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.
Welcome to the one hundred and eleventh installment of the Haunted Montreal Blog!
With over 600 documented ghost stories, Montreal is easily the most haunted city in Canada, if not all of North America. Haunted Montreal dedicates itself to researching these paranormal tales, and the Haunted Montreal Blog unveils a newly researched Montreal ghost story on the 13th of every month!
This service is free and you can sign up to our mailing list (top, right-hand corner for desktops and at the bottom for mobile devices) if you wish to receive it every month on the 13th! The blog is published in both English and French!
With the Halloween Season now over and colder weather setting in, Haunted Montreal is running our Haunted Pub Crawl every Sunday at 3 pm in English. For tours in French, these happen on the last Sunday of every month at 4 pm.
We have also extended our outdoor Haunted Old Montreal ghost tour and paranormal investigations until the end of November.
To learn more, see the schedule at the bottom of our home page and see more details in the Company News section below!
Private tours for all of our experiences (including outdoor tours) can be booked at any time based on the availability of our actors. Clients can request any date, time, language and operating tour. These tours start at $215 for small groups of up to 7 people.
Email info@hauntedmontreal.com to book a private tour!
Lastly, we have an online store for those interested in Haunted Montreal merchandise. More details are below in our Company News section!
This month we update information about Montreal’s dozens of haunted pubs and drinking establishments!
Haunted Research
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!
Starting with bars that have closed, these include Charlie’s American Bar, Club Le Cinq, Le Pionnier, the John Doe Pub and Maison Pierre du Calvet.
Le Pionnier was demolished and replaced with condos, Maison du Calvet is presently vacant and the others now host new establishments.
Charlie’s is now the 042 AFRO LOUNGE, Club Le Cinq has become the Yoko Luna Japanese Steakhouse and the John Doe Pub is now a branch of Tsukuyomi Ramen, a noodle joint.
Secondly, Ken McCaskill passed away in December, 2023. He was the Point Saint Charles Legion’s bartender who regaled his clients with ghost stories from the establishment. May he rest in peace.
Thirdly, Haunted Montreal has blogged several of the drinking establishments on our original list to provide more detailed information regarding their hauntings. These include Place Viger, Hotel Place d’Armes, Auberge Saint Gabriel and Hurley’s Irish Pub.
Last but not least, we have discovered two haunted drinking establishments we were not aware of!
The first one is Gibby’s Steakhouse in Old Montreal, which has a mysterious ghost haunting its courtyard.
The second haunted watering hole is the ATIPIK PUB at 1458 Crescent Street in Downtown Montreal. Formerly the location of the Dragon & Dame Pub Urbain and then Ayers Rock MTL, the ATIPIK PUB has attracted paranormal investigators.
In May 2023, the team from Entre deux tombes conducted a paranormal investigation at the ATIPIK PUB. In search of a “Kitchen Devil Lady”, they encountered everything from screaming noises, phantom footsteps, shadowy movements, chairs moving on their own and glasses falling off the bar.
While change is not unusual in the bar and hospitality industry, the question always remains how ghosts adapt to new ownership and décor in the places they haunt. Only time will tell what paranormal surprises await the new owners of the old haunted drinking establishments that have changed hands!
Company News
With the Halloween Season now over and colder weather setting in, Haunted Montreal is running our Haunted Pub Crawl every Sunday at 3 pm in English. For tours in French, these happen on the last Sunday of every month at 4 pm.
We have also extended our outdoor Haunted Old Montreal ghost tour We have also extended our outdoor Haunted Old Montreal ghost tour and paranormal investigations until the end of November.
To learn more, see the schedule at the bottom of our home page!
Private tours for any of our experiences (including outdoor tours) can be booked at any time based on the availability of our actors. Clients can request any date, time, language and operating tour.
These tours are based on the availability of our actors and start at $215 for small groups of up to 7 people.
Email info@hauntedmontreal.com to book a private tour!
You can also bring the Haunted Montreal experience to your office party, house, school or event by booking one of our Travelling Ghost Storytellers today.
Hear some of the spookiest tales from our tours and our blog told by a professional actor and storyteller. You provide the venue, we provide the stories and storyteller. Find out more and then contact info@hauntedmontreal.com
Our team also releases videos every second Saturday, in both languages, of ghost stories from the Haunted Montreal Blog. Hosted by Holly Rhiannon (in English) and Dr. Mab (in French), this initiative is sure to please ghost story fans!
Please like, subscribe and hit the bell!
Haunted Montreal is also pleased to announce the publication of the book “Montréal hanté. La mémoire macabre d’une cité victorienne”, written by Pierre-Luc Baril.
Directly inspired by the Haunted Montreal Blog, the book tells several ghost stories, including those of Simon McTavish, the mysterious Trafalgar Tower and the murder of Mary Gallagher.
You can purchase a copy by clicking on this link.
In other news, if you want to send someone a haunted experience as a gift, you certainly can!
We are offering Haunted Montreal Gift Certificates through our website and redeemable via Eventbrite for any of our in-person or virtual events (no expiration date).
Finally, we have an online store for those interested in Haunted Montreal merchandise. We are selling t-shirts, magnets, sweatshirts (for those haunted fall and winter nights) and mugs with both the Haunted Montreal logo and our tour imagery.
Purchases can be ordered through our online store.
Haunted Montreal has temporarily altered its blog experience due to a commitment on a big writing project! New stories at the Haunted Montreal Blog will now be offered every two months, whereas every other month will feature an update to an old story. As always, these stories and updates will be released on the 13th of every month!
Haunted Montreal would like to thank all our clients who attended a ghost walk, haunted pub crawl, paranormal investigation or virtual event!
If you enjoyed the experience, we encourage you to write a review on our Tripadvisor page and/or on Google Reviews -something that really helps Haunted Montreal to market its tours.
Lastly, if you would like to receive the Haunted Montreal Blog on the 13th of every month, please sign up to our mailing list.
Coming up on December 13th: 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. Historically the site of Montreal’s oldest church, creepy cemeteries and a colonial fort used to try to evangelize Indigenous Peoples, today the area reeks of paranormal activity and disturbing cemetery rituals involving animal sacrifice.
Author:
Donovan King is a postcolonial historian, teacher, tour guide and professional actor. As the founder of Haunted Montreal, he combines his skills to create the best possible Montreal ghost stories, in both writing and theatrical performance. King holds a DEC (Professional Theatre Acting, John Abbott College), BFA (Drama-in-Education, Concordia), B.Ed (History and English Teaching, McGill), MFA (Theatre Studies, University of Calgary) and ACS (Montreal Tourist Guide, Institut de tourisme et d’hôtellerie du Québec). He is also a certified Montreal Destination Specialist.
Translator (into French):
Claude Chevalot holds a master’s degree in applied linguistics from McGill University. She is a writer, editor and translator. For more than 15 years, she has devoted herself almost exclusively to literary translation and to the translation of texts on current and contemporary art.
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