Do you believe in ghosts? I havenât personally had any otherworldly experiences, but Iâm definitely intrigued by all of it. Something about this spooky time of year seems to beg for a good old fashioned “Haunted Edmonton” ghost story. We’ve got 10 of ’em, and saved the creepiest for last!
1. La Boheme: The restaurant/B&B was built in 1912 as a luxury apartment building. The caretaker of the building murdered his wife and disposed of her body in the basement incinerator after dragging her down the stairs. Perhaps after such a gruesome end it is unsurprising that her spirit is an uneasy one, the sound of a body thumping down the stairs echoes on the landing and spooking guests.
2. Edmonton General Hospital: Part of the hospital that is now a continuing care facility was built way back in 1895. It is in these oldest part that the hauntings have been felt. A lone woman wandering the halls was been reported, and the heartbreaking cries of children have been heard where the pediatrics ward once was.
3. Firkins House: The house still stands in Fort Edmonton Park, and although no deaths of a Firkins have been recorded, there has been a bunch of spooky happenings reported, including a male voice singing a lullaby and a ghostly woman who is not there, but shows up in photos taken in the living room.
A jilted lover is said to haunt the Princess Theatre. Image courtesy of The City of Edmonton
4. The Princess Theatre: Above the Princess Theatre was once a rooming house, and the lonely last home of a woman who hung herself after being jilted by her lover. Word is she has never left and makes her tragic presence known from time to time at the theatre.
5. McKay Avenue School: The original site of the Alberta Legislature, then a school and now the archives and museum of the Edmonton Public School Board, an electrician who died while working in the basement is blamed for the majority of the ghostly activity in the building, like moving things around, even scattering the chairs that had been set up for a meeting.
6. Concordia College: The Lutheran high school and post-secondary facility is home to more than one ghost. A teacher from the 60âs has never been able to fully let go, nor have the reputed spirits that jiggle doorknobs, slam doors or cause sudden drops in temperature so that the scared students cans see their panicked breath.
7.Victoria Composite High: Opening night productions at the Fine Arts School are fraught with more than the usual bouts of stage fright and jitters. Eva O. Howard, for whom the theatre is named, is often blamed for the mischief that tends to occur the first night of a new production.
An equine ghost can be heard at the Mac. Image courtesy of the City of Edmonton.
8. The Fairmont Hotel MacDonald: One would hope that the Fairmont MacDonald Hotel, the most Gothic looking place in Edmonton would have at least one ghost. It does, and itâs a doozy! Workers and guests have reported the sound of an horse drawn carriage clip clopping along. The extra eerie part? Itâs only been heard in the hallway on the top floor!
9. Mt Pleasant Cemetery: The southside cemetery is supposedly home to some otherworldly activity. Ghostly orbs of hazy light have been spotted and the apparition of a child has been seen amongst the headstones.
10. Charles Campsell Hospital: Perhaps the most haunted spot in the city is the old Charles Campsell Hospital. I know there is nothing inherently scary about psychiatric wards, but thereâs no denying that the reportedly haunted psych ward in an abandoned hospital is pretty much the ultimate horror movie setting. The feeling of being watched from the windows, a ghost with no fingernails and disembodied cries from the ward all are why the Charles Campsell site is one I wonât be anywhere near on Halloween nightâŚor any other night!
