Nora hung up and pulled a handkerchief out of her purse to apply pressure on the wounds. However, when she looked down where the woman had been moments earlier, there was nothing to see but the bare asphalt of the parking lot. The bloodied old woman in the coarse clothing had vanished into thin air. The next thing Nora heard was the sirens of the ambulance arrive.
The Château Ramezay Museum in Old Montreal is by far one of the most haunted buildings in the city. Just across the street from City Hall, the charming stone building welcomes thousands of visitors a year. Inside, tourists often report various hauntings: the sounds of phantom footsteps, moaning noises coming from the fireplace, and people wearing period costumes who vanish into thin air.
Heading eastwards from the Old Montreal’s Champ-de-Mars, Rue Saint-Louis is a quaint but neglected street that does not appear on the tourist circuit. Perhaps it is just as well, given the disturbing ghosts who allegedly haunt the area. During the smallpox epidemic of 1885, when the neighborhood of Faubourg Saint-Louis was at the heart of a largely French-speaking slum, Saint-Louis Street was one of the most infected parts of the city.
Clock Tower Quay is a popular tourist destination in the Old Port of Montreal, especially following the installation of an urban beach in 2012. Overlooking the deadly St. Mary’s Current, it is an ideal place to spend a sunny afternoon safe on the shore. However, several people have spotted wet footprints on the quay – even on the hottest days when water evaporates very quickly. As the sun beats down on the pavement, the wet footprints remain, unevaporated, baffling the tourists who visit. Could these paranormal prints be related to a maritime disaster from the city’s distant past?
Another local, who lives across Papineau Street from the Parc des Vétérans explained: “Sometimes at night, all of the local dogs start howling or whining at the same time. When I look out my window, I often see a ghost wandering through the park. This I swear upon. He is definitely a male ghost in older clothing and seems to wander aimlessly, as though he is sad or lost. To make matters worse, a hangman’s noose dangles around his neck.
In 1742, Montreal was rocked by a sensational trial about sorcery. A French soldier named Francois-Charles Havard de Beaufort, stationed in Montreal, was accused by authorities of practicing sorcery after rumors spread about his attempts to cast a magic spell to discover the identity of a thief. François-Charles Havard de Beaufort had a reputation in the Montreal region as an entertainer and a “sorcerer.” Having an ingenious mind and a solid education for the period, he used his card and knife tricks to divert and amuse spectators. By his own admission, he also used his trickery to “intimidate ordinary people in serious matters.”
With the reputation as a haunted tunnel, it also attracts thrill-seekers who dare one another to enter through the metal gate near the off-ramp. One nearby condo owner has reported seeing people cautiously enter the tunnel only to bolt out of it screaming after a minute or two.
Werewolves and similar creatures have a long history of plaguing those living on the island of Tiohtià:ke/Montreal. When the French began colonizing the Indigenous lands of Turtle Island in the early 1600s, strange European tales of werewolves came with the settlers.
There are reports of strange moaning noises and metallic clanging within the old sewer. Security guards have claimed the noises usually start around 9 p.m. and can last throughout the night. The best theory about why the collector is haunted takes us back to Christmas Day during 1840.
Shocked and terrified, as the apparition got closer, he could see it was clad in a black robe and holding what appeared to be a large crucifix that appeared as though it had just come out of an iron forge. It was glowing, as though red hot.