Canada is a new, young country, built on land despoiled from its native inhabitants – this year, the country as we know it will be 158 years old.
If we always think of the old haunted castles of Europe – in Transylvania among the vampires, in France where the heads of aristocrats were cut off, in England where queens competed for the crown – Canada is also a country rich in strange, violent and tragic history.
What’s more, the city of Montreal is perfect for scary stories and strange legends, because it was created by a melting pot of immigration and industrialization at a thousand miles an hour. Montreal’s “underground city”, desperately sought after by tourists from all over the world, began with a dynamited hole in the middle of the business district whose bottom you couldn’t see – now it’s Place Ville-Marie.
For those who want to explore the spooky side of Montreal, one company offers a one-stop-shop for all things haunted, spooky and historically tragic in the city – and it’s called Haunted Montreal.
Haunted Montreal – ghost stories and storytelling tours
Tours, professionally-told ghost walks and paranormal investigations are available – in groups, privately or for a spooooooky party. We’ve selected our favorites;
Haunted Old Montreal” tour
The website refers to it as “the city’s most haunted historic district”, and we believe it, because even in summer when Montreal burns under the sun, we’ve felt a breeze a little too cool in the streets of Old Montreal, between the tall hewn stone buildings that cast long shadows.
The tour can be taken with a group or privately, with a professional storyteller.
Haunted pub crawl
For those who like to be scared but need a little liquid courage to talk about ghosts, or for those who want to visit Montreal a little differently…
Haunted Griffintown” tour
Griffintown is an interesting neighborhood-new but very old, residential but in the juice of a more or less violent industrial history.
In the 19th century, Griffintown was a neighborhood largely inhabited by Irish immigrants, who worked on the Victoria Bridge, the Lachine Canal, the railroads and the Port of Montreal.
By the 1940s, the neighborhood’s inhabitants had diversified; in addition to the Irish, it was populated by Jews, Italians, Ukrainians and French-speaking communities.
The neighborhood became overcrowded, increasingly ramshackle and, after a while, rather unsanitary. Griffintown became a semi-industrial zone in the 1960s. After the Second World War, the neighborhood was depopulated, and it was only some fifteen years ago that the City of Montreal transformed it into a residential district.
The visit promises an encounter with its most famous ghost, Marie-sans-tête…
Paranormal investigation in Colonial Old Montreal
You can return to Old Montreal, but with a professional ghost hunter to communicate (maybe?) and see the local ghosts – the ones you wouldn’t have seen if you’d visited with your nose in our Google Maps app.
You can take a group or private tour.
Practical info
Where? All over Montreal
When? random, depending on the tour
How? you buy tickets on the website above, and prices start at $29.
Enjoy your visit…