Haunted Vancouver

Haven`t posted in a while, work`s been nuts.  40 hour work week is a thing of fairytale sometimes.

You’re not really a city until you have a few famous hauntings.  Barring the Wicca stuff and Black Masses, Vancouver has it fair share of  spooky happenings and occultish occurances.

Trolley Man – Old Spaghetti Factory – Gastown
Yes even our ghosts like to live trendy.  But Gastown is a likely candidate for hauntings given its checkered history and sordid past.  One famous haunting is that of the Old Spaghetti Factory on Water Street, specifically the trolley car that sits in the middle of the restaurant where people have seen a shadowy man dressed in antique clothing.  Apparently this ghost enjoys calling out your name when you’re alone but usually only reveals himself to long-standing employees.  A picture was taken of the trolley in the 19070s, and upon closer look an apparition can bee seen on the steps of the car, that picture hangs in the restaurant today.

Headless Miner – Water Street – Gastown
Sightings of a headless Chinese miner wandering down Water Street carrying a lantern have been reported for decades in Gastown.  As the legend goes, the poor unfortunate was walking along the rail line late one night and tripped, his leg was caught and his head was severed by a passing train.

Blood Alley Brawlers – Blood Alley – Gastown
The infamous Blood Alley, where Salt diners currently unwind, used to be where bad gambling debts and drunken stabbings took place in Gastown’s heyday.  There have been reports that the ghosts of men who met their untimely demise there still show up now and again to relive their final acts of desperation and death.

The Architect – Dominion Building – Gastown
Look at the building, it HAS to be haunted.  Completed in 1909 it was once the tallest building in the British Empire.  The architect who designed it, for reasons unknown, threw himself down its stairs at its grand opening and his ghost haunts the place still.

The Red Lady – Hotel Vancouver – Vancouver
Workers of the hotel have reported that a lady in elegant red clothing can be seen wandering the halls of the hotel late at night.  Rarely, the elevator makes an unscheduled stop on the 14th floor, and when the doors open reveal the Red Lady floating in the hallway.

The Hitchhiker – UBC – Vancouver
As the legend goes, a woman got out of her boyfriend’s car after having an argument and decided to hitchhike a ride home in the rain.  Unfortunately, she was run over by a car.  Today she can be seen walking the road from UBC on rainy nights, very vividly in fact.  When driver’s stop to ask her if she needs a ride, she’ll refuse if the driver already has a passenger.  If he/she is alone, she gets in the back seat.  When asked where she wants to go, she disappears.

Well, given the frequency of phantoms is Gastown, I don’t think I’ll be headed to the Irish Heather this friday.  Happy Haloween everyone!