With over 500 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 spring here, Haunted Montreal is open for business with a whole new season of ghost tours and haunted experiences! Our ghost tours include Haunted Old Montreal, Griffintown, Downtown and the mountain! To learn more, see the schedule at the bottom of our home page!

Our Haunted Pub Crawl is offered every Sunday at 3 pm in English. For tours in French, these happen on the last Sunday of every month at 4 pm.

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 provide an update into the now-demolished old Pointe Claire Hotel, which we covered in an earlier blog and shared its ghost stories. Since its demolition, a new condominium has sprouted up on the site.

Haunted Research

A historical and haunted landmark in Pointe-Claire Village has been unceremoniously demolished and replaced with condominiums. Haunted Montreal Blog #8 – Hauntings at the Old Pointe Claire Hotel – was written in December, 2015. The article featured the history of the old Pointe Claire Hotel, its surroundings and the paranormal activity witnessed there.

More recently known to host bars such as The Pioneer, Clyde’s Bar and Grill and Le Pionnier, the heritage building has since been demolished. High-end condominiums were built on its footprint and a neighboring parking lot, and some wonder if the site is still haunted.

Trouble started brewing in May, 2018 when owner Diane Marois announced her plans to sell Le Pionnier to developers. Over 4000 Pointe Claire residents signed a petition to try and save the historic building. However, given that other former heritage sites in the municipality were destroyed, like the Edgewater Hotel and Maples Inn, there was a feeling of hopelessness. Marois shuttered the building after one final last call on July 21, 2018.

Demolition of the old Pointe Claire Hotel began in November, 2020. Once it was gone, condo developer Greg Koegl of Koebra Development began constructing “Le Charlebois”. Named after a former incarnation of the old Pointe Claire Hotel, the three-storey brick building is comprised of 13 large condominium residences and four commercial retail units.

The price of a two-bedroom unit (1,260 square feet) in the luxury development started at $785,500. Once opened, it offered amenities to new buyers such as 24/7 concierge service, a gym, a communal wine cellar and even a dog spa on the ground level.

While the condominiums are no doubt luxurious, the question remains about the former hotel’s paranormal history. When a haunted site is demolished, what happens to its ghosts? Do they disappear forever – or will they manifest themselves again one day? In the case of the now demolished old Pointe Claire Hotel and the new condominiums built on its footprint, only time will tell.

Company News

With the spring here, Haunted Montreal is open for business with a whole new season of ghost tours and haunted experiences! Our ghost tours include Haunted Old Montreal, Griffintown, Downtown and the mountain!

To learn more, see the schedule at the bottom of our home page!

In the meantime, our Haunted Pub Crawl is offered every Sunday at 3 pm in English. For tours in French, these happen on the last Sunday of every month at 4 pm.

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!

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, 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 June 13: Montreal’s Haunted Metro System

Montreal’s sprawling Metro system is well known for its architecture, public art works and ability to move people quickly around the city. However, lesser known are the hauntings and paranormal activity that plague the network. With a long history of deaths from construction accidents, fires, violent acts, electrocution and suicides, the Montreal Metro hosts lingering spirits and other deranged mysteries.

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.

With over 500 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!

Haunted Montreal’s seasons of public outdoor ghost tours is now in full swing! Offered every Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday night, we have four ghost tours on rotation (Old Montreal, Griffintown, Downtown and Mount Royal.)

Our Haunted Pub Crawl is also offered every Sunday at 3 pm in English. For tours in French, these happen on the last Sunday of every month at 4 pm.

Our Paranormal Investigation in the Old Sainte Antoine Cemetery happens on the first Friday and Saturday of every month.

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 $190 for small groups of up to 7 people.

Email info@hauntedmontreal.com to book a private tour!

Our Virtual Ghost Tour is also available on demand!

Want to give the gift of a haunted experience?

You can now order a Haunted Montreal Gift Certificate through our website. They are redeemable via Eventbrite for any of our in-person or virtual experiences. There is no expiration date.

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 examine the Hôtel Place d’Armes, a boutique hotel in Old Montreal that allegedly hosts the ghost of a Lady in Black.

Haunted Research

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.

The four historic buildings that house Hôtel Place d’Armes were originally constructed for pre-eminent Montreal businesses during the Victorian era.

The western-most building dates back to 1870, when the Great Scottish Life Insurance Company built a five-story edifice for its Montreal headquarters. Designed by architectural firm of Hopkins & Willy, the magnificent structure has withstood the test of time. Indeed, on November 7, 1975, the Quebec provincial government designated the building as an historic site.

At the turn of the millennium, the Antonopoulos Group purchased the Great Scottish Life Insurance Company building. Seeing its potential, being located in the heart of Old Montreal, they renovated the structure and re-opened it in 2000 as “Montreal’s first boutique hotel”.

According to Tourisme Montréal, “Boutique-hotel luxury is all about the particulars – the style, the amenities, the unique touches that are offered only there.”

Generally, boutique hotels are more expensive but offer a luxurious and unique experience. Clients tend to be more pampered. They can also usually purchase anything they wish to keep, such as bathrobes, slippers, pillows, beds, shaving mirrors and even the paintings on the walls.

Usually set in repurposed heritage buildings and located in desirable locations, Montreal has several of them. Tourisme Montréal invites visitors to book one, exclaiming: “Treat yourself to the personalized experiences hidden all over the downtown core, at Montréal’s beautiful boutique hotels, and start building lifelong travel memories.”  

Upon opening, the Hôtel Place d’Armes was an immediate success. Due to high demand, it has since expanded considerably. Over the years, the Antonopoulos Group has purchased and incorporated three other buildings to the east on St. Jacques Street. These include the former People’s Bank, Alexander Cross Building and lastly an edifice built in 1899 by the Saint-Jean-Baptiste Society of Montreal.

According to the hotel’s website: “We are proud to be a part of Old Montreal’s vibrant culture and one of the neighbourhood’s most distinguished architectural structures. Housed in four historic buildings, we offer a plethora of amenities, including two restaurants, a magnificent rooftop terrace, over 12,000 square feet of versatile meeting spaces, and an exquisite Hamman spa. As a cherished Old Montreal hotel, we’re popular with business and pleasure travelers alike.“

With a rating of 4.5 stars out of 5 on TripAdvisor, it is clear that the hotel is popular. Furthermore, unlike some other hotels, none of the low ratings of Hôtel Place d’Armes included complaints about ghosts or paranormal activity.

Indeed, it would seem that the ghostly lady haunting the hotel does not interact with clients, but rather with certain staff members.

On April 3, 2009, a McGill University History student interviewed Marie-Ève Larin, the Concierge of the Hôtel Place d’Armes at the time.

Marie-Ève Larin had been working there for about a year and a half at the time of the interview. Marie-Ève was handling both concierge and front desk jobs, providing service for 135 rooms, including suites and penthouses.

When working as a concierge, Marie-Ève’s job was to take care of client requests, such as arranging flowers, making dinner reservations, giving directions, and providing suggestions for tourist activities. While those requests are the most common ones, the concierge must literally answer every client’s wish, as long as it is legal (e.g. no drugs or escorts.)

There can be no denying that Marie-Ève was prepared for this type of specialized service work; after all, her official title is still “Concierge, Membre Clefs D’or Canada”. Following a process that took her over 3 years of intense professional development, full-time employment, and being severely tested by “mystery guests,” Marie-Ève was welcomed into the elite global order of concierges. Organized by the Union Internationale des Concierges d’Hôtels (UICH), Les Clefs D’or has approximately 4000 members working in over 80 countries and 530 destinations – spread over 5 continents.

Unlike all other countries where Les Clefs D’or operates, in Canada concierges must earn one golden key at a time, making the process that much more difficult. It is a sign of distinction to have earned the keys, and Marie-Ève was the youngest member in Canada to have been awarded them at just 25 years old. Marie-Ève’s considerable talents, efforts and accolades have not gone unnoticed; she has been sought after and recruited directly by many fine hotels in Montreal, including Hôtel Place d’Armes.

In addition to granting the client’s wishes, the concierge must also know the city inside and out in order to give them the best recommendations possible, such as locations for fine restaurants, extraordinary shopping opportunities, and the most enjoyable tourism activities. According to Marie-Ève, the biggest challenge of her job is to “always be on top of what’s going on in the city.”

With its hundreds of festivals, performances, and events, Montreal is famous for keeping its concierges constantly on their toes.

The best part of the job is “making people happy and making their stay in Montreal extraordinary,” said Marie-Ève, adding “It’s very rewarding.”

When asked about any negative sides of the job, while Marie-Ève noted that the hours in the busy summer season can be excessive, she personally doesn’t mind and actually thrives on it. There are also persistent rumours that the hotel is haunted, and some of the housekeeping staff fear entering certain rooms alone. “Hôtel Place d’Armes is divided into several historical buildings,” explained Marie-Ève, “the first one was the Great Scottish Life, which was an Insurance Company in the 1860s.” This section of the hotel maintains its old-world charm, and there have been reported ghost sightings, especially in Suites 1702, 1703, 1704 and 1705.

On several occasions housekeepers have noticed that a door to one of these Suites is ajar, and upon entering noticed a beautiful woman in her twenties, with long hair, who sometimes asks for a glass of water. When the staff member returns with the water, the woman is no longer there. “She vanishes into thin air,” according to Marie-Ève. These encounters usually happen when the room in question is unoccupied. On other occasions, staff servicing the mini-bars in each room reported seeing her wandering the hallways. Sometimes encounters with the beautiful, long-haired woman can be more terrifying.

There was one instance when a housekeeper noticed that the door of 1704 was ajar, and when she went to open it heard the woman’s voice telling her to “Come back later”. The housekeeper knew that the room was supposed to be unoccupied, so entered to confront the woman. What she saw caused her to panic: a thin, beautiful woman with long dark hair and wearing a long, black dress was standing on the ledge of a window, as though about to jump seven stories to her death.

“Don’t do it!” cried the housekeeper, but it was too late: the woman jumped. The housekeeper ran to the window and looked down on the street below. She was expecting to see a shattered corpse. However, there was no broken body or pool of blood. Where the victim’s corpse should have been was a flock of pigeons, pecking away at seeds on the sidewalk.

Terrified, the housekeeper quit her job shortly thereafter. While Marie-Ève did not have any personal theories about who this ghost might be, she was not bothered by the fact the hotel is haunted, saying it is all part of the job. Being a top-notch concierge means accepting whatever circumstances a hotel may have, including ghosts and paranormal activities.

When asked what skills a good concierge needs, Marie-Ève replied: “Strong people skills, patience, humour, resourcefulness, and always being a tourist in your own city! Dedication, most of all, is the key. I love my job, my city, and my guests… (ok, most of the guests.)” When asked if she would recommend the job of concierge to others, she said: “It’s the best job in the world! I would recommend it to everyone, but not everyone is cut for the long hours, meetings outside work, and dealing with everyone’s problems!”

With such exceptional service skills and a sterling reputation, Marie-Ève’s future was looking very bright. While she loved her job at Hôtel Place d’Armes, she aspired one day to become a concierge in Toronto, and perhaps after that in New York City: “Since I am a Clefs d’Or member,” she said, “my keys are valid everywhere in the world.”

It is worth noting that Marie-Ève Laurin has since moved on from the Hôtel Place d’Armes. Indeed, she was recently spotted working as the Concierge for American Express Centurion.

Returning to the mysterious ghostly woman, nobody really knows who she is or why she haunts the Hôtel Place d’Armes. Could she have been a client in mourning at the Great Scottish Life Insurance Company? Could she have jumped from the window because the life insurance of her deceased husband was denied? Could she have been a former guest at the hotel who somehow met her demise there? Could she be someone else? No evidence has been found in the historical record as of yet, so until more information becomes available there is only speculation.

Hopefully, one day the identity of this sad and ghostly woman in black will be revealed. Until then, the housekeepers at the Hôtel Place d’Armes will likely remain on their toes when working near Suites 1702, 1703, 1704 and 1705.

Company News

Haunted Montreal’s seasons of public outdoor ghost tours is now in full swing! Offered every Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday night, we have four ghost tours on rotation (Old Montreal, Griffintown, Downtown and Mount Royal).

Our Haunted Pub Crawl is also offered every Sunday at 3 pm in English. For tours in French, these happen on the last Sunday of every month at 4 pm.

Our Paranormal Investigation in the Old Sainte Antoine Cemetery happens on the first Friday and Saturday of every month.

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 $190 for small groups of up to 7 people.

Email info@hauntedmontreal.com to book a private tour!

You can 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!

In other news, if you want to send someone a haunted experience as a gift, you certainly can!

We are also 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 opened 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 would like to thank all of 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, 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 August 13: Notre-Dame-des-Neiges Cemetery

The Catholic Notre-Dame-des-Neiges Cemetery is the largest burial ground in Canada. Featuring more than 65,000 monuments and 71 family vaults in a garden landscape, the cemetery contains the remains of over a million people. Not only is this vast graveyard reputed to be haunted, but in recent years it has witnessed all sort of deranged activity. Groundhogs have dug up numerous bones and sets of dentures. Trees have collapsed onto tombs during an ice storm. Hundreds of bodies are piled up awaiting burial due to striking gravediggers and other staff. To make matters worse, families are locked out and cannot even visit their Dead. Once Canada’s most picturesque burial ground, today Notre-Dame-des-Neiges Cemetery is a desolate, overgrown and forlorn place. With no maintenance, shattered trees and scattered bones, this massive graveyard has become a place of true horror.

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.

With over 500 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!

Haunted Montreal is in our winter mode and all of our public haunted experiences are now indoors!

Our Haunted Pub Crawl is offered every Sunday at 3 pm in English. For tours in French, these happen on the last Sunday of every month at 4 pm.

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 $190 for small groups of up to 7 people.

Email info@hauntedmontreal.com to book a private tour!

We’ve just launched our newest haunted experience: Travelling Ghost Storyteller. Find out more in the Company News section.

Our Virtual Ghost Tour is also available on demand!

Want to give the gift of a haunted experience?

You can now order a Haunted Montreal Gift Certificate through our website. They are redeemable via Eventbrite for any of our in-person or virtual experiences. There is no expiration date.

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 examine Place Viger, a multi-use complex that was born out of the once-luxurious Viger Hotel and its now defunct adjoining train station. According to one tourist review, the site has a negative vibe and is haunted.

Haunted Research

A majestic castle-like structure sits proudly on the north-east corner of the Old Montreal district.

The beautiful Place Viger was conceived as both a grandiose hotel and railway station serving what was once central Montreal. Constructed in 1898, Place Viger was designed by architect Bruce Price for the Canadian Pacific Railway.

Price is famous for designing other haunted hotels, such as the original Banff Springs in Alberta and the Chateau Frontenac in Quebec City.

Built with Montreal gray stone and orange brick from Scotland, Place Viger stands out with its “Châteaux de la Loire” style, characterized by its numerous pepperbox corner turrets, pronounced conical roof and distinguished copper elements.

Created to replace Dalhousie Station, which became too small due to an increase in rail traffic, Place Viger was built near what was then the central part of Montreal. Located in proximity to the financial district, City Hall, the port and the courthouse, the complex housed the railway station in its lower levels and a luxurious hotel on the upper floors.

Place Viger also enjoyed an enviable setting right beside the beautiful Viger Square, the first public garden in Canadian history.

The location allowed both railway travellers and hotel guests to stroll along the bucolic pathways and fountains.

The trains ran south from Viger Station and to then the east along the water’s edge towards Quebec City and other destinations north of Montreal.

However, when Montreal’s commercial core began shifting to the north-west in the late 19^th Century, Place Viger was put at a disadvantage. With the onset of the Great Depression in 1929, it signaled the demise of the hotel, which ultimately closed in 1935. Viger Station was soon shuttered in 1951 and the complex was sold to the City of Montreal. The luxurious interiors were gutted and transformed into banal office space, and the building was renamed Édifice Jacques-Viger.

For over 60 years, the magnificent Place Viger was used as office and storage space by the City of Montreal. To make matters worse, with the construction of the Ville-Marie Autoroute in the 1970s Viger Square and its magnificent Victorian gardens were destroyed. The replacement was a poorly-designed Brutalist park that featured mostly concrete.

With the desolate new setting and inadequate maintenance, the castle-like building soon took on a forlorn appearance, including boarded up windows.

Place Viger was sold in 2005 to a developer who intended to convert the building to apartments and a new hotel. However, the company suffered financial difficulties and finally resold the property in 2012 to real estate developer Jesta along with other partners. In May 2014, the new owners announced a $250 million mixed-use redevelopment plan for the complex, residential and office space in addition to a new hotel. At the time of this writing in 2023, construction and renovations are well under way.

The City of Montreal is also giving Viger Square a much-needed makeover to correct the mistakes of the 1970s. The area is coming back to life after decades of neglect.

However, despite the new plans to revitalize Place Viger and its environs, there are constant rumors that the building is haunted. There is speculation that the ghostly activity is likely related to a string of tragedies in the hotel’s history.

One report of a paranormal encounter at Place Viger dates back to July 31^st, 2011. A tourist from Washington DC named Amy “Citizen of the World” C visited and then wrote a review on Yelp:

“We were on our way to the Latin Quarter via Rue Saint Denis and passing by Rue Sainte Antoine when the green rooftop and interesting architecture of the exterior of Place Viger caught my eye a block away. We were drawn to it by its aesthetics, but as we drew closer we noticed all the boarded up windows and construction permits on the doors.”

Amy added: “Appearances aside, I felt a very strong negative energy about the place. I immediately knew the place was haunted. I heard children crying for their mothers and the sadness engulfed me. I felt a tightness in my chest so I practically ran back across the street. On my way back, I noticed broken glass on the sidewalk near the front of Place Viger. It looked like shattered glass from a car accident. As soon as I was across the street, I felt a whole lot better.”

However, the broken glass that Amy had spotted was perhaps an omen of what was to come.

Indeed, Amy wrote: “All of sudden, a car collided into the front of another car as it turned onto the block. No one was hurt, but both cars were dented. The drivers pulled their cars over to the front of Place Viger.”

Amy concluded her review with a recommendation: “Ever since that experience, I keep thinking about Place Viger so I did some internet research and learned the history of it. Whether you believe in spirits or not, it’s worth a quick walk around the outside.”

Despite being very disturbed by her paranormal encounters, Amy gave four out of five stars to Place Viger in her online review.

There can be no denying that Place Viger has experienced some horrific events throughout its short history. Examples include a robbery, messy train accident and an unexpected gas explosion that sent about 100 people on a train quay flying into the air. Over 20 of them were left crippled.

Going back in time, the robbery occurred in the early hours of April 3^rd, 1935. A man approached the ticket counter and passed a note to the clerk that demanded he put all of the money into an envelope. The thief had his hand in his pocket and it appeared as though he might have a revolver.

The clerk put $200 in an envelope and handed it over. The thief took the wad of cash, glanced around and then fled. Detectives were unable to find the culprit.

Next was the train accident, which happened in the evening of June 15^th, 1913.

A railcar loaded with 80,000 gallons of coal tar broke away from a train in the Mile End Railyards. The errant railcar began rolling on its own down the slope towards the river. It soon was barreling down the escarpment and racing towards Viger Train Station.

According to the Montreal Daily Witness, “The first obstacle it met was the buffer. Built of steel and heavy timber, the buffer appeared to be strong enough to stop it, but so great was the force with which the car travelled that steel and wood gave way before it. Jumping the metals, it forged its way across the concrete concourse, tearing up the stone work, and flung its weight, amounting to many tons, against the railway gates and the stone work of the waiting room.”

As the railcar slammed into the waiting room, it tipped over, spewing thousands of gallons of coal tar. The force was so great that the tarry mess filled the waiting room and splattered all the way to the ceiling. Three people were injured, one of them named Alfred Gadoury seriously. He was taken to Notre-Dame Hospital, covered in coal tar.

Finally, in this string of horrible episodes, a major tragedy struck Place Viger in 1909 on New Year’s Eve.

That Friday night, hundreds were gathered on a railway quay to bid farewell to friends and relatives who were departing for Quebec City to see loved ones on New Year’s Day.

As the crowd waited for the train to depart, at 11:27 p.m. there was a massive explosion on the quay. In the fiery and apocalyptic scene, around 100 people were scattered into the air. They landed in a chaotic heap of broken bodies.  

Amidst the screaming, moans of pain, and children crying for their parents, railway officials ran over to try to help the victims of the explosion. Among the piles of scattered people, they discovered that over twenty of them were seriously mangled.

The railway quay they had been standing on was split open almost its entire length, revealing a burst pipe that was carrying “Pintsch” gas, which was used to light railway carriages at the time.

For over an hour, ambulances worked tirelessly to transport the injured to the various hospitals around the city. Many had broken bones and were in a state of nervous shock. The youngest victim was a 15 year-old boy named M. Diedonné Paquin. His body was twisted and mangled and the medics transported him to the Montreal General Hospital in a terrible condition.

Another victim, Mme. Patrick Guay, 28, died of her injuries shortly after the explosion – at the Royal Victoria Hospital. Other deaths were to follow.

Captain Bellefleur, of the municipal police force, was on the station platform when the explosion occurred. He recalled that he couldn’t define the feeling of the blast and wondered if he was still alive. “I am not usually afraid,” he said, “and yet I must confess that fear kept me immobile for some time.”

Bellefleur’s colleague, Captain Bourgeois, had a very eerie memory. He recalled that nine years earlier – on the same date and at the exact same time – a Canadian Pacific train had beheaded a man just a few feet from where the explosion occurred.

Captain Bourgeois, who was on duty at Viger Station that night, picked up the victim’s head himself. It was found nearly two feet from the tracks. The death was mysterious, according to the captain, who said “we never knew if this was a suicide or an accident”.

Early Saturday morning, an inquiry was held by Mr. McNicoll, vice-president of Canadian Pacific. Experts made a meticulous examination of the gas pipe that had exploded and concluded that the break was caused by cold temperatures. The gas was brought from a main tank through a half-inch underground pipe below the platform. The pressure was approximately 150 pounds per square inch.

The experts theorized that the gas had leaked through the damaged pipe, essentially filling up the underside of the quay. That evening, a thick layer of ice had covered the platform, ensuring the gas was unable to dissipate.

While the ultimate cause of what ignited the gas remains unknown to this day, authorities at the time speculated that it may have been caused by a lit cigar that someone had carelessly tossed onto the quay.

Today, the Place Viger is bustling with activity and construction as it transforms into a mixed-use “urban campus”. It will include office space, apartments, restaurants, a large interior courtyard and a Hyatt Centric boutique hotel.

Corporate clients include Lightspeed and Novartis Pharma Canada. There is also the Espace Gare Viger, a magnificent reception venue, which is available for rent within the complex.

There are many questions about the hauntings at Place Viger. What causes the disembodied screaming of children for their parents? Are there any other ghosts? Will the newly-constructed buildings also experience paranormal activity?

The most common theory of the crying children goes back to the devastating gas explosion of 1909. With over a hundred people scattered across the train quay, children screamed out for their parents.

For example, it is unknown 15-year old M. Diedonné Paquin survived his terrible injuries or if children onboard the train lost any parents to the explosion.

Tragic events can lead to residual hauntings, and it appears that the gas explosion may have created one.

It is also undeniably strange that architect Bruce Price’s other castle-like hotels are haunted. The Chateau Frontenac in Quebec City features a mysterious “Lady in White”, whereas the Banff Springs has at least four ghosts. These include a bellhop, a bartender, a headless bagpiper and a ghostly bride.

The unfortunate bride perished on her wedding day when her dress caught fire from a poorly-placed candle on a spiral staircase. She is so popular that Canada Post featured her on a stamp in the Haunted Canada series, which ran from 2014 to 2016.

Returning to Place Viger, it is unknown at this time if there are other hauntings in the revitalized “urban campus”. Given the tragic history, it is entirely possible that other spirits are lurking about.

Only time and more investigation will tell.

Company News

Haunted Montreal is now in winter mode and with the cool temperatures, our public activities are now only indoors!

Our Haunted Pub Crawl happens every Sunday at 3 pm in English. For tours in French, these happen on the last Sunday of every month at 4 pm.

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 $190 for small groups of up to 7 people.

Email info@hauntedmontreal.com to book a private tour!

We’re also launching our newest haunted experience:

You can bring the Haunted Montreal experience to your office Christmas party, house party 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 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!

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 opened 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 shop.

Haunted Montreal would like to thank all of our clients who attended a ghost walk, haunted pub crawl, paranormal investigation or virtual event during the 2022 season!

If you enjoyed the experience, we encourage you to write a review on our Tripadvisor page, 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 February 13: City of Montreal Archives

A massive vault sits below Montreal’s City Hall and it contains the valuable archives of the metropolis. These include 4.6 km of historical documents, dating mainly from 1796 to the present day, and around two million photographs. Researchers can browse the collection and study documents in the Conrad Archambault Consultation Room. Named after a former archivist who died in 1980, it is a quiet and scholarly place ideal for analyzing historical materials. However, there are also reports of paranormal activity within the City of Montreal Archives – and some staff members believe the ghost of Conrad Archambault is the likely culprit behind these phenomena.

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.

With over 500 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!

For this year’s Hallowe’en Season we are launching a new ghost tour – Haunted Old Montreal!

We are currently testing the tour in English and the following dates are available at a discounted price of only $19.50 per ticket:

Sunday, August 14th @ 8 pm

Sunday, August 21st @ 8 pm

Sunday, August 28th @ 8 pm

Haunted Old Montreal will also be available in French for the Hallowe’en Season!

Haunted Montreal is currently offering our regular ghost tours in both languages:

Every Friday:

Haunted Griffintown Ghost Walk

Every Saturday (on rotation):

Haunted Downtown Ghost Walk

Haunted Mountain Ghost Walk

Every Sunday:

Our Haunted Pub Crawl is offered every Sunday at 3 pm in English and on the last Sunday of the month at 4 pm in French.

Private tours can also be booked at any time based on the availability of our actors.

Our Virtual Ghost Tour is also available on demand!

Additionally, our team is releasing videos of ghost stories from the Haunted Montreal Blog every Saturday, in both languages!

Our hosts include Holly Rhiannon (in English) and Dr. Mab (in French).

Want to give the gift of a haunted experience for the 2022 season?

You can now order a Haunted Montreal Gift Certificate through our website. They are redeemable via Eventbrite for any of our in-person or virtual experiences. There is no expiration date.

Lastly, we now have an online store for those interested in Haunted Montreal merchandise. More details are below in our Company News section!

This month we explore a hotel in the Quartier des Spectacles that may be haunted because several murders occurred in the building when it was known as the Bolero Tourist Rooms.

Haunted Research

An old hotel sits in the heart of the Quartier des Spectacles and it is rumoured to be haunted. Built in the 1870s, it was originally named the Bolero Tourist Rooms. The establishment had a long history of catering to the seedy characters of Montreal’s old Red Light District. During that era, the hotel rented the rooms by the hour and the alleged hauntings may be related to the sordid history of the building.

In its glory days, Montreal’s Red Light District was characterized by grinding poverty, exploitation, disease, drunken debauchery, premature death and frequent violence. Not only did dangerous mobster and gangs fight each other for control of gambling, booze and prostitution rackets, but the area also witnessed violent crimes, including several unforgettable and terrifying murders.

When Prohibition kicked in across most of North America, including Canada in 1919, Montreal (and Québec) refused to join. With a strong Catholic influence, the very thought of banning wine was outrageous due to its use in Mass as the sacred “Blood of Christ”.

As millions of visitors began streaming in from all over North America looking for a good time, Montreal’s reputation as a “wide open city” was solidified. The city became even more infamous for its boozing, gambling, prostitution, and deeply entrenched corruption. Gangs, brothel-owners, criminals, prostitutes, police, and government officials were all in on the scheme.

With such a lax attitude, social problems in the neighbourhood began to multiply quickly. Illegal drugs were sold openly and women and children, some as young as 12, were forced into prostitution by violent pimps. 

Starting in the 1950’s, city officials began trying to find ways to shut down the notorious Red Light District. Slowly, with everything from brothel raids to massive demolition projects, the area started to reduce in size and illicit activities.

In 2002, proposals were made to rebrand the entire Red Light District as the Quartier des Spectacles, or Entertainment District.

Since then, the wholesale destruction of the area has continued unabated, complete with the tearing down of old theatres, displacement of street prostitution and the erasure of the salacious history of Montreal’s old Red Light District.

Today, the old Bolero Tourist Rooms no longer exist as they once did. Indeed, the building now hosts the Hotel l’Abri du Voyageur. Fully refurbished into a boutique hotel, it now features beautiful rooms with brick walls that are adorned with tasteful paintings.

In July, 2014, a Texan man named Brock wrote a very positive review of the establishment.

He wrote that he “loved the creaking of the wooden floors as we walked around the hotel !!!!” He also explained how the manager helped him play a prank on his 9-year-old granddaughter. Brock told her that the hotel was haunted by “Marie the little girl ghost who didn’t listen to her parents” and the manager backed up his story. The granddaughter fell for the prank until Brock told her a few days later that they had made up the ghost story.

Little did Brock know that the hotel may harbor real ghosts!

The most common report about hauntings in the hotel is that electronic devices can seem to take on a life of their own. One guest reported that the TV in his room randomly changed channels and would not stay on one of them. The phone also rang randomly throughout the night with no one on the other end, prompting him to think they may have been haunted by something.

In other cases, cell phone and tablet batteries have unexpectedly been drained inside the hotel, only to spring back to life once outside. One common theory suggests that ghosts are capable of draining batteries due to their negative energy.

A psychic medium also visited the hotel in mid-1990s and detected what she described as a shadowy figure staring at her through one of the windows. When she tried to communicate with it, she felt an evil presence and it disappeared, only to reappear in another window. She felt uncomfortable as the shadow seemed to be studying her, so she abandoned the investigation for her own safety.

During the Red Light era, when the hotel was called the Bolero Tourist Rooms, it was a centre for drugs and prostitution. The corner of Clark and St. Kit’s (the nickname for St. Catherine Street) was the centre for drug dealing, making the hotel ideally located. Whenever the police arrived, the dealers and junkies made themselves scarce.

Murder was not unknown in the tourist rooms either. On Friday, December 14, 1984, a 24-year old woman of no-fixed address named Sharon Deslandes was found dead in one of Bolero Tourist Rooms. There was a layer of froth on her lips.

Police initially suspected a drug overdose, but the autopsy confirmed she had been strangled.

Almost two months later, a maid discovered something gruesome. While cleaning the rooms, she found another strangled sex worker – Francine St. Hilaire, aged 35.

Based on their initial investigation, Montreal Police immediately began looking for a suspect in his early 20s. The case would lead them to Toronto. On December 3, 1985, another body was discovered. This time it was Faith Constance Russell, 38, a University of Toronto dental technician. Her corpse was found wrapped in a sleeping bag in an apartment she shared with a man named Gregory George Ashford.

Toronto police linked Ashford to the murder of at least five young women and issued a Canada-wide warrant for his arrest. They warned that Ashford should be considered violent and extremely dangerous.

Ashford was finally arrested in Winnipeg, after murdering another woman in Halifax.

Montreal police were able to eventually interrogate Ashford about the strangling of the sex workers at the Bolero Tourist Rooms, but if they got any information, it was never used in court. The murders of Sharon Deslandes and Francine St. Hilaire were never solved.

In January, 1987, Ashford pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the death of Faith Constance Russell before Ontario Supreme Court Justice John O’Driscoll. He was given a life sentence with no chance of parole for 20 years. A few months later, he received an additional life sentence after being linked to the murder of a prostitute in Halifax.

A psychiatrist diagnosed Ashford as a sociopath and has said he a “reasonably severe, paranoid personality disorder.” Ashford has never expressed any remorse for his crimes, expressed amazement at how easy it was to kill and believes he deserves to die for what he has done.

Private Investigator Annie M. Richard wrote in-depth about the murders in La dépoussiéreuse de crimes: Lumière sur 12 énigmes judiciaires.

After serving a life sentence of 25 years, Ashford began seeking release from prison. He has been eligible for parole since 2005, but always abandoned his application when the families of his victims have gone public with their opposition.

Despite concerns from the Parole Board that he remains an “above average risk,” in 2016 Ashford was allowed to go to Narcotics Anonymous meetings in the community for his heroin addiction.

He was not to consume alcohol or drugs and had to report any female friendship to his parole officer.

Family members of the victims worry that he will strike again and the police are still trying to link him to several other murders, including those at the Bolero Tourist Rooms.

It is unknown at this time if Gregory George Ashford has been released from prison.

Whether or not the electronic hauntings and shadowy spirit are related to these murders is unknown at this time. It is not uncommon for there to be these types of disturbances at sites where tragedies have occurred, such as the brutal strangulations and murders that happened in the mid-1980s, when the Bolero Tourist Rooms were rented by the hour.

Company News

For this year’s Hallowe’en Season we are launching a new ghost tour – Haunted Old Montreal!

We are currently testing the tour in English and the following dates are available at a discounted price of $19.50 per ticket:

Sunday, August 14th @ 8 pm

Sunday, August 21st @ 8 pm

Sunday, August 28th @ 8 pm

Haunted Old Montreal will also be available in French for the Hallowe’en Season!

Haunted Montreal’s summer season is in full swing!

Every Friday:

Haunted Griffintown Ghost Walk

Every Saturday (on rotation):

Haunted Downtown Ghost Walk

Haunted Mountain Ghost Walk

Every Sunday:

Our Haunted Pub Crawl happens every Sunday at 3 pm in English and on the last Sunday of the month at 4 pm in French.

For those who want to try to communicate with the Dead, we offer a real Paranormal Investigation the first weekend of every month (Fridays in French and Saturdays in English):

Paranormal Investigation – Old Sainte Antoine Cemetery

Private tours for any of these experiences can be booked at any time based on the availability of our actors.

For private tours, clients can request any date, time, language and operating tour. These tours are based on the availability of our actors and start at $170 for small groups of up to 7 people.

Email info@hauntedmontreal.com to book a private tour!

Our team also releases videos every Saturday, in both languages, of ghost stories from the Haunted Montreal Blog. Hosted by Holly Rhiannon (in English) and Dr. Mab (in French), this new initiative is sure to please ghost story fans!

Please like, subscribe and hit the bell!

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 opened 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 would like to thank all of our clients who attended a ghost walk, haunted pub crawl, paranormal investigation or virtual event during the 2022 season!

If you enjoyed the experience, we encourage you to write a review on our Tripadvisor page, 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 September 13^th: Manoir MacDougall

The stately MacDougall Manor is located on Gouin Boulevard in the borough of Ahuntsic-Cartierville. When it was used as a filming location for the popular television show La Galère on Radio-Canada, actresses reported paranormal activity. One felt an invisible force holding her arm and another experienced a strange silhouette. The home is popular with various paranormal investigators, all of whom are trying to figure out who or what is haunting the MacDougall Manor.

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.