Haunted Montreal Blog #62 – Montreal’s Contemporary Ghost-hunters
We preview our Virtual Halloween Ghost Tour and speak with professional ghost hunter Dominique Desormeaux of 13 Spirits Paranormal
We preview our Virtual Halloween Ghost Tour and speak with professional ghost hunter Dominique Desormeaux of 13 Spirits Paranormal
Our July blog explores a missing award that has recently become haunted. Awarded to Haunted Montreal in 2019, the Travel and Hospitality Award for “Quebec’s Most Unique Experience of the Year”, a disgruntled ex-administrator has refused to return it to the company. As such, a spell-caster has placed a jinx on the award to make it haunted.
The face appears rather feminine with long hair, but under the chin are fins or possibly a beard. The French inscription in the Codex translates: “Marine monster killed by the French on the Richelieu River in New France.” Despite French attempts to eradicate this creature, rumours abound that the mysterious river creatures still swim in the waters surrounding the island of Tiohtià:ke / Montreal to this very day.
There are many descriptions of him, depending on the region of Quebec. For some, he is described as a tall, lanky old man with a long, crooked nose who roams the streets at night, large burlap sack in hand. For others, this dreaded being takes on the appearance of an old man dressed as a vagabond with a long black beard, dirty hair, dressed in several coats and dilapidated clothing. Overall, he is known as demonic man, not quite human, capable of using astonishing tricks to snatch children away and haul them away in his large burlap sack. In all of the stories, Bonhomme Sept Heures triggers the fear of death and the night.
Full shadows and full body apparitions. They removed the bodies of the dead people from their final resting place - that is one of the reasons they will have problems. Like I said, there will be multiple ghost and apparition sightings, high spikes in the electromagnetic field, burning lights, contact between the living and the dead, strange voices, touching
Since the canal officially opened in 1825, hundreds of people have drowned in its dark waters. These included suicides, murder victims, people who drowned while swimming and those who died during industrial accidents. The polluted banks are also peppered with old buildings, many being repurposed into condominiums, that are reputed to be haunted. Last but not least, not only are ghost ships known to ply the canal’s waters, but there are also an unknown number of bodies buried along its length. Mostly victims of the Irish Famine of 1847, these forgotten corpses of desperate refugees result in all sorts of ghosts and paranormal activity along the canal.
Unfortunately, at the time it was illegal to carry out human dissections unless it was part of a criminal’s punishment. Indeed, for the worst criminals, this ultimate and shameful punishment was sometimes written into sentences delivered by local judges.
Supposedly, the Oneidas tried throwing away the head, but it rolled back to their encampment and continued insulting the warriors. According to Dollier de Casson, the Oneida warriors put the head “sometimes in one place, sometimes another.” He claimed: “Even when they covered it to prevent it from being heard, it was no better."
At around 9 pm, Marie-Josée was putting her daughter to bed when she heard what sounded like laughter coming from outside. She opened the window to see if there were rowdy teenagers in the neighborhood, but could not see anyone on the street or in the park across the street. While she could not place the laughter, she recognized the voice as male. The laughter got louder, and soon transformed into a mixture of snickering, giggling and cackling. Unimpressed, Marie-Josée closed the window and secured its latch. Unfortunately, she could still hear the deranged laughter, albeit more muffled.
One afternoon, I went into the kitchen to refill my coffee cup. Standing there alone, pouring hot java into my mug, I had an intense feeling that someone – or something – was staring at my back. When I spun around, nobody was present. Suddenly I heard a loud clanging noise and I nearly jumped out of my skin! I whirled around and saw that three metal pots, which had been on the kitchen counter waiting to be used to prepare the evening meal, were rolling around on the floor, creating a metallic echo throughout in the kitchen.