In 2019, the Haunted Montreal Blog identified 40 haunted pubs, watering holes and other drinking establishments dotting the city. In the bar industry, places often fold and new businesses are born, including in haunted buildings. One common question is this: do the ghosts remain when a new owner takes over the drinking venue? In 2024, the haunted drinking landscape has changed somewhat in Montreal. Some places have gone bankrupt and been reopened under new brands. Others were demolished and replaced with condos - and new haunted drinking establishments have also been discovered!
Welcome to the one hundred and fifteenth installment of the Haunted Montreal Blog!
With over 600 documented ghost stories, Montreal is easily the most haunted city in Canada, if not all of North America. Haunted Montreal dedicates itself to researching these paranormal tales, and the Haunted Montreal Blog unveils a newly researched Montreal ghost story on the 13th of every month!
This service is free and you can sign up to our mailing list (top, right-hand corner for desktops and at the bottom for mobile devices) if you wish to receive it every month on the 13th! The blog is published in both English and French!
We are pleased to announce that our season of public outdoor ghost tours will be resuming in early April! Tickets are already on sale!
In the meantime, Haunted Montreal is running our Haunted Pub Crawl every Sunday at 3 pm in English. For tours in French, these happen on the last Sunday of every month at 2 pm.
To learn more, see the schedule at the bottom of our home page and see more details in the Company News section below!
Private tours for all of our experiences (including outdoor tours) can be booked at any time based on the availability of our actors. Clients can request any date, time, language and operating tour. These tours start at $235 for small groups of up to 7 people.
Email info@hauntedmontreal.com to book a private tour!
Lastly, we have an online store for those interested in Haunted Montreal merchandise. More details are below in our Company News section!
This month we provide an update on Montreal’s famous Red Roof Church, or St. John the Evangelist, which could be permanently shuttered. This raises questions about how its resident ghost might react.
Haunted Research
The Red Roof Church, or St. John the Evangelist, enjoys a prime location in the heart of the Quartier des Spectacles – and a reputation of being haunted by its founder, Reverend Edmund Wood.
Reverend Wood is a legend in the Montreal Anglican community.
Not only did he go from offering masses within a crumbling cemetery to establishing a historic church, but he was also known to have banished an offensive gargoyle that was terrorizing the city in the 1890s.
The Reverend died in 1909 and since then his ghost has been known as a friendly spirit who leaves warm feelings among those who encounter him. People have reported being hugged and comforted by an invisible force in his church.
Sadly, the Red Roof Church, which the Reverend conceived and founded, is now threatened with permanent closure. In 2023 church officials debated putting the historic church up for sale after disclosing urgent repair work that the congregation can ill afford.
There are now concerns that if the church is shuttered, the ghost of Edmund Wood might feel lonely and start haunting other locations in the Quartier des Spectacles.
It is worth noting that the Red Roof Church has a history of supporting artists and renting its space out for everything from classical music symphonies and a homeless mission to sublime candlelight concerts to and even horror film festivals.
One classical musician, who has played at both the Red Roof Church and the neighbouring Opera House, contacted Haunted Montreal to report her concerns about the situation.
She wrote: “I wish to remain anonymous, but I wanted to tell you that I play an instrument in a prominent orchestra in Montreal. I have played at both the Red Roof Church and the Opéra de Montréal, along with many other famous venues. The Red Roof Church has great acoustics, but there is sometimes the risk of an interruption during a performance.”
The musician added: “Once, when I was playing in a symphony at the Red Roof Church, I started to feel very warm. It was a winter concert, which was unusual. Here I was sweating when the old church is usually a bit chilly at this time of year. I was actually starting to boil as I played my instrument in the orchestra.”
She then reported what happened next: “Suddenly, as I was playing a very intense part of the symphony, I felt a warm hand grab my shoulder, as if to reassure me. However, I was jolted. Because of this weird interruption, I screwed up the next few bars of the music. I was very embarrassed to have compromised the symphony.”
The musician had heard of Reverend Wood’s ghost and chalked her paranormal experience down to this. She then added: “If they shut down the Red Roof Church, what is the Reverend’s ghost going to do? In both life and death he was very animated and sociable. I don’t think his spirit will tolerate being in an empty church for very long.”
One agent who works in programming for the Quartier des Spectacles is aware of the issue. Wishing to remain anonymous, he told Haunted Montreal:
“Reverend Wood’s ghost is on our radar. While we know he is friendly and welcoming of people in the church he built, we cannot predict what he might do if the church is closed.”
He concluded: “The last thing we want are disturbances in other nearby artistic venues such as the Place des Arts and Opera House. We must hope that they find a way to keep the Red Roof Church open long into the future.”
Company News
We are pleased to announce that our season of public outdoor ghost tours will be resuming in early April! Tickets are already on sale!
Before we launch our season, we are offering the Irish Famine in Montreal Walking Tour with Augmented Reality (in English) at 1 pm on Saturday, March 15!
Learn about Black ’47, the year 75,000 Irish refugees fleeing the Famine landed on Montreal’s wharves. The tour visits key sites associated with this tragedy, such as the locations of fever sheds, burial grounds and hospitals, providing in-depth history about the Irish Famine’s impact on Montreal in 1847.
Led by Donovan King, the Irish Famine in Montreal Walking Tour also features Augmented Reality to resurrect Saint Ann’s Church, the heart of the Irish Famine community in Griffintown!
In the meantime, Haunted Montreal is running our Haunted Pub Crawl every Sunday at 3 pm in English. For tours in French, these happen on the last Sunday of every month at 2 pm.
To learn more, see the schedule at the bottom of our home page!
Private tours for any of our experiences (including outdoor tours) can be booked at any time based on the availability of our actors.
Clients can request any date, time, language and operating tour. These tours are based on the availability of our actors and start at $235 for small groups of up to 7 people.
Email info@hauntedmontreal.com to book a private tour!
You can also bring the Haunted Montreal experience to your office party, house, school or event by booking one of our Travelling Ghost Storytellers today.
Hear some of the spookiest tales from our tours and our blog told by a professional actor and storyteller. You provide the venue, we provide the stories and storyteller. Find out more and then contact info@hauntedmontreal.com
Our team also releases videos every second Saturday, in both languages, of ghost stories from the Haunted Montreal Blog. Hosted by Holly Rhiannon (in English) and Dr. Mab (in French), this initiative is sure to please ghost story fans!
Please like, subscribe and hit the bell!
In other news, if you want to send someone a haunted experience as a gift, you certainly can!
We are offering Haunted Montreal Gift Certificates through our website and redeemable via Eventbrite for any of our in-person or virtual events (no expiration date).
Finally, we have an online store for those interested in Haunted Montreal merchandise.
We are selling t-shirts, magnets, sweatshirts (for those haunted fall and winter nights) and mugs with both the Haunted Montreal logo and our tour imagery.
Purchases can be ordered through our online store: shop.hauntedmontreal.com
Haunted Montreal has temporarily altered its blog experience due to a commitment on a big writing project!
We are also pleased to unveil it this month! The book is titled Haunted McGill, and is authored by yours truly, Donovan King!
Our publisher is The Stygian Society. They are crowdfunding Haunted McGill through The Stygian Society’s Scriptorium. The first 25 backers will receive an exclusive 1st edition copy, beautiful art prints, and other spooky treasures. Help them reach their goal by July and secure your piece of Montreal’s haunted history!
Until publication, new stories at the Haunted Montreal Blog will be offered every two months, whereas every other month will feature an update to an old story.
As always, these stories and updates will be released on the 13th of every month!
Haunted Montreal would like to thank all our clients who attended a ghost walk, haunted pub crawl, paranormal investigation or virtual event!
If you enjoyed the experience, we encourage you to write a review on our Tripadvisor page and/or on Google Reviews – something that really helps Haunted Montreal to market its tours.
Lastly, if you would like to receive the Haunted Montreal Blog on the 13th of every month, please sign up to our mailing list.
Coming Up On April 13: The Ghostly Soldiers of Pointe à Quenet
There is a little-known old ghost story set in Beaurepaire Village, Beaconsfield, called “The Ghostly Soldiers of Pointe à Quenet”. Recorded by famous folklorist E.-Z. Massicotte, the tale involves the oldest house on the peninsula. Connected to a colonial fort from the New France Era, people in the home have spotted ghostly soldiers in the cellar and sometimes marching about the property in formation. This mysterious ghost story has been passed from generation to generation in the ancient home known today as the Maison Beaurepaire. There is wild speculation about who these ghostly soldiers are, from the ranks of the French and British Armies to Irish Fenian rebels.
Author:
Donovan King is a postcolonial historian, teacher, tour guide and professional actor. As the founder of Haunted Montreal, he combines his skills to create the best possible Montreal ghost stories, in both writing and theatrical performance. King holds a DEC (Professional Theatre Acting, John Abbott College), BFA (Drama-in-Education, Concordia), B.Ed (History and English Teaching, McGill), MFA (Theatre Studies, University of Calgary) and ACS (Montreal Tourist Guide, Institut de tourisme et d’hôtellerie du Québec). He is also a certified Montreal Destination Specialist.
Translator (into French):
Claude Chevalot holds a master’s degree in applied linguistics from McGill University. She is a writer, editor and translator. For more than 15 years, she has devoted herself almost exclusively to literary translation and to the translation of texts on current and contemporary art.
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