Haunted Montreal Blog

­­Haunted Montreal Blog #103 – Auberge Saint-Gabriel

The Auberge Saint-Gabriel is a quaint stone building in the heart of Old Montreal. Reeking of old world charm, it is a popular attraction for tourists and locals alike. Today, the building hosts a fancy restaurant, several dining rooms and even a speakeasy. However, the auberge is also reported to be haunted. From ghostly piano music to the spirit of a little girl who allegedly burned alive during a fire, the Auberge Saint-Gabriel is said to be a hotbed of paranormal activity. The ghostly girl, wearing a Royal Blue dress, has allegedly been spotted and heard laughing on many occasions.

­­Haunted Montreal Blog #102 – Youville Stables

The Youville Stables is a charming stone complex in Old Montreal that was built on the hospital grounds of the Grey Nuns in 1827, originally as a warehouse. Today the site hosts the tony Gibby’s Restaurant, one of Montreal’s finest steakhouses. However, there are reports that its courtyard is haunted by an irate ghost who sits on a bench while reading a book. When approached, he tends to look up as though annoyed and proceeds to glare at those intruding his solitude – before disappearing into thin air. 

Haunted Montreal Blog #100 – Nips Daimon

In 1862, author C.E. Bockus penned a ghost story set in Montreal called “Nips Daimon”. Published in London in the May edition of Once a Week, the creepy tale features a Mount Royal tobogganer named Eugene Roy and his misadventures with an undead spirit. Based on the true ghost story of Simon McTavish and his haunted castle, “Nips Daimon” adds another dimension to the deranged legacy of the forgotten fur baron. Known to toboggan down the mountain slopes in his coffin at night, McTavish’s ghost allegedly terrorized city residents in the 1800s. The McTavish tale is widely considered “Canada’s Legend of Sleepy Hollow” and C.E. Bockus’ fictionalized version adds to its mystery and intrigue.

Haunted Montreal Blog #99 – Saint Louis Square

Situated in Montreal’s Plateau-Mont Royal Borough, Saint Louis Square is a beautiful and bucolic park dating from 1876. Surrounded by stunning Victorian architecture, the leafy square is popular with locals and tourists alike. It features a central fountain, busts of famous poets and even a small stone building with a café and ice cream parlor inside. However, the square also has a turbulent history. Once the stomping ground of many disturbed artists, the Montreal Hippy Movement and an era of decline including rampant prostitution, deranged things have happened in the park and its environs. Unsurprisingly, there have been ghost sightings in Saint Louis Square.

Haunted Montreal Blog #97 – The REM’s Ghostly Gamble Part 3

This month we examine one section of Montreal’s new light rail system, the REM, which is finally operational. The line, running from Central Station in Montreal to Brossard, passes over the Black Rock Irish Famine Cemetery. Given that the REM desecrated the hallowed ground by removing over a dozen bodies to insert a concrete pylon, many people speculated that the REM would become haunted. It appears to be the case – since its opening, the REM has been plagued with numerous electrical problems and was even struck by lightning!

Haunted Montreal Blog #96 – Notre-Dame-des-Neiges Cemetery

The Catholic Notre-Dame-des-Neiges Cemetery is the largest burial ground in Canada. Located atop Mount Royal, it features 343-acres (139 hectares) of garden landscape with more than 65,000 monuments and 71 family vaults. The cemetery also contains the remains of over a million people. Not only is this vast graveyard reputed to be haunted, but in recent years, it has also witnessed all sorts of desecration and other deranged activity. Groundhogs have dug up numerous bones, coffin boards and sets of dentures. Trees and branches collapsed onto tombs during an ice storm.

Haunted Montreal Blog #95 – Hôtel Place d’Armes

The glorious Hôtel Place d’Armes occupies the south-eastern corner of Old Montreal’s most famous plaza. Opened in 2000, the boutique hotel with neo-Renaissance architecture caters to well-off tourists, corporate clients and the international jet-set crowd. However, despite its prestige, some say that the hotel is haunted. During an interview in 2009, a top-notch concierge explained that a mysterious woman with a black dress and American accent haunts some of the suites.

Haunted Montreal Blog #94 – Old Montreal’s Forgotten Cemeteries

The City of Montreal welcomes millions of tourists every year. Around 85% of them visit the historic district of Old Montreal. What these visitors likely do not realize is that they are literally walking over the Dead. Numerous forgotten cemeteries, which still lie beneath the streets and buildings, haunt Old Montreal. Indeed, there are at least a dozen graveyards in the district. A handful of them are commemorated but most are totally forgotten. Almost all of these colonial burial grounds are reputed to be haunted.

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