Tag Archives: Halifax

July 31, 2026 · 10:20 am

The Forsaken Necropolis of Halifax

 

 

Greetings Darkings:

Today’s post is very special. My article is live on the Paranormal Daily News website. You can also read it here! Enjoy!

The Forsaken Necropolis of Halifax

Explore the tragic history of poor houses in Halifax, Nova Scotia and disrespect for the dead. Immigration and overpopulation seem to happen cyclicly and cause immense societal problems for everyone except the wealthy minority.

Halifax is no stranger to tragedy, a tragedy steeped in blood and suffering. In 1758 a bill was passed to create an asylum strictly for the poor, a convention that had origins in Victorian England. The first poor house, also known as the Poor Asylum, was built on Spring Garden Road across from the courthouse and completed near Christmas in 1759. The property is now known as Grafton Park. There were several smallpox outbreaks in the poor houses, the worst of them occuring in 1827 due to immigration and overpopulation in Halifax.

A new poor house was constructed on the corner of Robie and South streets in 1867, where IWK Health now sits. Builder Henry Peters hired an architect David Sterling whose building plans were in the form of a “Latin cross, with four wings descending from a central building, which measured 180 feet long, 50 feet wide, and four stories high.” The completed main brick building stood five stories high, with a French style roof and soon housed the elderly, orphans, mental patients, sailors, medical patients and inebriates.

The Old Burying Ground was adjacent to the poor house on Spring Garden Road. It was believed to house the remains of 800 people. People who lived in the poor house were not allowed at St. Paul’s Cemetery. Today, Grafton Street Park and the Halifax Memorial Library have erased the history and sight of the poor house and burying grounds.

Halifax poor house corruption, bleak conditions & fire tragedy

​The poor house was very underfunded and led by corrupt managers. The conditions in the poor house were terrible and patients suffered whipping and stocks. One patient was found chained and wearing a dog collar that pierced his throat and neck if he moved. The people who lived in the poor house were expected to work hard and contribute. They helped to stoke the furnace, and worked in the kitchen, the hospital, the garden or cared for the livestock.

The building was destroyed by a fire on November 6, 1882 in the wee hours of the night. The fire was believed to have begun in the laundry room in the northeast section. Some claim it started in the kitchen. It claimed the lives of the most defenseless people – the elderly, the infirm and mentally ill who were asleep in their beds when the fire began. They were so unwell they may not have been able to comprehend what was happening. The patients had nowhere else to go.

​See page for author, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

The Halifax Fire Department arrived quickly, but the fire raged out of control. The building’s layout confused the firemen and panic spread amongst the patients. 31 people died in the fire. Most of them were residents of the poor house that were not able to be rescued in time. The tragedy gained significant public attention about the inhumane conditions of the asylum.

The firemen helped many inmates escape the fire. They rushed up to the upper sections of the building and carried the inmates who were sleeping or were unaware of the fire at the time. Two clergymen were rescued. One man was exhausted from smoke inhalation and the other had almost suffocated. A woman stood at the window on the fifth floor, her arms resting on the ledge with her hands clasped. Sadly, she fell backwards into the devouring flames. Her screams rang out mingled with the screams of the other patients who were not able to be rescued. Nothing could be done for them.

Prior to the tragic fire, a total of three hundred twenty inmates lived in the poor house. 42 of those patients were in the hospital. The inmates that were fortunate enough to have escaped sought shelter in outhouses and stables. The main building was engulfed in flames. Most of the building could not be saved. The hoses used to extinguish the fires were destroyed. During that time, a man was spotted on the uppermost story of the western wing. Smoke billowed out the window the man was looking through. Behind him, the flames raged. The brave firemen were determined to rescue him. The firemen raised ladders. The man eagerly climbed down the ladders and reached the ground. He was Mister James White, of the number one division, (Salamander) U.E.C. The rescue was just in the nick of time. After his escape, the window was in flames. The adjoining buildings were saved.

​Another building was constructed in the same place by 1886. The asylum was renamed City Home in 1907 and remained as a hospital for mentally unwell patients until its eventual closure. In 1972, City Home was torn down and Abbey Lane was built.

Halifax Poor House fire inquiry

There has not been such a fire in Halifax since that tragic time. The amount of casualties is the highest ever recorded in Halifax’s history. After the tragic fire, an inquiry was held to investigate the conditions of the poor house. The conditions revealed overcrowding, insufficient fire safety, and outdated wood construction. The conditions for the patients were indeed inhumane. A hundred people died annually at the poor house.

Fire breeds change. Changes were in store for the patients who endured harsh conditions in poor houses in Halifax. The fire marked a turning point in the conditions the patients suffered. Reforms were set in how the province cared for the mentally unwell. New institutions were built that were meant to improve safety and guarantee more humane living conditions. The fire is remembered not just for the tragic loss of life, but also that broad social changes were made for public health, welfare and reform in Nova Scotia.

In 1913 construction workers unearthed human remains and bones. There was very little speculation about how that happened. 20,000 bodies are buried in what is now a parking lot for St. Mary’s Basilica and the surrounding areas. One of those areas was the corner of Grafton Street and Spring Garden Road, near the courthouse. The Old Burying Ground was connected to St. Peter’s, the first Roman Catholic Church in Halifax. It no longer stands and has since been replaced by St. Mary’s Basilica.

Halifax Poor House gives the old court house a grim reputation

Old Halifax Courthouse
​SimonP at the English-language Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The old Halifax Courthouse is a prominent Classical Revival building constructed between 1859-1863, designed by William Thomas and Sons. The building features a classical stone facade made with durable sandstone from Wallace, Cumberland County. Its style features an imposing facade, classical pediment and Tuscan columns.

​Set back far from the sidewalk and grass, the building was expanded on over time. Between the years 1881-1882, a rear addition was built for county courts. In 1908 a west wing was added and in 1930 an east wing was added. In 1969 it was designated as a national historic site and served until 1971 as a provincial courthouse until a new waterfront law courthouse was opened downtown. From then on, it briefly served as a provincial law courthouse, and was restored in 1985.

The dark history of the poor house gives the old Halifax courthouse a grim, unsettling reputation. A grassy park now disguises the poor house that interred those who were mentally unwell and impoverished.

A long forgotten necropolis

The Old Burying Ground, the church, the church parking lot and the other nearby buildings are a long forgotten necropolis. The parking lot of St. Mary’s Basilica contains 3,000 bodies. The Old Burying Ground (also known as St. Paul’s Church Cemetery) was established in 1749 opposite the courthouse and closed in 1844. The remains of 12,000 people were buried there. The Old Burying Ground contained the most preserved mortuary art, an odd fact considering there were very few headstones for the many graves. It was designated a national historic site in 1991.

In 1958 a petition was made to pave over the cemetery to make it a park for local businesses. The public outcry defeated the petition. The other cemeteries in Halifax were not so fortunate. A cemetery existed near the Old Burying Ground for the Jewish community since the 1750s, but no longer exists.

​Paulo O from Halifax, Canada, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Across the street from the Old Burying Ground, the church and the courthouse, stands the old Halifax Memorial Library. A committee met in 1945 to decide on building a war memorial in Halifax. It was agreed that the war memorial would be in the form of a library. Over the years, the library amassed a number of items such as flags, memorials, plaques, a Silver Cross replica, a Book of Remembrance, and murals. There are two Books of Remembrance: the first one contains the names of people who died in WWI, and the second contains the names of people who died in WWII and the Korean War, donated in 1955 from Silver Cross Canada.

A cornerstone stands near the library and bears the inscription, “This building was erected in memory of those who gave their lives in defence of their country 1914-1918 1939-1945. For their faith – for their courage – for their sacrifice, we will remember them.” Grafton Street park rests in front of the main entrance of the library and features a statue of Winston Churchill which was unveiled in 1980. Where today people enjoy tea or a snack on colorful benches and savor the fresh air, was once a burial ground for the inmates of the poor house. Park visitors heading either uptown or downtown, may be unaware they are walking over unmarked graves. This small cemetery was in operation for a hundred years from 1761. 4,500 people were interred there. When the Halifax Memorial library was being built, countless human remains were discovered. The inmates were as unfortunate in death as they were in life.

The Presbyterian Church of St. David stands near the library and overlooks Pizza Corner. Between the years of 1793 and 1844, the church was the burying place for Halifax’s Methodists. The interred bodies were forced to make way for more construction. A wooden church was erected where the bodies were buried. The church burned down and was replaced with a brick and stone building that still stands today.

In 2016 and 2017 more construction forced the 244 dead who were buried there to be buried again in a new spot. The Old Burying Ground is the only cemetery that has national historic site status. The other nearby cemeteries have been destroyed and paved over.

Halifax Memorial Library Hauntings

Halifax Memorial Library
​Nova Scotia Information Service, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

The Halifax Memorial library closed in 2014 and was recently designated a historic site. That is good news for the ghosts who reside in the library, and the bodies buried underneath and near the library in the park. One afternoon, I was using a computer in the library and felt a hand on my shoulder. When I turned to see who it was, no one was there. I hurried to another section of the library.

Today, Halifax Central library stands on another chapter of Halifax’s history, the Bellevue House, built in 1801 for the Duke of Kent when he was the Commander of the Army in Nova Scotia. It was a popular spot for the military and was the social hub for 100 years. Parties were a weekly occurrence with hundreds of guests attending, up to as much as 600 people. One of those socialites was Adele Hugo, daughter of Victor Hugo. Another was Charles Austen, the brother of Jane Austen. Bellevue House was torn down and became a parking lot. That changed again in 2011 when an archaelogical excavation began in preparation for the construction of Halifax Central Library. The excavation unearthed dozens of artifacts from 1800 to 1850.

1850 was a booming time for Halifax. Some of the objects that were found included wine glasses, a pearlware platter, children’s mugs, even cobble remains of the horse stables along Spring Garden Road, a large water cistern and a rock drain system. A privy was also found which contained other objects dating back to 1850 such as a pearlware chamber pot. Those items lay buried until the excavation occured.

The Halifax necropolis of the poor house dead are long forgotten, their unmarked graves paved over for a park or condominium. It is a sad reality in the modern world, but not as sad as the fates of those who suffered and perished.

REFERENCES:

Nova Scotia Archives: https://archives.novascotia.ca/halifax/archives/?ID=45

PDN Newsletter

Neglect, corruption, and the history behind Halifax’s deadliest fire: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/deadly-halifax-fire-poor-house-30-killed-1.3918547

Halifax (N.S.). City Home records
archive.halifax.ca

 

Poor House

 

Thousands of people are buried under downtown Halifax: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/jonathan-fowler-halifax-burial-ground-cemetery-archeology-1.5471209

1882 The Poor Asylum Fire: https://www.hfxfirehistory.ca/fires/the-poor-asylum-fire

Halifax’s Poor Houses of the Past – FAIRVIEW HISTORICAL SOCIETY
Fairview Historical Society Articles Archives Home – Articles – Videos – eBooks & PDFs – Local Authors – Sponsors – Contact Halifax’s Poor Houses of…
fairviewhistoricalsociety.ca

 

Parks Canada – Halifax Court House National Historic Site of Canada
Blessings, Spiderwitch 

Leave a comment

Filed under Paranormal and Witchy Fiction

Tagged as , , , , ,

August 6, 2025 · 9:45 am

The Haunted Halifax Citadel )O(

 

Merry meet all,

Here is my first article for the Paranormal Daily News!! 

 

Haunted Halifax Citadel – Canada’s Spookiest Ghost Tour

halifax citadel
halifax citadel
(Image – Canva)

​Brief history of the Halifax Citadel

Halifax is a charming maritime city in Nova Scotia, Canada, brimming with spooky historical legends. Ghost stories are often laced with tragedy and nowhere is that more true than at the Halifax Citadel, and Halifax itself, where the dead roam amongst the living.

The Halifax Citadel is a national historic site. Four fortifications were constructed on Citadel Hill since the British founded the city in 1749 and are often referred to as Fort George. Only the third fort which was built between 1749 and 1800 was officially named Fort George, after King George III.

While Citadel Hill was never attacked, the Citadel is significant in its defence of the Halifax Harbour and the Royal Navy dockyard.

The British founded Halifax to act as a counterbalance to the French stronghold of Louisburg, which was returned to French control the previous year by the 1748 Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle. Edward Cornwallis, the appointed governor, arrived on June 21, 1749 to settle Halifax. He traveled to Halifax and was followed by 13 transports that carried about two thousand settlers. Halifax was a strategic city during the next decade in the ongoing Anglo-French rivalry in the region. The British had recruited Protestant settlers from Europe and built fortifications to protect them from raids by the French, colonial Acadians and allies from the Wabanaki Confederacy (Mi’kmaq).

The infamous ‘Father Le Loutre’s War’ (1749-1755) began when Edward Cornwallis, the appointed governor, arrived on June 21, 1749 to settle Halifax. He was followed by 13 transports that carried about two thousand settlers.

The current star shaped Halifax Citadel fort was a massive masonry-construction designed to protect against a land or water-based attack from the United States. Completed in 1858, the star shape structure was purposely designed to give many lines of fire from the defenders. A few portions of the hill were built with tunnels, which could be provided with explosives and detonated from the forts. The British forces enhanced Fort George’s armaments by using heavier and more accurate long-range artillery. By the end of the 19th century, the role of the Halifax Citadel changed to a command center for other harbor defenses and to provide barrack accommodations.

During the Second World War, the role of Halifax Citadel was to provide temporary accommodations, signaling and a coordination point for the city’s aircraft defenses during the war. Today, Parks Canada operates the Citadel as the Halifax Citadel National Historic site of Canada. The fort has been restored to its appearance as it was in the Victorian Era.

For many years, a set of military gallows with a flogging post, stood in the centre of the CitadelHill parade grounds.

In 1935, Citadel Hill was designated a National Historic Landmark but showed signs of decay. Some Halifax downtown businesses suggested demolishing the fort and using the space for parking and development.

​Restoration of the Halifax Citadel

halifax citadel
(Image-Canva)

Thankfully, the historic Halifax Citadel was recognized for its worth. The historical significance and the tourism potential led to its preservation and gradual restoration. In 1956, the site had been partially restored and opened for business as a Halifax army museum. It was home for the Nova Scotia Museum and the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic.

Parks Canada fully restored the famous fort to its full grandeur in the 1990s. It was a common practice for the restoration workers to leave dated coins in the mortar or under replaced stone walls. The coins were a marker of what areas had been worked on and when.

Today, the site is still managed by Parks Canada. The Halifax Citadel is one of the most visited National Historic Sites in Atlantic Canada. The grounds of the Citadel are open to the public year round. From the spring to fall, living history programs feature animators portraying the 78th Highland Regiment, stationed in Halifax from 1869 to 1871, the 78th Highlanders Pipe Band, the Third Brigade of the Royal Artillery, and tradespeople. Halifax Citadel sees up to 200,000 visitors and tourists annually.

​The Halifax Citadel Ghost Tour

One significant attraction the Citadel offers is a year-round daily ceremonial firing of the noon gun, a reminder of the fort’s role in the city’s defenses. The best attraction for me and many other people are the ghost tours offered by the staff at Halifax Citadel.

A costumed guide leads you through a 70-minute walk, weaving stories intended to keep you awake all night. Be prepared to be spooked. You meet the guide on the drawbridge at the main gate and are led by candlelight (spooky setting!) through tunnels and prison sites, and hear true tales of many unexplained events in their real locations.

Popular ghost stories

There are about forty documented sightings of ghosts at the Halifax Citadel. Here are some of the popular ghost stories associated with the Ghost Tour.

The Grey Lady: A spirit said to forever wander the grounds, mourning her lost love and bearing the scent of roses. She wanders the floors of the Cavalier building, wearing a 19th-century dress and is still seen to this day. A guard was stationed overlooking the second floor balcony, and saw a woman pass on the veranda beneath him and disappear around the corner. She is believed to be Miss Cassie Alan, and was engaged to a soldier stationed at the Citadel. But on her wedding day, when she waited at the altar on November 14, 1900, he never arrived.

The carriage driver arrived to pick up the groom only to discover that he had shot himself. He believed that was the only way to conceal his past. The driver went to the church to break the sad news to the bride. She became hysterical and found the truth too hard to accept. Her spirit still searches the grounds for him. Officer Edward, the groom who committed suicide, is said to haunt the area near his barracks.

The most vivid occurrence of the Grey Lady being spotted was when an employee had to sit in a certain chair to greet guests. When she arrived, he saw her and thought she was of the living. He rose from the chair to greet her but then she was gone. She was spotted a few more times always wearing the same dress and disappeared before he had the chance to talk to her.

Ghost lighting a pipe: Brunswick Street is across from Citadel Hill and boasts its own ghost story. According to a newspaper titled The Acadian Recorder dated December 16, 1867, a ghost who was an imposing height of about twelve to sixteen feet was spotted walking from Citadel Hill to Brunswick Street. He wore a British Army uniform and paused to lean over a lamp post to light his pipe. A local Halifax police officer chased the giant apparition who vanished into a Brunswick street window.

The Murdered Soldier: A murdered soldier tragically fell down a well, his remains discovered centuries later. In 1782, two young officers were patrolling the grounds when they came upon an unsavory character. The tall figure wore Tom hunting clothes and he was tall and gaunt. One of the officers recognized him as his brother. A while later, his worst fears were confirmed when a letter arrived – his brother had died in a hunting accident the exact same time he saw the spirit.

The Lady of the Ditch: A woman was found dead at the bottom of the ditch. Her remains were never identified. At 4am in the morning, a sentry observed that something had fallen into the ditch and was not moving. Upon closer observation, he realized it was a woman in a tattered grey dress who had fallen tragically to her death from the top of the wall with a slash across her throat. Now she haunts the Citadel and visitors have reported spotting her in the Cavalier Building

The Tale of the Missing One-armed Sergeant: There is a well on the northern side of the inner Citadel, behind a closed locked door in Casemate 18. The unfortunate sergeant went by the name of O’Reilly and his job was to guard the regimental flags in battle. That was a hard job. He was responsible for a young private named Billy and often gave him a hard time, believing it would teach him responsibility. That turned out to not be the case. A fire erupted at three in the morning at the North Barracks. The barracks were constructed from resinous pine lumber. No one noticed when the sergeant vanished but the fire consumed the entire building.

The next morning when the roll call was taken, Billy and O’Reilly were gone. In the winter of 1851, a soldier drew water from the well at Casement 18. To the soldier’s horror, a severed arm was found in the bucket from the well. The body of sergeant O’ Reilly was finally recovered. The water was putrefied. The rest of his body was brought up. He had been shot in the back by Billy, who deserted. To this day, his ghost is seen in the well standing at attention sometimes carrying his missing arm.

citadel guide d72141977eeae515ad5861f5fe61c089 800 Paranormal Daily News
Halifax Citadel Tour Guide – Commons Wikimedia

Visitors and staff have noticed orbs of light passing through walls and doors, shadowy figures that vanish when approached and cold spots that set off motion detectors. The prison cells of the fort are very spooky. People have heard chains dragging across stone floors and whispers in the dark! The grim history of the Halifax Citadel is full of loss and bloodshed, never to be forgotten, where the dead refuse to remain ‘quiet’. It is no wonder the Citadel is so haunted.

The horrors of the First and Second World Wars are over but their tragedies and the battles live on at the Halifax Citadel. The ghost stories will live on in our imaginations and in our hearts. Future articles will delve into ghost stories from other areas of Halifax.

References:

https://halifaxcitadel.ca/services/the-halifax-citadel-ghost-tour.html

https://www.dustykeleher.com/the-halifax-ghost-walk

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citadel_Hill_(Fort_George)

https://dalgazette.com/arts-culture/27613/

Halifax Haunts: Exploring the City’s spookiest places. Nimbus Publishing, 2009. Nova Scotia, Canada.

Blessings, Spiderwitch 

Leave a comment

Filed under Paranormal and Witchy Fiction

Tagged as , , , , , , ,

June 17, 2024 · 5:48 pm

The true value of a Writing Community )O(

Merry meet all,

The Wheel of the Year has spun again. The Summer Solstice is a few days away. My garden is so beautiful and lush. I love the sun and the summer heat. I saved a beautiful arugula stem and flower and pressed it in my Introductory Herbal Course. 

Today’s post is about the wonderful support I have for my novella. I know that I couldn’t have written my novella without them. I owe them everything and I am certainly mentioning them in the acknowledgements. It is so important to have a support system and to be a positive, friendly person with EVERYONE in the publishing world. The publishing world is smaller than you think. Everyone knows everyone. Everyone will remember you if you are pleasant. Everyone – and this also means agents, editors and other more successful authors will remember you if you are totally impatient and toxic to deal with. In other words, they won’t deal with you. You can still be honest but you have to do it the right way. It is NEVER cool to send an editor who rejected you a death threat. You will be excommunicated from the whole publishing world, not just that one editor. That’s because they will talk about you to anyone who will hear. So send the honey, not the vinegar. 

My friends are so awesome. I could not live without them. I could not exist as a writer without them. Alice Walsh and Dave Rimmington are awesome and they live in the same hometown as me. We have all known each other for years. Dave R has interviewed me and supported me. Alice Walsh has helped me edit my writing. My other awesome friends on Facebook and social media are too numerous to mention here, so I will focus on a few. 

Stephanie Ellis helped me shape and rewrite, to refine my entire novella. One great thing about today’s technology is tracking changes. We worked on each chapter and passed the story between us using tracking changes. I love tracking changes now. I have adjusted to tracking changes and now I believe it is the easiest way to edit. Other than red pen on paper. I cannot believe the transformation of my story. I learned how to finally improve my writing and overcome a bad writing habit. This is necessary for a writer to change and grow. 

Fred Rayworth is now helping me with a line edit. Again, I am learning a lot from him. I value all this help and support. I like the expression that it takes a village. It’s true. Even rejection letters can be a good thing. If you do try to keep improving as a writer, then if you are lucky the rejection letters begin to get friendlier, and they invite you to write for them again, take them up on it. They are basically saying: we don’t want this submission but we may take your second story! Few writers take editors up on that opportunity. Editors are human and they may seem like lava snorting demons but at the end of the day, they are human. 

The best advice I can give is be professional, be yourself and be confident. You can’t be shy in this business. You don’t want to be toxic either. Just be yourself and everything falls into place. I have attended many writers book launches and readings long before I had a book published. I attended them to show my support, make friends and get free books!!! They remember you when you show support. They will do the same for you someday. It’s a win win all around. 

I have also lived in Halifax for many years. I know the bookstores and the bookstore staff here at my fave bookshops. I value their friendship. I have visited those fave shops for years now and a certain camaraderie develops between me and the managers. They will sometimes go well out of their way for you. Libraries are also a value to a hopeful writer. I can’t believe how hugely helpful librarians have been to me, whether that has been helping me find books or in printing out sewing patterns. I love books and I love libraries and I value the staffs’ help to me over the years.

I also credit the Writers Federation of Nova Scotia and the hugely helpful horror loving Horror Writers Association. Again, I have been part of them for years. It has taken me a long time to get a book published. I never did it alone. I had all that support not behind me, but beside me. It takes a village! So cultivate those friendships and be good to them and they will be good to you. When your awesome time comes, look at all the friends you will have to celebrate with! I know for myself personally, I plan to have a huge party on the release date here in Halifax- and virtual in October. Better than a sad glass of wine alone. Where’s the fun in that? You tell me. 

Good fences make good neighbours. At least, I think that is how the expression goes. Be nice and be in it for the long haul. Do it for the love! 

Blessings, Spiderwitch 

 

Leave a comment

Filed under Paranormal and Witchy Fiction

Tagged as , , , , , , ,

August 19, 2022 · 10:48 am

Helen Creighton – Canada’s Lady of Folklore

Merry meet all,

As I type here, the rain’s pouring. The sky is heavy and overcast. I haven’t been out to my garden yet. It’s mid-August but the bugs are still harassing me, the weather is still warm but stores are stocking Halloween goods early. I am not ready for the spookiest time of year. That has to do with the goods in my garden growing late in the year due to the heatwave.

Here is a fascinating story about a true paranormal investigator. Read on and enjoy!

Canada’s Lady of Folklore

Helen Creighton

 Helen Creighton was a celebrated folklorist, author, and pioneer researcher. She is  best known for her book Bluenose Ghosts about firsthand accounts of spine-chilling tales. Creighton excelled at collecting local folk ballads, folk tales and ghost stories. She is also known for her skill at collecting local dances, games, cures and proverbs.
            She was born with a caul. A person born with a caul will have a warning before danger. This proved true when Creighton explored the province in search of folk tales. One night she stayed at an inn the night before the Miramichi Folk Festival and had a dream of a child coming towards her. The next day a deer jumped in front of her car on the highway. She would have several of these portentous experiences including her own doppelganger warning her of danger. It made her the perfect person to lend an empathetic ear to those sharing their own experiences.

Because Creighton encountered their stories with a sense of empathy, people trusted her and felt comfortable opening up to her about  their tales, customs and ghost stories. An elderly man once told her, “You’ve got a way with you; you’d bewitch the devil.”

The blurb for Bluenose Ghosts reads: “Haunted houses, headless ghosts, phantom ships, supernatural warnings of death – these are just some of the unexplainable and mysterious phenomena that appear in Bluenose Ghosts. Written in a personable and accessible style by celebrated folklorist Helen Creighton, Bluenose Ghosts is based on the experiences of ordinary people as told to the author over a period of thirty years. These chilling stories come from across the Maritimes – the Highlands of Cape Breton, the woods of New Brunswick, and the harbours around Halifax. First published in 1957, Bluenose Ghosts is a classic of Nova Scotia folklore presented here in a new format and with a foreword from Clary Croft.”

Her career as a folk tales and songs collector spanned forty years. Her celebrated book Bluenose Ghosts focuses on true ghost stories, superstition, witchcraft and buried treasure. She recorded first-hand accounts from the people she interviewed and did her utmost best to maintain their authenticity. She was a collector of tales, not an analyzer, and she received an unfair amount of criticism for that. Creighton collected the folk tales with no intention of analyzing them. That made her stand out from her colleagues and is what was so unique about her.

She took painstaking care to record the folk songs that she collected. She had limited means to work with as she transcribed her work. Over time, Creighton met people who would assist her in accurately transcribing and preserving her work.

It happened by chance that Creighton began collecting local ghost stories. She originally set out to gather folk tales and songs. Bluenose Ghosts is chilling because the scary accounts are from real, everyday people. That is what gives her book so much appeal. The scary experiences are shared by people who have no reason to lie and know how to tell a tale. I dare you to read it at night with the lights on.

Creighton was often found carrying a meter long melodeon in a wheelbarrow when she visited people. She used a tape recorder when it was invented ten years later.  Creighton worked tirelessly to collect four thousand folk songs and tales of eerie spectral encounters. It demonstrates her immense respect for what ordinary men and women had to say. She was determined to preserve their tales to keep them from disappearing in the mists of history.

Creighton may have recorded thousands of folk tales, ghost stories and songs. Yet it was the voices of those she interviewed that shone in the books and tapes. She never got in their way or tampered with their words. She was given the nickname the Ghost Lady by those she interviewed.

Here is an unsettling excerpt from the book: “An East Chester woman said, “My uncle was a contractor, and when I was fifteen, he and I were going home to Mahone Bay from Western Shore. When we were in the woods I heard a horse and it seemed to be so close that I could almost feel its breath. I looked around and what I saw was a horse all right, but there was a man sitting on it with no head. My uncle didn’t see it, and I was too scared to speak until we got home and then all he said was, ‘That’s nothing. Lots of people have seen that horse and rider.’ Since then I have asked many people but nobody seems to know who the rider is supposed to be.”

A headless ghost and his horse, top that. That is one of many chilling tales from regular people simply sharing their stories. This is why I love the book and why it spooks me.

Here’s a second excerpt about a sea captain, the devil and a set of playing cards:

“They were his own cards anyway, so he put them in his sea chest and locked them up. “That night he was awakened from his sleep and was surprised to see a man sitting on his sea chest. He was dealing cards, and he dealt four hands. Then the stranger saw that the captain was awake and asked him to sit in and have a game with him. Before he could make up his mind he looked at the man’s feet and saw the cloven hoof. He screamed and the stranger disappeared, and that was why he would have nothing more to do with playing cards.””

The excerpts above demonstrate how spine tingling the book is. No other book compares to Bluenose Ghosts. I highly recommend the book to anyone who craves a salty maritime ghost story.

Creighton left Canadians with a trove of rich folklore. She ‘still hasn’t been matched”. Her style and approach were considered unconventional. “Horace Beck wrote (that), “Perhaps your most important achievement is that you have done something no one else has been able to do in North America. You have brought folklore to national and public attention and given it a status in Canada it has never achieved in the United States. This you have done most singlehandedly and for this all folklorists must be forever grateful.””

Helen Creighton left a legacy to those who are passionate about ghost stories and the paranormal. She was a true pioneer. When Helen Creighton began her career, she was untrained and inexperienced but that didn’t stop her.

“Over the course of her career, Creighton collected over 60,000 materials including 4,000 songs and ballads. She authored thirteen books of traditional songs, ballads and stories, of which her Bluenose Ghosts is the most widely known. She also wrote an autobiography, and a number of articles. She received many awards, including Distinguished Folklorist of 1981 (Canada); six honorary doctorates; Fellow of the American Folklore Society, Honorary Life President of the Canadian Authors’ Association; and The Order of Canada. Helen was awarded Lifetime Achievement Award in 2017 by Folk Alliance International. In 2018, Parks Canada designated Helen Creighton a nationally significant person who helped define Canada’s history.” The collection of her life’s work now resides at the Nova Scotia Public Archives.

 

Blessings, Lady Spiderwitch

Leave a comment

Filed under Paranormal and Witchy Fiction

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

October 31, 2021 · 12:11 pm

Abandoned ghost town spooks skeptic

Merry meet all,

Here’s a spooky ghost story for Samhain!!! Enjoy. 

Graveyard in the woods: Abandoned Nova Scotia logging village so spooky skeptic won’t visit alone

>

The scorched, leafless Inspiration tree is one of the milestones hikers can use to measure their progress when hiking to Roxbury, an abandoned logging village in Annapolis County.
The scorched, leafless Inspiration tree is one of the milestones hikers can use to measure their progress when hiking to Roxbury, an abandoned logging village in Annapolis County. – Contributed

STORY CONTINUES BELOW THESE SALTWIRE VIDEOS

Leafless trees close in and choke out the midday sun as David Whitman and his daughter, Lori, tread further into the dense forest.

The two are exploring the remains of Roxbury, an abandoned Annapolis County logging and farming village described as “lost in the woods” by locals.

“At first glance, there is not much to see,” says Whitman.

Whitman, a retired schoolteacher, is now referred to as the ‘Mayor of Roxbury’ after writing his first self-published book about the area called ‘Lost in The Woods: The Lure and History of Roxbury,’ which came out in 2005.

David and his wife Paulette Whitman are both writers that aim to preserve local Nova Scotian history. - Contributed
David and his wife Paulette Whitman are both writers that aim to preserve local Nova Scotian history. – Contributed

His interest sparked in the once-thriving settlement destroyed by a forest fire and abandoned in 1904, in the late 1950s and early 1960s. It was here where he spent hours fishing at a nearby river with friends.

Related:

“I was always intrigued by Roxbury as a kid. The village is about four miles off the main road, in the middle of nowhere. And when I began teaching school in Halifax, I started to research the area where very little is known.”

Over the years, he went digging for facts, church and school records, deeds, newspaper reports, and interviewed descendants of those that had once called the area “home.”

Whitman discovered a mysterious and tragic past.

The dirt trail that leads to the Roxbury settlement deep in the woods. - Contributed
The dirt trail that leads to the Roxbury settlement deep in the woods. – Contributed

Originally, he says, Roxbury was known as Durland’s Settlement, named after Thomas Durland, the first English Loyalist settler in the early 1800s. His brother Charles followed with his family, and by 1865, there were 15 families in the settlement, with a population around 60.

But the settlement stretches further back. The Mi’kmaq were the first inhabitants, followed by French Acadians fleeing from British soldiers after refusing to pledge British allegiance – known as the Expulsion from 1755 to 1764.

“About 60 French Acadian exiles took to the river and hid on South Mountain,” Whitman says.

“The Mi’kmaq became their allies, but many Acadians did not survive the freezing winter.”

Remains of stone walls from the Loyalist days. - Contributed
Remains of stone walls from the Loyalist days. – Contributed

Acadian gold?

Rumours persist, says Whitman, that the Acadians, while fleeing, left stashes of gold under Mile Rock on Roxbury Road.

“There have been some treasure hunters over the years, but nothing retrieved or at least made public.”

While piecing his second book together on the area, Whitman says he interviewed many who reported “strange voices” while alone on Roxbury Road.

“Legend has it some of the French Acadians were planning to come back and get this gold, so I think it plays on the imagination which can run wild out there when no one is around,” he dismisses with a nervous laugh.

When the Loyalists arrived (1775 to 1783), they built permanent structures over the Acadian nomadic-style homes using rocks from the mountain.

Shreds of lumber remain from the former logging and farming village. - Contributed
Shreds of lumber remain from the former logging and farming village. – Contributed

“By 1904, most of the residents had moved out with the lumber industry depleted and the serious forest fire.”

Whitman explains to produce blueberries, they burned the land, but a fire got out of control and spread over hundreds of acres, torching Roxbury.

Today, the scorched, leafless Inspiration tree echoes this history.

“The tree is aptly named Inspiration because if you make it that far, you might as well keep going,” says Whitman.

There is an 18.7-kilometre in-and-back trail described as “difficult” on All Trails, which features a lake and cuts through the settlement.

Roxbury lay dormant for several years, attended only by nature. Then, in the 1920s, families set up homesteads, including Whitman’s father.

“Roxbury had a school, church, post office, sawmill and grist mill. The last family moved out in 1927,” notes Whitman.

Andrew Rosengren and the Thygesen family were the last homesteaders.

“Then in 1948 through to the late 1950s, lumbering activities by J. H. Hicks and Sons and Max Napthal interrupted the settlement’s slumber. And in the 2000s, forestry work from Bowater Mersey and Lafarge Canada Inc.”

Lost in The Woods: The Lure and History of Roxbury, by David Whitman, published in 2005. - Contributed
Lost in The Woods: The Lure and History of Roxbury, by David Whitman, published in 2005. – Contributed

Haunted woods

So, what’s left there now? Stone foundations, deep round wells, shreds of lumber.

“But people go there a lot to hike,” says Whitman.

Yet Whitman says he will “never walk there alone.”

The supernatural skeptic that claims, “there is a scientific explanation for everything” admits he has heard “through the trees,” a sound the resembles the “wailing of a man.”

Other interviewees of Whitman reported “strange noises” or “figures.”

It is not a place for the faint of heart, he says.

Roxbury: A return to a ghost town, by David Whitman, published in 2015, with a foreword by John DeMont. - Contributed
Roxbury: A return to a ghost town, by David Whitman, published in 2015, with a foreword by John DeMont. – Contributed

“I have not been back there for a while. Not by myself, especially to the graveyards. There was always something about them. There is one graveyard where a man lost his wife in childbirth, and he would visit and cry on their graves.”

In one cemetery, a headstone peeks through the vegetation with just one bold word, “Baby.”

“In my second book, ‘Roxbury: A return to a ghost town,’ I interviewed people that say they could feel or even see someone watching them. It gave them an intense feeling that they should not be there,” he adds.

The book, published in 2015 with a foreword by John DeMont, includes photographs by witnesses, capturing “blurred images of a young girl in a white dress” floating through the cemetery and disappearing into the trees.

“This place can stir the imagination, especially in the graveyards that are in the middle of the woods,” Whitman says.

“People that do not know the history or have not read the books go back there and treat it just as a hike or a tour, but those that know the area are reluctant to go by themselves.”

Dormant wooden cottages in the area – designated by the province as a Provincial Park Reserve – have left a ghostly imprint on many people, including former students of Whitman, who he says will “never talk about what they heard or saw” because it was so frightening.

Whitman is part of Friends of Roxbury that gathered funding for interpretative signage to preserve the lumber settlement’s history. As a result, he no longer needs to give tours in a place he describes as “isolated and creepy.”

Credit given to https://www.saltwire.com/atlantic-canada/communities/graveyard-in-the-woods-abandoned-nova-scotia-logging-village-so-spooky-skeptic-wont-visit-alone-100631334/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Facebook&fbclid=IwAR1Ihr9t5VZUmMwVHfwMDRr0cP4kDo-62eGGc6RiFohuTYRrY_eyUn6UkYI#Echobox=1635594565

Wow. This is a great ghost story. This is partly why I love living in Nova Scotia. For every wave that washes in, there’s a ghost story!!

Leave a comment

Filed under Paranormal and Witchy Fiction

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

March 25, 2015 · 12:37 am

Paranormal Experiences

door study

The Attic door in our former Victorian home

Merry Meet All, I ate greasy fries and watched a few paranormal videos tonight. I just joined a Facebook group Haunts from the Cape. They mean haunts from my favourite place in the world, Cape Breton, next to Halifax as my favorite place. I clicked on a video link about the Bell Witch. Then I stumbled onto another cool video. I enjoyed the video but I was never scared by the video. How much of it was true and how much was fake? That is the question. 

But I can tell you now about my true experiences. I want to say that 1) I wish these occurrences weren’t true. I get scared too. I get stressed too. Oh yes. I used to live in a Victorian house with my Mother as I was growing up. The house was haunted. I want to share the experiences we- yes, we all had in the house. I allow you to decide for yourselves what happened but I can say it is true. I am so glad to have moved out of the house due to the ghostly activity that is, until I moved in here. I have a cat now. Maybe the spooks will scram. Ha ha

We used to have a back porch. I used to try to open the door only to feel something resist on the other side. I waited and it, whatever it was, would let go. Then I would open the door.  I saw lights go upward, not down, but up the fireplace mantel.  My brother and sister used to feel like we were being chased by something invisible as we raced up the basement stairs. Interestingly enough, I found myself including that in the paranormal novel I wrote. It just felt natural to include it. Then we painted the basement and it ceased. I also saw the number 6 written on the basement walls when we moved in.  My brother Jesse was renovating the house and he says he felt watched all day. We did major renovations to the house. 

One night after an evening of partying and bawdy revelry at our favorite bar, my friends and I trudged home and crashed. We all slept in the living room. My friend reported seeing little lights  falling as he fell asleep in the chair.  The attic door in the attic- well, that should be in a Hollywood horror movie. The room was meant for the servants (I think I was my Mom’s main servant but that is another story.) The door was hard to open and close by a mortal hand but it opened and closed on its own. I mean, you had to use your strength to open or close this door. The small attic room was too small for me to stand upright in. In the summer, it was sweltering hot and in the winter, it was Bone Chilling Cold. I hated it in there. I used to do everything in my power to avoid going up in the attic. I was too scared. I hardly ever spent the night up there in all the time I lived in that house. No way 

My clairvoyant friends used to come over to and tell me about the ghosts they saw in my house. One was of a cat and the other of a rocking chair and one friend saw an old lady who wore a pink cardigan with grey hair in a bun.  My Mom claims but she now denies that once time the bathtub- claw-footed, poured water on its own. I remember just after we moved in, the long nights when I used to lie perfectly still in my bed and every hair on my body upright and I would listen to noises when I knew damn well every one was in bed. I heard knocks, whispers. I used to open the basement door at night and something would hush. The basement would look so dark- a black bottomless hole. Trust me, it was freaky.

We found blue glass in the garden while we lived there which probably ended up in our yard due to the Halifax Explosion.  I lived in Edmonton years before I moved to Halifax with my family. I remember feeling something behind me as I lay in my bed the night my aunt Jeannie passed. Was it her spirit saying goodbye? I will never know. I remember when my Mother received a phone call that my father (thank the Goddess) had passed away. He was an abusive alcoholic. The caller was millions of miles away but I knew what the call was about and what the caller was telling my Mother without knowing how I could have known. It freaks even me out too. 

Remember that I live in a city known for its ghostly history. So this is nothing new here. If you want to know more, you can read the previous posts on this blog and on my main blog Broomsticks & Cauldrons. I discuss Halifax’s spooky history in more detail.  I now live in an old house that is around 80 years old. I don’t know if this place is haunted or not. But I have seen a ghost cat in my apartment and not too long ago I saw a dark shadow. OK a ghost cat I can take but that shadow was too much for me. It was dark and practically walked through a wall. If my chair was not so solid, I would have fallen through the chair. I cleansed and smudged my home.  I am not the type of person who would risk humiliating herself on a blog.So everything I have written here is true but I respect my readers. You can decide for yourselves. I will talk more about how to psychically protect yourself in future posts. So don’t be scared and please keep reading!!   Blessed be, Lady Spiderwitch )O(

Leave a comment

Filed under Paranormal and Witchy Fiction

Tagged as , , , ,