Paranormal stories from Canada’s buildings: part 2

Warning: contains topics that may cause an uneasy feeling. Advised to not read at night or rather with someone when easily feeling unsettled.

Canada has many buildings that behold ghost stories, or well, paranormal ones. I’ve always been interested in such stories, including abandoned buildings. Sure, the question will always be the same: are such stories true? Multiple buildings have been visited by paranormal scientists, and they said it was true. In several parts, I’ll be telling all paranormal stories and the history of Canada’s buildings! Today: the second part!

1. Tranquille Sanatorium (Kamloops, B.C.)

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The ominous ruins of the sprawling Tranquil Sanatorium outside of Kamloops, B.C., are straight out of a nightmare. Originally built in 1907 as a treatment center for tuberculosis patients, it later served as a psychiatric facility before finally being abandoned in the early 1980s. This sanitorium witnessed the deaths of many of its patients. Echoes of the former residents seem to remain, however, as witnesses report unprecedented paranormal activity ranging from orbs to eerie disembodied moans. Empty for decades, people have reported feeling a penetrating eeriness when they visit the site. There are multiple buildings at the site and even mysterious tunnels that connect many of them underground. Visitors claim to see a mother crying for her child on the sixth and eighth floors while others have reported hearing the voices of kids playing in the children’s ward or seeing bright orbs near the main entrance. Likewise, some visitors note that the tunnels below are filled with lonely voices and cries.

2. Keg Mansion (Toronto)

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The legendary Keg Mansion on Toronto’s Jarvis Street was once the private residence of industrialist Hart Massey and his family. According to legend, in 1915, after the death of Massey’s beloved only daughter, Lillian, one of the maids was so grief-stricken that she hanged herself. The ghostly image of a maid hanging by her neck has been seen by more than one Keg visitor over the years. The maid was downstairs as a dying Lillian lay in her bed. Tension hung over the house, finally released when the doctor called out, “She’s gone”. The maid learned of Lillian’s passing and was witnessed walking out to the main hall. Up the stairs to the oval vestibule. It’s a striking feature today, near the 2nd-floor washrooms. A hole in the floor railed off, looking down to the main hall and grand staircase. Unseen, the maid had brought in a length of rope. Fashioned a noose, wrapping one end to the wood railing. Hoisting herself up and over the side. House staff found her swinging above the foyer, right near the grand staircase. Most believe her death was due to grief. But there’s another version to this story. They said the maid was having a secret affair. With one of the Massey men, who was believed to be happily married. For unknown reasons, the maid feared the secret would be exposed after Lillian’s death. Walking to secure the front door after a long night of serving customers. Some staff saw movement from the corner of their eyes. Spinning towards the grand staircase, they call it a “glimpse”. A woman hanging down from the second floor. Swinging slowly on her noose. And then, she’s gone. The woman was only seen by the grand staircase. Nowhere else in the Keg Mansion. And always hanging.

3. Fairmont Chateau Laurier (Ottawa)

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Business Tycoon Charles Melville Hays commissioned the Fairmount Château Laurier, but died tragically aboard the Titanic just days before the hotel’s grand opening in 1912. Despite its romantic appearance, several deaths have allegedly occurred in and around the hotel, including suicide by jumping from the upper floors. Many strange stories center on the former Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) radio studio on the seventh floor, which occupied that space for 80 years. Former CBC Chairman Patrick Watson reported several unnerving incidents in his nearby suite. The ghost of an unnamed child has also been reported. The ghost of Charles Hays is also believed to roam the Château’s halls. The encounters include a disembodied voice singing, brushes with unseen hands, and doors opening and closing.

4. The Old Spaghetti Factory (Vancouver)

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It’s been said that the ghost of a train conductor still haunts this popular eatery built atop an old underground railway track in Vancouver’s Gastown neighbourhood. Inexplicable cold drafts and mysteriously rearranged table settings are the calling cards of the deceased conductor. Making matters truly spine-tingling is a photograph of the 1950s-era, decommissioned electric trolley now featured in the restaurant’s dining room. The photo depicts hints of a ghostly figure, believed to be the train conductor, standing on the steps of the trolley. The Old Spaghetti Factory has four ghosts in residence. The first and best known is the spirit of a tram conductor. He frequents the old trolley car (Number 53) that’s parked inside the restaurant and contains dining tables. The second ghost at The Old Spaghetti Factory is a small, mischievous spirit with a ruddy face and bright red hair. Simply known as the Little Red Man or Looky-loo, he calls out to staff members by name and strolls through the kitchen. His favourite prank is to surprise female customers in the ladies’ washroom. On one particular occasion, two ladies saw the dwarfish man leave one of the cubicles, dressed in a red shirt and red long johns. After looking at them and laughing mischievously, he left through the washroom door. To their surprise, nobody else had seen the unmistakable man leave the washroom. It’s said that one of the women took a picture of the ghost. But when the film was developed, he appeared as a blur. The restaurant’s third ghost is that of a young boy. In early 2012, this ghost gave a female server a terrible fright. She was in the back section of the restaurant, helping to close up for the night. While she was busy resetting some tables, a boy ran past her towards the very back. With it being so late and no customers left in the restaurant, she thought it was strange that a boy was running around. So she followed him. The boy ran under a table alongside the back wall, turned around, and looked up at her. When she looked at his face, she saw that his eye sockets were empty. Terrified, she ran to the front of the restaurant to tell the manager about what she’d seen. She told him that she couldn’t work at the restaurant any longer and resigned on the spot. A psychic visited the restaurant and identified the ghost of the little boy as Edward. The fourth ghost in the Old Spaghetti Factory is a little girl who appears at a table in the front window. She sits and holds a balloon. Nobody knows who she is. Once, a friend of the restaurant’s general manager had a conversation with her that lasted several minutes. The little girl explained to him that she was looking for her mother. When he returned to the table after telling the manager about her, she’d disappeared.

5. Hockey Hall of Fame (Toronto)

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Prior to serving as Canada’s hockey shrine, this building was once a branch of the Bank of Montreal. Legend has it that a lonely bank teller named Dorothy took her own life between the early 1900s and the 1960s after her romantic advances were rejected by the bank’s manager. Dorothy’s ghost is now believed to occupy the Hockey Hall of Fame, with some visitors reporting they heard inexplicable sounds of a woman crying throughout the building. Someone saw a female ghost looking down on her from a second-floor ceiling. She was Dorothea Mae Elliott, 19 years old. She shot herself early in the morning of Wednesday, March 11, 1953, and died 22 hours later at St. Michael’s Hospital. There have been countless reports of strange occurrences in the building over the decades that are believed to be connected to Dorothy: lights flicking on and off; doors and windows opening and closing for no apparent reason; and moans, screams, and other eerie sounds echoing through the historic structure. Some staff and employees have heard footsteps when working alone at night. A few have felt a phantom hand on their shoulder or leg. Despite all the reports, only one other person is believed to have actually seen the spirit. One summer a young boy was visiting the Hall of Fame when he started screaming, He claimed a woman with long black hair was going in and out of the walls.

Which story had you heard before? And which one seems the most ‘creepy’ to you?

Love, Skye Lewis ❤

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