A series of disturbing recent events, such as an attempted animal sacrifice in a cemetery and body dumping in a local nature park has triggered Haunted Montreal to investigate Sault-au-Récollet. Located on the eastern edge of the borough of Ahuntsic-Cartierville, Sault-au-Récollet is one of Montreal’s many haunted neighborhoods. Situated on the Back River (La Rivière des Prairies in French), it is one of the city’s oldest colonial settlements.
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!
McGill University’s Arts Building is an iconic symbol of the institution. Constructed in 1843, as the oldest structure standing on campus, it is also reputed to be haunted. This may be due to its deranged history as the first edifice where medical students performed experimental autopsies on unfortunate corpses, many of them stolen from local cemeteries. Today, phantom footsteps echo throughout the old building and some students have reported spotting what could be the ghost of an old Anatomy professor.
Looking for a Halloween event in Montreal in 2024? Haunted Montreal offers ghost walks, paranormal investigations, haunted pub crawls, and more!
This month we provide an update on Montreal’s most haunted street corner – William and Murray Streets in Griffintown! With a radical revamp of the neighborhood unfolding, Haunted Montreal demanded that the haunted corner be preserved and commemorated. The École de technologie supérieure (ETS) has been busy buying up real estate in Griffintown to expand its campus. One controversial purchase was the land on the south-east corner of William and Murray Streets – also known as the “Mary Gallagher Corner”. Indeed, her headless ghost returns to this spot every seven years on the anniversary of her death.
Plans are afoot to build a whole new neighbourhood in the Bridge-Bonaventure sector of Point Saint Charles, just south of the Lachine Canal at Griffintown. Glossy designs depict new high-rise condominiums, trendy spaces for commerce and arts - and even an “urban beach” in the old Wellington Basin! However, this utopian vision is partially located on the site that hosted Montreal’s first Irish Famine Cemetery in 1847.
In 2016, workers were doing construction on Peel and Sherbrooke Streets as part of the Promenade Fleuve-Montagne tourist itinerary. Rumour has it that an earth-digger allegedly cut the skeletal remains of a Mohawk chief in half, which put an immediate stop to the work. Realizing that they had discovered more of the Dawson Site, archaeologists proceeded to unearth over 2000 Indigenous artefacts at the intersection between 2016 and 2019.
Montreal’s sprawling Metro system is well known for its architecture, public art works and ability to move people quickly around the city. However, lesser known are the hauntings and paranormal activity that plague the network. With a long history of deaths from construction accidents, fires, violent acts, electrocution and suicides, the Montreal Metro hosts lingering spirits and other deranged mysteries. With decades of service, the network has witnessed countless tragedies and is now rumored to host ghosts and paranormal activity, especially at three distinct stations.
More recently known to host bars such as The Pioneer, Clyde’s Bar and Grill and Le Pionnier, the heritage building has since been demolished. High-end condominiums were built on its footprint and a neighboring parking lot, and some wonder if the site is still haunted. Trouble started brewing in May, 2018 when owner Diane Marois announced her plans to sell Le Pionnier to developers. Over 4000 Pointe Claire residents signed a petition to try and save the historic building. However, given that other former heritage sites in the municipality were destroyed, like the Edgewater Hotel and Maples Inn, there was a feeling of hopelessness. Marois shuttered the building after one final last call on July 21, 2018.
High above Montreal’s streetscape, hundreds of gargoyles and grotesques are carved into the architecture of various older buildings and churches. Sculptors created gargoyles to drain water and allegedly to ward off evil spirits, a tradition dating back to mediaeval Europe. Grotesques are similar stone creatures but do not feature any plumbing. Some legends say that gargoyles can communicate with others when the rain passes through their mouths. Other myths claim that gargoyles and grotesques sometimes come to life at night. Montreal’s gargoyles are shrouded in mystery and a local legend from the late 19th Century highlights one of their deranged antics after sunset.