Haunted Downtown

Haunted Montreal Blog # 63 – Jacques Cartier Suicide Bridge

With a long-standing reputation as the second most popular “Suicide Bridge” in the world, after the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, the Jacques Cartier Bridge is known to be both deadly and haunted. A steel truss cantilever bridge that crosses the Saint Lawrence River from the city to the south shore at Longueuil, it has a tragic history of both suicides and murders occurring on the span. Despite recent improvements, such as an anti-suicide barrier and expensive lighting scheme, there are still suicides every year and tormented spirits are known to haunt the massive structure that crosses the mighty river.

Haunted Montreal Blog #52 – Hôpital de la Miséricorde

One survivor, who visited in 2003, claimed: “When we walked in this wing of the hospital where the single mothers gave birth, which has been abandoned for several years now, we can still hear this crying of the abandoned little ones. There are also the groans, the tears, the prayers of these single mothers, which are like the cries of the abandoned little ones, impregnated in the walls and woodwork of this establishment. We still hear them today in 2003.”

Haunted Montreal Blog #49 – Old Saint-Antoine Cholera Cemetery

Firstly, after dark, the atmosphere of the cemetery changes and a lot of people have reported feeling nervous and uncomfortable after sun down. For those daring enough to stay in the burial ground, there have been reports of strange shapes moving about, mysterious mists and floating orbs in the treetops. On occasion, ghostly apparitions have been spotted wandering the cemetery and, in what is almost certainly cases of residual hauntings, the disembodied voices of muffled prayer and moaning can still be heard, not to mention sudden screams of agony that sometimes pierce the cemetery. The disturbing screams tend to occur in the south-west corner of the Dorchester Square portion of the old cemetery.

Haunted Montreal Blog #44 – The Dawson Site

For those familiar with horror novels and movies, there is a common trope that it is never a good idea to build upon ancient Indigenous burial grounds. Unfortunately for the City of Montreal, a large section of its Downtown core exists on the site of a former Indigenous city and cemetery, resulting in all sorts of speculation that the modern city is haunted. Furthermore, since remnants of the Indigenous city were unearthed in 1859 on the corner of today’s Metcalfe and de Maisonneuve streets, a debate has raged on among scholars of European ancestry about whether or not it is the site of the fabled lost city of “Hochelaga” visited by French explorer Jacques Cartier in 1535.

Haunted Montreal Blog #41 – Montreal’s Haunted Pubs and Drinking Establishments

While Dublin City, Ireland has around 15 haunted pubs and Savannah, Georgia, "America's most haunted city", has around 25 paranormal bars, Montreal is clearly the best metropolis to mix booze with creepy ghost stories. With over 40 haunted pubs and other drinking establishments, Montreal is an ideal city to pour back some libations while pondering the paranormal.

Haunted Montreal Blog #40 – Victorian Christmas Ghost Storytelling Traditions in Montreal

Meanwhile, in Victorian Montreal, there was no shortage of ghost storytelling during the Yuletide season. Indeed, Montrealers embraced the winter with fantastic carnivals that featured giant ice castles, mock battles involving hundreds of participants, skating parties at the opulent Victoria Rink and magnificent fireworks displays. When revelers arrived home after a day at the Winter Carnival, the hearth was stoked, mulled wine and brandy were prepared, and Victorian Montrealers gathered around to listen to and tell ghost stories as the flames crackled, casting eerie shadows across so many a parlor throughout the city.

Haunted Montreal Blog #39 – John Doe Pub

At other times, staff have found the faucets running when they were positive the taps were closed. In one case, a dishwasher turned off the kitchen's tap and went to the bathroom. When she returned, she could hear the water running and spotted the ghost of a young girl who had just turned it on again. The ghostly girl looked directly in her eyes and then vanished into thin air, with the water still running at full blast.

Haunted Montreal Blog #31 – Paranormal Activity at the Hotel Bonaventure

Fearing this might be some kind of warning or preemptive signal, hotel management immediately contacted the police. Francois Lippe was the first police officer to arrive at the hotel. Baffled, he contacted his superiors and asked them to come and look for themselves at the object that was floating above the City of Montreal. The Chief of Police, Robert Masson, soon arrived at the scene and he immediately spotted the bizarre object in question.
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