Victoria's spooky side
With Halloween only a few days away—and no shortage of fun ways to celebrate it in Victoria—, it's time to take a look at the spooky side of BC's capital.
Victoria is considered to be one of the most haunted places in BC and the Pacific Northwest, and not just at Halloween.
John Adams, historian and founder of the Ghostly Walking Tours, says in an article for Coastlines Magazine that “the salt water, underlying bedrock, hills and mountains that encircle the city, and even the springs of fresh water that bubble up in certain areas” may be reasons for why Victoria has so many ghostly happenings.
So where are the best places in Victoria to have a chance at an eerie encounter? Here are a few creepy ghost stories from DiscoverThePast.com:
Beacon Hill Park near downtown Victoria is a place of history, beauty and many ghosts. The "Screaming Doppleganger" as featured in the Creepy Canada TV series appears on an outcropping of rocks near the corner of Douglas and Superior streets.
She is the ghost of a woman whose murdered body was found nearby and is seen standing atop the rock at sunrise.
Rogers Chocolates at 913 Government Street in Old Town is a National Historic Site. It is also Victoria's oldest, most famous and most haunted chocolate shop.
Look for the ghosts of Charles and Leah Rogers, the founders, who often slept in the kitchen of their old store and who reputedly never left. Recently, a child's handprint has repeatedly apperaed on a mirror high above a door.
Bastion Square and Helmcken Alley in the heart of Victoria's Old Town is the most haunted part of Victoria.
Almost every building around the historic square has a ghost or two. The Maritime Museum of British Columbia, located in the old Supreme Court building, is said to be the most haunted of them all due to the fact is was built on the site of the city's jail and first gallows and many of the men who were hanged still lie buried beneath its foundations.The Maritime Museum is open throughout the year.
Helmcken Alley leads away from Bastion Square and has the reputation for being just as haunted. The sounds of muffled footsteps with dragging chains, produced by ghostly members of the chain gang from the nearby jail, is one of the stories from Helmcken Alley that is featured in the Creepy Canada TV series.
The Old Burying Ground is on the edge of downtown (on Quadra Street beside Christ Church Cathedral). It was used from 1855 to1873 and still contains 1,300 bodies.
Now it is a city park called Pioneer Square and you may walk through it to enjoy the ancient tombstones by day or by night.
If you go when it is dark, keep an eye out for the ghost of Adelaide Griffin who has haunted the place since her death in 1861 or for the less frequently seen ghost of Robert Johnson who slit his throat in a house across the street in the 1870s and has returned from time to time to reenact his grisly demise.
British Columbia's Parliament Buildings are haunted by many ghosts, most notably Francis Mawson Rattenbury, the architect who designed them in the 1890s.
His body rests uneasily in an unmarked grave in Bournemouth, England, where he was savagely bludgeoned to death by his wife's lover (who was his own chauffeur).
It is believed Rattenbury returns to haunt his most famous edifice to seek the recognition he craves and which he does not receive where he is buried.
For more spooky sites, please visit DiscoverThePast.com!
Do you know of any other haunted places in Victoria? Do you have any ghost stories or creepy happenings to share? Tell us about your experience in the comment section below!