5 of Canada's spookiest small town hauntings
Although, some people prefer to think of themselves as 'visited' by ghosts, rather than haunted.
Canada's small towns are full of spooky places, strange apparitions, inexplicable lights and shrieks in the night. Here are five of the most frightening small town ghouls from across the country.
The St. Louis Ghost Train, St. Louis, Sask.
The village of St. Louis, Sask., hasn't had a train running through it for years. In fact, the tracks have all been ripped out. But locals say that if you go out into the bush at night, near where the tracks used to be, you'll see the lights of a passing train. The lights are usually white, but occasionally turn red. Local lore says it's the spirit of a CN employee who died on the tracks in the 1920s.
In an interview with Global Television, St. Louis resident Edward Lussier described the phenomenon: "It was very prominent, the light coming through the bush," he said. "It was so obvious what it was. It actually did look like a train. It just was weird. The light would come out, and it would reach the bush line and it would fade away."
Dungarvon Whooper, Dungarvon River, Blackville, N.B.
In the woods outside of Blackville, N.B., along the banks of the Dungarvon River, people have claimed to hear a terrifying "whooping" sound late at night. It's supposedly the final cry of a murder victim.
The victim, known only as Ryan, was a recent immigrant from Ireland who was working as a cook at a lumber camp near the river. While all the lumberjacks were off logging, the camp boss tried to rob Ryan of his savings, killing him in the process. When the lumberjacks — who we can only assume were very hungry — asked the boss what happened to their cook, he told them Ryan had suddenly fallen ill and died. That night, the camp was awoken by a terrible "whooping" sound, the sound of Ryan crying out after being struck. The next day, the terrified lumberjacks abandoned the camp.
There's a song about it. Also, it's pronounced "hooper."
Mrs. Gideon, Caribou Hotel, Carcross, Yukon
Bessie Gideon owned the Caribou Hotel with her husband Edward at the turn of the last century. Like so many small business owners, Mrs. Gideon has been hesitant to retire. Even death won't keep her out of her hotel. Guests have woken up to find Mrs. Gideon at the end of the bed. Apparently, she looks so "real" that new hotel staff have mistaken her for a lost guest. Her famous spectre has even been featured in a postage stamp, part of a series of five called "Haunted Canada."
The haunting does not deter owners Anne Morgan and Jamie Toole, who acquired the hotel after the previous owner was murdered (gulp!). The couple says they look forward to restoring the historic hotel into a grand attraction.
Watch the episode where Jonny Harris visits Carcross, YT
The Blue Nun and The Red Priest, Gilmora Hall, St. Francis Xavier University, Antigonish, N.S.
At some point in the late 1800s, a young nun who was working at Mount St. Bernard College—a Catholic women's college that later merged with St. FX—fell in love with a priest. The two had an affair and she became pregnant. Overwhelmed by guilt at breaking her vows, she ended her life. The priest, distraught at the death of his lover and their unborn child, followed suit. The pair, now known as The Blue Nun and The Red Priest, have spent the last century-and-change haunting the school, moving objects, slamming doors, appearing as shadowy apparitions near the school's staircase, and generally scaring the heck out of unsuspecting undergraduates.
Willie, West Point Lighthouse, O'Leary, P.E.I.
This lighthouse on the southwestern tip of Prince Edward Island was converted into an inn back in 1987, but it seems like someone forgot to tell Willie, the West Point's first lighthouse keeper. Willie has been known to show up in guest rooms and flick lights on and off. (Hey, he's just trying to do his job.)
For the record, Carol Livingstone, who helps run the inn as part of the P.E.I. Lighthouse Society, prefers the term "visited" to "haunted."