Gather round, children, and listen to this tale of woe. Calgary is home to many foul ghosts and ghouls, perhaps some of them demonic. But without hitting the streets and checking them out for yourself, you’ll never know if there’s any truth to these hallowed tales.
This Halloween season, immerse yourself in some of the bone-chilling stories of Calgary’s most haunted places and locations. Just don’t say we didn’t warn you about what you might find lurking there.
The Deane House is known as one of Calgary’s most popular wedding venues, but it’s also concealing a hair-raising secret. The house was originally built for the superintendent of Fort Calgary, but became a boarding house sometime in the 1930s.
In 1933, a 14-year-old boy took his own life in the house’s attic after being bullied at school. Some twenty years later, Irma Umperville was murdered by her husband, Roderick, in one of the house’s apartments. Roderick stabbed and strangled his wife in front of their two children before killing himself.
The ghost of the boy is rumoured to haunt the attic of Deane House, and visitors have reported that the attic door opens abruptly and hits them in the face while ghost hunting. Staff and guests also appear to have plenty of unexplained mysteries, including disembodied laughter floating from the foyer and an ominous red stain on the floor of an upstairs closet that changes shape and size. Despite staff members locking the closet, it always seems to come unlocked.
Where: 806 9th Ave. SE
The former sandstone home of Senator James Alexander Lougheed is one of Calgary’s best-known buildings. It was built in 1891 and was by far the grandest mansion in Calgary when it was completed. Lougheed would go on to become one of Calgary’s most prominent and powerful individuals, with a familial legacy that includes his grandson, Peter Lougheed, the 10th Premier of Alberta.
The high Victorian home is also said to hide a pair of ghosts in its twin towers. Lady Isabella Lougheed, the late owner’s wife, has appeared in period clothing to greet select visitors. She has been rumoured to be seen gazing longingly out a front window. Witnesses also claim to have seen the couple and various other family members’ ghostly apparitions dancing in the ballroom of the house. If you peek into the windows of the house after hours, you might catch wisps of the undead waltzing in and out of view.
Where: 707 13th Ave. SW
One of Calgary’s best fine dining restaurants is also home to a ghost named Charlie, who has a tendency to move silverware and furniture around the space at night. Paranormal investigators have searched the restaurant and documented reports of its lights turning on, despite no one being inside.
Sam’s ghost is rumoured to be a former cook who worked in the restaurant at the turn of the 20th century. It’s said that he succumbed to an untimely death while on a trip home to China during one of his vacations from work.
Charlie still lingers in the restaurant, contributing to service and playing games on unsuspecting line cooks whenever he gets the chance.
Where: 15979 Bow Bottom Trl. SE
You might find yourself dining with some unexpected guests at Rouge in Inglewood. The former A. E Cross hose is renowned for moving chairs, mysteriously falling pots and slamming doors.
Over time, the stories have gotten more intense. Unexplained laughter trailing from the basement and ghostly floating apparitions travelling up and down the stairs are just some of the rumours about the hauntings in Rouge. It’s said they come from the disgruntled ghosts of the Cross family, who formerly occupied the house.
People who dine at Rouge often leave with an ominous feeling that they were watched during the meal by an invisible pair of eyes lurking around the restaurant’s narrow corners.
Where: 1240 8th Ave. SE
The Hose & Hound is one of Inglewood’s busiest pubs. But in its former life, it was a fire station where Chief Cappy Smart lived with his pet monkey, Barney.
Barney enjoyed a comfortable life in the fire hall until one day, he attacked a child and had to be put down. Now, the ghost of Barney is said to haunt the Hose & Hound. His ghostly spirit swings from the walls, and he is often blamed for bottles falling off shelves and broken dishes. Once, a staff member caught him playing with the billiard balls at the pub’s pool table.
Barney seems like a playful ghost, one who prefers messing with the placement of cans and bottles rather than scaring humans. Just be sure not to upset him.
Where: 1030 9th Ave. SE
On the right nights, you can hear the voice of a young boy waft up from under the 12th Street Bridge near Inglewood. That voice is said to belong to Donnie Goss, a six-year-old boy who was murdered under the bridge on July 5, 1946.
Donnie and some neighbourhood children were playing at the park on the southeast end of Saint George’s Island when they were approached by Donald Sherman Staley, a serial killer who had previously stabbed and killed an eleven-year-old boy at Stanley Park in British Columbia.
Staley lured Donnie away from his friends before assaulting and killing him. Now, Donnie’s ghost can be heard calling for help as foot pedestrians travel across the bridge. A young boy who visited the Calgary Zoo also couldn’t stop talking about a figure named Donnie, who asked him to come under the bridge to play. Emergency services receive several calls to the bridge each year, despite never having found the boy.
Where: 12th St. SE
There’s bound to be more secrets in store at these haunted locations, but only you can uncover them. Let us know what you find.
Related Posts:
There’s an abandoned school in the Alberta prairies that might be haunted
Calgary’s Screamfest has seven new haunted houses and they’re terrifying
