmless, if a little scary when we were there late at night cleaning up…