Fall is one of my favourite times of year. School is back in. There's a crispness in the air. And Halloween is just around the corner. And this is the PERFECT time of year to collect stories and the long shadows of fall get people talking and thinking of ghost stories. Unfortunately it also means that I'm so busy tracking down stories that I haven't spent enough time lately sharing them with you. But here's a few of the new stories and new leads I'm trying to track down.
I've picked up stories related to three more houses in Lethbridge. Two are on the southside and one is on the northside. The northside stories were told to me by a young girl who used to live in a house on 20th Street North. She experienced some of the commonly reported things -- the TV would turn on and off by itself and there would be strange shadows and silhouettes. But this house had much more than that going on. One night the young girl (and she doesn't remember why) chose to sleep on the floor. She was looking under the bed at the time and for no reason, her brother's truck started to roll across the floor under the bed towards her. And she often experienced strange voices singing in the bathroom -- enough voices that it would sound like a choir!
On the southside, strangely enough, one of the places I've found stories on is on 20th Street South. The family who used to live in that house said that they often came home from trips to find all of the doors unlocked and the windows open and no one in the house and no signs that anyone had entered the house. And the cat, which had been safely locked in the house when they left, was regularly found sitting on the front step, slightly miffed to be outside in the cold.
The other southside house is on 13th Street South. Still waiting to get more details on this house but the story I've heard so far is that an apparition of a woman has appeared in the mirror. Can't wait to find out more...
Now if only I could get to Medicine Hat for that tour I've been promised of all of its haunted places. Then I'll have much more to share.
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Sunday, September 12, 2010
Crowsnest Pass
I had an incredible 90 minute phone call today with a woman from the Crowsnest Pass who was able to provide a great many stories of places in the Pass that have strange occurrences associated with them. I knew there had to be stories from the Pass -- any place where the Frank Slide occurred and the worst underground coal mine disaster in Canadian history is sure to be a place of restless spirits.
And it didn't disappoint. Sitting here in a well lit room in Lethbridge simply being told the stories, I had goosebumps and the hair rising on the back of my neck!
Bellevue Mine does tours around Halloween each year and the person I spoke with assists with those. She said that, waiting in the dark mine for tours, she has heard the chirping of canaries. There are certainly no canaries in the mine today but in years past they would have been taken down as an early warning sign for carbon monoxide poisoning. Do ghost birds continue to keep the mine safe?
On another evening, again sitting in there in the full, overwhelming darkness of the mine, she heard the entrance door open and heard the quiet mumbling of voices. She expected any minute to see the lanterns as the tour approached. But none appeared. But the voices stayed. And then she realized. It was a school group they were expecting and rather than hearing the bright, light voices of children, the voices she heard were the low rumbling of adult men. For minutes she could hear the voices but no one approached her and there was no sign of the tour. Then, she heard again the door opening and wondered what had happened that the tour was leaving. Almost immediately she heard children's voices and soon saw lights appearing -- the tour had just arrived!
Between tours she and others were in the hut warming up and she asked why the tour had started and then went out and re-started. Everyone turned and looked at her like she was crazy and she was promptly told that had happened. And even though there were others in the mine she was the only one who heard the door open and the men's voices. And they realized what time it was -- back in the days when the mine had been operational it would be have been lunch time and the men were coming into the mine and back to work!
These are certainly not the only stories she told me. I'm still processing the one of the haunted house where they claim to have caught on tape the voice of a teenage boy mimicing howls to the family dog as he teased and hassled the dog. The same teenage boy appeared as a full apparition in a mirror and liked to play with the lights. But that one will have to wait for another time...
And it didn't disappoint. Sitting here in a well lit room in Lethbridge simply being told the stories, I had goosebumps and the hair rising on the back of my neck!
Bellevue Mine does tours around Halloween each year and the person I spoke with assists with those. She said that, waiting in the dark mine for tours, she has heard the chirping of canaries. There are certainly no canaries in the mine today but in years past they would have been taken down as an early warning sign for carbon monoxide poisoning. Do ghost birds continue to keep the mine safe?
On another evening, again sitting in there in the full, overwhelming darkness of the mine, she heard the entrance door open and heard the quiet mumbling of voices. She expected any minute to see the lanterns as the tour approached. But none appeared. But the voices stayed. And then she realized. It was a school group they were expecting and rather than hearing the bright, light voices of children, the voices she heard were the low rumbling of adult men. For minutes she could hear the voices but no one approached her and there was no sign of the tour. Then, she heard again the door opening and wondered what had happened that the tour was leaving. Almost immediately she heard children's voices and soon saw lights appearing -- the tour had just arrived!
Between tours she and others were in the hut warming up and she asked why the tour had started and then went out and re-started. Everyone turned and looked at her like she was crazy and she was promptly told that had happened. And even though there were others in the mine she was the only one who heard the door open and the men's voices. And they realized what time it was -- back in the days when the mine had been operational it would be have been lunch time and the men were coming into the mine and back to work!
These are certainly not the only stories she told me. I'm still processing the one of the haunted house where they claim to have caught on tape the voice of a teenage boy mimicing howls to the family dog as he teased and hassled the dog. The same teenage boy appeared as a full apparition in a mirror and liked to play with the lights. But that one will have to wait for another time...
Monday, September 6, 2010
Odds and Ends
It's funny what you find when you research. And today's blog is bits and pieces from various research areas.
The first is from the 1913 City Council Records. When we look at "Haunted History" some of the same themes keep coming up from the earliest times of Lethbridge history.
"That Mrs. J.F. Jackson be advised that the license for the practice of palmistry and clairvoyance is $250.00 per year without rebates for any shorter period. The last permit dates back some years."
In 1909, both the Fire Chief and Police Chief were earning $125.00 per month so that was a rather expensive business licence. There is no information as to whether or not Mrs. Jackson agreed to the cost and paid it.
Secondly, back in October 2009 one of my early blogs was about a ghost story told about Highway 36 between Vauxhall and Brooks. I have searched all year to try and find someone who can add something to that story. But no matter who I talked to, I could never find someone who could provide details. I have come to the conclusion that this story is likely an Urban Legend that has been identified with this lonely stretch of road. What do you think? Is it truly a ghost story? Or not?
And, last, another location that I'm starting to get some good stories about but which I would love to get a great deal more. The Lethbridge Health Unit (which used to, of course, be the train station) has had many strange things occur there. One staff said that when she starts there she was told by co-workes that strange things happen there and she has experienced the footsteps and noises from the attic. And, she's quick to add, she knows no one was up in the attic as the door going to the attic is in her office!
While most people only experience noises at the train station, I was also given a story of someone who went for a vaccine and reported seeing a woman in Victorian dress standing outside waiting for a train that never arrived...
The first is from the 1913 City Council Records. When we look at "Haunted History" some of the same themes keep coming up from the earliest times of Lethbridge history.
"That Mrs. J.F. Jackson be advised that the license for the practice of palmistry and clairvoyance is $250.00 per year without rebates for any shorter period. The last permit dates back some years."
In 1909, both the Fire Chief and Police Chief were earning $125.00 per month so that was a rather expensive business licence. There is no information as to whether or not Mrs. Jackson agreed to the cost and paid it.
Secondly, back in October 2009 one of my early blogs was about a ghost story told about Highway 36 between Vauxhall and Brooks. I have searched all year to try and find someone who can add something to that story. But no matter who I talked to, I could never find someone who could provide details. I have come to the conclusion that this story is likely an Urban Legend that has been identified with this lonely stretch of road. What do you think? Is it truly a ghost story? Or not?
And, last, another location that I'm starting to get some good stories about but which I would love to get a great deal more. The Lethbridge Health Unit (which used to, of course, be the train station) has had many strange things occur there. One staff said that when she starts there she was told by co-workes that strange things happen there and she has experienced the footsteps and noises from the attic. And, she's quick to add, she knows no one was up in the attic as the door going to the attic is in her office!
While most people only experience noises at the train station, I was also given a story of someone who went for a vaccine and reported seeing a woman in Victorian dress standing outside waiting for a train that never arrived...
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