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 13^th 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 13^th! The blog is published in both English and French!

Our outdoor public tours are on pause until the Spring, but we are launching a new indoor Paranormal Investigation in February, March, and April at the Montreal Art Center and Museum, the subject of this very blog.

Our Haunted Pub Crawl still runs every Sunday at 3 pm in English. Tours in French happen on the last Sunday of every month at 2 pm.

We are also offering the Travelling Ghost Storyteller experience. Bring our stories to your party or event.

You can still book all of our experiences, except for Haunted Mountain, as private tours. These 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 $235 for small groups of up to 8 people.

More information on this, our schedule, Gift Certificates and other events and projects in the works in our Company News section.

This month, we head to the Montreal Art Center and Museum, housed in the former Caledonian Iron Works Factory. We speak with some of the museum staff to learn of encounters with spirits from the building, and Griffintown’s, industrial past.

Haunted Research

Nestled among the new condo towers in western Griffintown, the Montreal Art Center and Museum stands out like a rare gem. It occupies the former 1879 Caledonian Iron Works factory, a Victorian-era company that produced engine parts for ships and trains, turbines and other complex metalworks.

During the era, there were no safety codes or labour laws. The factory witnessed fatal industrial accidents, major fires and life-altering injuries during its operations. The Caledonian Iron Works was a theatre of both industry and tragedy until it wound down its operations with the changing of the times in the mid-20^th Century.

Today, the Montreal Art Center and Museum is considered as one of the most historical – and haunted – buildings in Griffintown.

In 2010, the heritage structure was acquired by painter Allan Diamond. He wanted a home for the Montreal Art Center, a not-for-profit community arts organization he had founded.

The building was run down and showing its age. The empty structure was dirty and rat infested.

Slowly, with other members, Allan began to clean the place up, renovate it and create the Montreal Art Center.

According to its website:

“The center provides working studios for artists, creating a nurturing environment where creativity flourishes. It is dedicated to fostering an inclusive and supportive art community.”

Since its opening, the arts space has hosted various community events, performing artists, concerts, lectures and movie nights.

In early 2022, the art center officially became a museum. There are now art galleries featuring the Italian Renaissance, French Baroque and New France. The center’s permanent collection of European masterpieces include works on paper by Picasso, Monet and Rembrandt.

Furthermore, member artists’ works are displayed in other galleries and many are on sale.

Museum guests also can see a 140-year-old safe, antique furniture, Douglas fir wooden structural elements, and various other interesting displays.

Artisan and painter Roxanna Kibsey joined the art center in February 2011 and was instrumental in helping Allan Diamond to realize his mission.

She recalls how run down the building was when she first set foot in it. It was dark, grungy and creepy.

One her first day there, her brother visited in the evening and noticed the gloomy atmosphere. He asked her if she had been visited by something yet. When she asked him to clarify, he told her that Griffintown was full of ghosts, including the infamous – and headless – Mary Gallagher.

When Roxanna heard this, she was concerned so asked all of the mean ghosts to leave the building the following day. She added: “Paddy, you can stay.”

“Paddy” was a common nickname for Irish people during the Victorian era and many of them worked at the Caledonian Iron Works.

Roxanna believed Irish ghosts were not malevolent, which is why she said “Paddy” could stay. Ever since, those witnessing paranormal activity in the Montreal Art Center and Museum usually put the blame on “Paddy.”

The most common occurrence is the manifestation of shadowy figures lurking in the building. Once, while Allan was showing a woman around the art center, she jumped when she noticed a shadow moving out of the corner of her eye.

In another case, a woman claimed that something had just walked in when nobody else saw it. On another occasion, a man applying to work as a cleaner claimed that there were spirits in the building.

There was also an incident when something lightly pushed Roxanna as she was descending a flight of stairs. A volunteer named Brenda said: “You look like you’ve just been pushed!” Roxanna replied that it was “Paddy.”

Just a few years later, in 2014, the City of Montreal ordered the art center to decommission or repair its ancient freight elevator. With an estimated cost of over $200,000 to restore it, administrators decided to remove it instead, keeping only the old mechanism for historical value.

When they took off some old wooden planks, they discovered something surprising written on an old wall. The name “Pat” was clearly written along with a family name that might be Leary, Leahy or something similarly Irish. The writing included a date: Feb. 2/27.

While some staff members feel that this is uncanny proof that the ghost of “Paddy” is real, research into the name and circumstances of its writing is inconclusive.

Incidentally, the Montreal Art Center and Museum is currently fundraising for a new elevator to better service its mobility-reduced visitors.

Another important note is that the venue is well-known for hosting Halloween parties and events.

The most recent Halloween party in 2025 was billed as the “Witches Night Out: A Haunted Evening of Art, Music & Magic.”

The advertisement stated: “Step into the spellbinding atmosphere of the Spooky Halloween at the Museum 2025—an unforgettable night where history, art, and enchantment collide. Set inside a 140-year-old Griffintown landmark—home to the legendary ghost of Mary Gallagher—this celebration transforms the museum into a playground for witches, vampires, and mystical beings of every kind.”

Roxanna recalled one of the first Halloween parties in 2012 or 2013. A transformer on a pole outside exploded into flames, plunging the art center into darkness right as the party was about to begin.

Staff began placing candles throughout the building and the atmosphere was soon just perfect for Halloween night! It was widely described as one of the best parties the center has ever hosted.

Returning to the headless ghost of Mary Gallagher and the art center’s connection to her, it is interesting to note that beyond the Halloween advertising, Allan has also been inspired by her spirit.

On many occasions when Allan mentioned Mary Gallagher’s name, the lights started flickering. This uncanny activity inspired him to create a painting of her ghost, which is now on display in the museum.

Another creepy story relates to the New France Gallery. This space features colonial artworks along with several historical waxworks from Montreal’s former Musée Grévin, the first international branch of the famous Paris wax museum.  

Located in Montreal’s Eaton Centre, the Musée Grévin opened in April 2013. It contained over 120 waxwork figures arranged in various scenarios.

Themes featured inspiring historical figures, stars from the world of entertainment and colonists from New France.

The life-like waxworks included Albert Einstein, Elvis Presley, Charlie Chaplin, Harold Houdini, Lady Gaga, Mahatma Gandhi and many others.

Controversial colonial figures such as Jacques Cartier, the Sieur de Maisonneuve and Queen Elizabeth II were also present.

Unfortunately, the Musée Grévin officially closed on September 16, 2021.  Some say it was due to economic hardships caused by the pandemic. Others blamed its haunted reputation, which was seen to deter customers.

Indeed, since its opening, there had been many reports of tourists feeling uncomfortable within the attraction. Some clients felt like they were being followed or stalked. Others complained that the eyes of certain waxworks were glaring at them.

There was even an incident in 2018 when a tourist complained about being touched inappropriately by one of the wax figures.

As things got worse, in 2019 The Daily Hive wrote:

“Houdini’s ghost is said to haunt Grevin’s wax museum in the Eaton Centre. Staff members claim to constantly hear chatter and music from the museum’s main ballroom after the doors have been locked up. From wax figurines, don’t use the legacy of the dead to make money or Harry Houdini may make sure of it.”

Sales soon plummeted by over 50%. In 2021, the Musée Grévin had no choice but to shutter its operation and vacate the Eaton Centre. It also needed to liquidate its assets – including the waxworks.

The museum offered some of its 128 wax figures to the real-life celebrities they portrayed. Other statues were sent to the original Musée Grévin in Paris, and the rest were sold or donated to various Quebec institutions.

Allan Diamond was able to acquire some of the colonial waxworks for his New France Gallery, such as Jacques Cartier, Marie de l’Incarnation and Paul de Chomedy, Sieur de Maisonneuve.

However, soon after the waxworks were installed, paranormal activity in the New France Gallery started to manifest.

Harper Tallon, responsible for artist studio rentals, is also in charge of the New France Gallery. Part of Harper’s job is to lock the room’s gate at night to deter any potential burglaries. As a meticulous person, she always checks to make sure everything in the New France Gallery is perfect, ensuring morning visitors get the best experience possible.

However, when she arrived one morning and unlocked the gate, Harper noticed that something was amiss.

More specifically, certain things on the Marie de l’Incarnation waxwork were out of place. The nun’s habit had been re-arranged during the night. The veil was now covering her face, whereas the day before it had been pulled back. The rosary beads in her hands had moved in their position and her Bible, which had been closed, was now open.

Harper was too scared to touch the waxwork. Eventually another employee corrected the arrangement to uncover her face.

In another incident, an antique cup that was on display was discovered flung to the other side of the gallery one morning.

Furthermore, the eyes of the de Maisonneuve waxwork tend to unnerve some people. Visitors have reported feelings of being stared at by the waxwork and of having his piercing eyes follow them around the gallery.

The gallery’s security camera turns on when it detects movement. On many occasions during the night, it has turned on when nobody is present. The camera always indicates that there is movement at the de Maisonneuve waxwork.

On one particularly troubling night, the gallery’s burglar alarm went of at around 4 a.m. Roxanne, who lived only a few streets away at the time, was jolted awake by the alarm.

She rushed out to see what was going on. When she arrived at the Montreal Art Center, the police were already on the scene. The sergeant told her she could not enter the building because officers were doing a sweep.

 A few minutes later, the officers had cleared the building and one of them appeared to be trembling. He was as white as a ghost and his colleagues were laughing at him. When Roxanna inquired what was going on, a sergeant chuckled and told her that a rookie cop had almost shot the waxwork of the Sieur de Maisonneuve because he was armed.

With all this seemingly paranormal activity, the New France Gallery appears to be one of the most haunted areas in the Montreal Art Center and Museum.

There are many other stories, such as the time a medium named Fernanda said she usually saw spirits in the museum but insisted they were all nice.

Given all the ghost stories and paranormal activity, Haunted Montreal dug into the historical archives to see what might be causing these disturbances.

Originally constructed by Scottish entrepreneur John McDougall, the Caledonian Iron Works was a thriving foundry that employed over 300 workers.

They produced components for ships and trains, as well as turbines, pumps, engines and other large and complex metalworks. The company played a vital role in the industrial development of Montreal during the late 19th century.

The archives revealed all sorts of fires, deadly industrial accidents and horrendous injuries that occurred while the Caledonian Iron Works was in operation.

For example, on April 5, 1895, La Presse reported that a man named John Marshall was taking legal action against the foundry.

He demanded $15,000 due to negligence that left him with a severe head injury, including permanent blindness, after an industrial accident at the Caledonian Iron Works.

On March 1, 1902, the same newspaper reported that a worker named John Enger was electrocuted while working there. He was pronounced dead upon arrival at the Montreal General Hospital.

On October 29 of the same year, Le Soleil reported that a mechanical engineer named Meredith Percy had perished after an industrial accident at the iron works. The following day, the The Daily Witness provided more details:

“The evidence showed that Mr. Percy was superintending some extra work in the Caledonian Iron Works, when the electric lights went out. They were run by a dynamo, which was temporarily installed for the occasion, and had been working badly. Mr. Percy took a workman’s torch, and went to examine the dynamo, and seems to have stepped back a little too far, and been caught in a belt, which injured him fatally.”

On July 16, 1904, according to Le Cultivateur two brothers were severely injured when a brick wall collapsed on them at the foundry. Their names were Pierre and Louis Blain.

There were many other industrial accidents at the Caledonian Iron Works, in addition to two major fires.

The first blaze occurred on August 6, 1909, starting in the stables at around 1:30 p.m. According to La Presse, the fire completely destroyed the stables, killing one horse and severely injuring another. The poor creature, which had almost burned alive, had to be put down because it was in agony.

Two adjacent houses also suffered $4000 in damages from the fire.

Just three years later, on April 9, 1912, the Caledonian Iron Works suffered a much larger fire that caused $15,000 in damages to the business. Le Canada suggested that the foundry was largely destroyed by the blaze.

The Montreal Gazette reported that the two-alarm fire had started in the moulding shop at around 9 p.m. and quickly spread. A firefighter named Lieutenant Guthrie was injured by falling shards of glass, which cut his hand. He was treated on scene by one Dr. Morrisson and sent home to recover.

As the years passed, so did the ownership of the Caledonian Iron Works. During the 1920s, the company consolidated and eventually became part of larger industrial conglomerates like Canada Iron Foundries Ltd.

Eventually, with the opening of the St. Lawrence Seaway in 1959, almost all the factories along the Lachine Canal and in Griffintown began to shutter their operations.

By the 1980s, the foundry was largely derelict, used primarily for storing the company’s massive collection of wooden casting molds.

Returning to the paranormal activity in the Montreal Art Center and Museum, one thing that stands out is the connection between electricity and ghostly activity. When the lights flicker at the mention of Mary Gallagher or when the power fails due to exploding transformers, one wonders if there is any connection to the 1902 electrocution death of John Enger.

Whatever the case, because the Montreal Art Center and Museum has so much creepy and unexplained activity, Haunted Montreal has partnered with the establishment to launch a new paranormal investigation!

For three nights only, paranormal expert Dominique Desormeaux will host the bilingual activity:

• Saturday, February 28 @ 6:00 pm
• Saturday, March 21 @ 6:00 pm
• Saturday, April 18 @ 6:00 pm

Brave guests will use paranormal tools to communicate with the spirits that haunt the former Caledonian Iron Works. Tickets can be purchased here.

In conclusion, entering the Montreal Art Center and Museum is like stepping into the past. Steeped in mystery and haunted activity, this rare gem in Griffintown is a must-visit site for paranormal enthusiasts, art lovers and history buffs. Just make sure to stay alert in case you meet something unexpected!

Company News

Haunted Montreal is running our Haunted Pub Crawl every Sunday at 3 pm in English throughout the winter months. Tours in French happen on the last Sunday of every month at 2 pm.

Our public outdoor tours resume in the spring, and tickets for all of our 2026 dates are now on sale.

Private tours for any of our experiences (including outdoor tours, except for Haunted Mountain) 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 $235 for small groups of up to 8 people. Email info@hauntedmontreal.com to book a private tour!

As mentioned above, we are offering three bilingual Paranormal Investigations at the Montreal Art Center and Museum, the former Caledonian Iron Works Factory. Good for beginners and seasoned investigators alike. Paranormal equipment will be provided, but please feel free to bring your own.

You can purchase your tickets here.

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

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).

Our online shop is offline for the next few months. If you would like to purchase any Haunted Montreal-branded t-shirts or mugs in the meantime, please contact us at 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 also has temporarily altered its blog experience due to a commitment on a big writing project! Until further notice, we will be offering updates on old stories every second month and the regular blog service alternating.

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 each month, please sign up to our mailing list.

Coming up on March 13: Update on The Phantom Calèche

The sounds of horses trotting in Old Montreal and Griffintown have mostly vanished since former Mayor Valerie Plante banished the animals in 2020. After receiving complaints from animal rights activists, she outlawed horse-drawn carriage rides, which had been a part of the city’s history for centuries. It wasn’t long before Griffintown’s stables were torn down and replaced with condominium towers. However, the Griffintown Horse Palace was converted into a small park to commemorate the past. Recently, the sinister Phantom Calèche has been spotted in the enclosure late at night by an upset condo owner.

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 pleased to announce that we are offering our regular ghost tours every Saturday evening on rotation up until June, when the season will be expanded:

Haunted Downtown Ghost Walk

Haunted Griffintown Ghost Walk

Haunted Mountain Ghost Walk

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.

Also, our Paranormal Investigation into Sainte-Antoine Cemetery will be available on the first Friday and Saturday nights of the month from May to November.

While public tours are available Saturday nights and Sunday afternoons for the Haunted Pub Crawl, private tours can 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’s 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 the Château Ramezay Museum in Old Montreal. Constructed in the 18th Century out of fieldstones and mortar, it is likely one of the most haunted buildings in the city!

Haunted Research

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.

Built in 1705 as the Governor’s residence, the building has witnessed as host of other uses over the years. It was finally converted into a museum in 1895 and it still serves this purpose today.

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.

According to one online review of the museum:

“My family and I went to the Chateau Ramezay in Old Montreal. My 17-year-old daughter and I were entering the ballroom when I heard a noise that sounded like someone’s heels tapping on the wooden floor and a then a light thump of a door closing. My daughter heard these same sounds. However, I saw from the corner of my eye a woman in period clothing going out of the ballroom from a door further in the room. There were a few other people in the building including guides in costumes so I didn’t think anything of it until I entered the ballroom fully and realised that there was no other door where I had seen the woman exit – and there was no one in the room ahead of us.”

Staff members have had even more bizarre experiences.

Several years ago, certain employees were moving furniture in the museum and they heard an unearthly voice.  At the beginning, it sounded like the grating of wood against the ground, but nothing was moving at the spot where the noise was from. Slowly, the noise transformed into a human cry, a loud wailing. The noise reached a high pitch – and then suddenly stopped.

On other occasions, paintings have fallen off the walls and the furniture has moved by itself. Sometimes, chairs and tables have been flung across a room, as though by an angry force.

There is also a sulfurous stench, like the smell of rotten eggs, which often erupts out of nowhere. It usually vanishes as quickly as it appeared. Maintenance staff have checked the pipes and ventilation system and cannot find an explanation.

Journalist Mark Abley did an in-depth report into the Chateau’s hauntings in a 2014 Montreal Gazette article called “Montreal is a City of Ghosts”.

In the article, Abley interviewed a museology technician whom he calls “Monsieur L” to protect his anonymity.

According to Monsieur L:

“One morning I arrived at work. I opened the front door, I climbed the stairs, and I was alone in the building. I remember, the first thing I did was put my lunch in the fridge — and as I did that, I distinctly heard the sound of toilet paper being pulled off the metal holder in the women’s washroom by the staff kitchen.”

Monsieur L continued:

“I went out into the corridor and I noticed the door was slightly ajar. There wasn’t any light in the washroom. I knocked on the door, and when there was no answer I went in. And right away, I saw soap bubbles in the sink. A few minutes later, they had dissolved. Nobody else was in the building.”

According to Abley, Monsieur L has kept “a long list of odd occurrences at the museum since he began work there.”

For example, a young staff member once heard a voice calling her name from a nearby room while working alone. That room contains a portrait of Jacques Cartier, and the young lady is one of his direct descendants. In another case, “Staff members unlocked the heavy doors one morning to find a pile of brochures inexplicably scattered on the floor; on another occasion, two books had fallen from a shelf where everything else remained intact.”

There have also been cases of disembodied sneezing and ghosts allegedly sitting in chairs, causing the cushions to flatten before the eyes of shocked the staff.

Management at the Château Ramezay do not deny that their museum is haunted. According to Education Director Louise Brazeau: “Whatever it is,” it shows no sign of aggression. But it can make people feel afraid.”

Finally, following Monsieur L’s spooky introduction to the museum, he managed to capture the blurry image of a ghost in a photograph he took one day while at work. The Château Ramezay has since included the ghostly image in its branding, such as on video displays within the attraction.

With so much paranormal activity occurring within the Château Ramezay, the question arises as to who exactly is haunting it. To theorize such a question, it is important to look at the building’s history.

The Chateau was built in 1705, during the New France era, as the residence of then-governor Claude de Ramezay.

Known for his lavish tastes, Ramezay hired master architect and mason Pierre Couturier to design the sumptuous dwelling. Courtier built a thick stone house that was 66 feet long, three floors high and which featured four chimney-stacks. The large property originally included the residence, a fruit orchard, and a large ornamental and kitchen garden. Ramezay proudly boasted his home as “unquestionably the most beautiful in Canada.”

When Ramezay died in 1724, his descendants sold his beloved Chateau to the Compagnie des Indes, a fur trading company. This enterprise used the building as a warehouse for pelts and as a store to sell its wares.

Over the years, the Château Ramezay would change hands many times.

In 1775, American soldiers invading the city seized the building and transformed it into the U.S. Continental Army Headquarters.

Despite the best diplomatic efforts by Benjamin Franklin to get Montreal to join the fledgling United States of America, he failed to secure support from local residents.

The following year, the Yankees were expelled by British reinforcements. The Chateau was taken over by the British governor took it over for his personal residence.

In 1878, it became the first medical building for Laval University, now the Université de Montréal. During that era, numerous patients died within the walls of the Chateau and many autopsies were performed as well.

Famous Irish author Oscar Wilde visited the Chateau’s gardens during lecture tour of Canada in 1882. According to lore, Wilde was so impressed with the gardens that it inspired him to write The Selfish Giant, a children’s story originally published in 1888.

The Château Ramezay was finally made into a museum in 1895, after being purchased by the Antiquarian and Numismatic Society and saved from demolition. Their intention was to preserve the building and establish a free archeological, scientific and historical museum inside.

Curators collected and put on display a wide variety of items: paintings of famous people, like colonists, governors, bishops, fur traders and military heroes; old coins and documents; historical items including old weapons, Indigenous artifacts and other symbolic works; as well as curiosities of all sorts.

However, over the years the museum began to take on a haunted reputation due to all of the paranormal activity inside.

There are three prominent theories as to who is haunting the Château Ramezay. The first theory suggests that a guard named O’Leary, who began working there in 1895, haunts it. However, the details are very thin and more research is needed.

The second theory is connected to a gibbet cage that was once displayed and stored in the museum. The cage is related to one of Quebec’s most famous ghost stories – La Corriveau.

In 1763, a woman named Marie-Josephte Corriveau was hanged as a witch near Quebec City after murdering two husbands. She had allegedly killed them by pouring molten lead into their ears as they slept. As a message to other potential criminals, her body was placed in a gibbet cage. It was then hoisted up and hung from a tree branch at a Lévis crossroads near Quebec City – and left to publicly decompose for over a month.

During this time, as her corpse deteriorated, it was said that her ghost terrorized unfortunate passers-by.

She was then buried, cage and all, in the cemetery of St. Joseph district, Lauzon.

The gibbet cage was “rediscovered” in 1849 – someone dug it up and stored in the parish church at St. Joseph. However, the cage was later reported stolen. Rumours suggest that it was peddled as a “curiosity” – and somehow ended up on display in the Château Ramezay.

According to legend, La Corriveau returns to haunt her cage every Halloween and may have caused some problems in the museum’s early history.

However, today the creepy artifact is no longer in the Château Ramezay. In 1899, showman P. T. Barnum acquired the infamous gibbet cage, no doubt to be included in his “Greatest Show on Earth”.

The cage eventually ended up at the Essex Institute in Boston, now the Essex Peabody Museum in Salem.

In the early 2010s, members of a Lévis historical society located the cage at the Essex Peabody Museum. Working with the museum, Corriveau’s cage was soon donated to the Musée de la Civilisation in Quebec City, where it remains to this day.

This raises questions about the credibility of the second theory.

Finally, the third theory is related to the last warden who lived inside the museum, a certain Miss Anna O’Dowd. In the old days, the museum’s curators lived in the building on the top floor. A flat, or apartment, was reserved for these guardians. With such a valuable collection inside the museum, it was ideal to have someone living there.

Miss O’Dowd was very meticulous and detail-oriented in her presentation of the museum’s displays and in the upkeep of her living space.

Apparently, she did not like any of the other staff moving things without her explicit permission. Miss O’Dowd was said to be a “perfectionist”.

Needless to say, after stressful encounters when disobedient staff members re-arranged her work without permission, Miss O’Dowd often felt anxiety.

As such, she always enjoyed a nice, piping hot bath at the end of the day – in her flat on the top floor of the Château Ramezay.

According to the legend, one day in 1985, staff members arrived and were surprised that Miss O’Dowd was not there to greet them and instruct them about their work for the day. They eventually went up to her flat and knocked on the door.

When there was no answer, they cautiously entered the apartment to see if Miss O’Dowd was okay.

They did not see anyone in her bedroom, but unfortunately, upon entering the bathroom they made a horrific discovery. Floating in the bathtub was Miss O’Dowd’s bloated corpse.

There was no conclusion as to how or why she had died in the intimacy of her flat in 1985. Many believe that Miss O’Dowd suffered from a heart-attack or stroke while trying to relax in her piping hot bathtub. Other ominous rumours have suggested far worse.

This third theory suggests that Miss O’Dowd haunts the building, forever upset that others continue to mess up her meticulous work. As a perfectionist in life, it is quite possible that her ghost is a perfectionist in death, albeit in a more deranged and paranormal way.

Whatever the case, whichever theory is correct – if any – the Château Ramezay is one of the most haunted buildings in the city.

Visit this museum at your own risk! 

Company News

Haunted Montreal is pleased to announce that we are offering our regular ghost tours every Saturday evening on rotation up until June, when the season will be expanded:

Haunted Downtown Ghost Walk

Haunted Griffintown Ghost Walk

Haunted Mountain Ghost Walk

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.

Finally, our Paranormal Investigation into Sainte-Antoine Cemetery will be available on the first Friday and Saturday nights of the month from May to November.

While public tours are available Saturday nights and Sunday afternoons for the Haunted Pub Crawl, private tours can be booked at any time based on the availability of our actors.

Our Virtual Ghost Tour is also available on demand!

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!

Furthermore, our team is releasing 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: shop.hauntedmontreal.com

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 2021 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 May 15^th: Fort de la Montagne

The first residential school in what is now modern-day Canada was established in 1675 at the foot of Mount Royal. Sulpician priests and teacher Marguerite Bourgeoys ordered the construction of the imposing Fort de la Montagne, which was designed to evangelize Indigenous “students”. This Catholic project was called the “Mountain Mission”. To ensure that Indigenous warriors could not rescue their brethren, colonial workers constructed 13-meter high walls and four stone towers with ominous gun ports around the school. Once the site was deemed secure, Marguerite Bourgeoys began teaching ghostly stories to try to indoctrinate her “students” into the Catholic religion. Today, only two towers of the old fort remain – and they are reputed to be haunted.

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.

HAUNTED RESEARCH

St. Helen’s Island juts out of the swirling and tumultuous waters of the St. Lawrence River, just to the south-east of Old Montreal. The storied outcrop has a remarkable history, including one site that attracts the most hardened paranormal investigators. Perched on a slope in the middle of the north part of the island looms a creepy old British fort that has long been reputed to be haunted.

Today the fortified structure houses the Stewart Museum, which “celebrates the influence of European civilization in New France and North America.” With noteworthy exhibitions and thousands of historic artifacts, the museum attracts large crowds of visitors each year. While most guests seek a historical lesson at the museum, some of them search for something entirely different: the ghosts and paranormal activities that are said to plague the old fort.

Before examining the fort’s hauntings, paranormal activities and ghost-hunters, a history of the island is in order.

St. Helen’s Island has volcanic origins and its three small peaks rise 30 meters out of the swirling waters of the St. Lawrence River. Approximately 200,000 years old, the island measures 3 kilometers by 600 meters. It has been used by various First Nations people for thousands of years, as evidenced by archaeological discoveries at two sites on the island. Pottery fragments and ancient, broken smoking pipes suggest the island was frequented by the Saint Lawrence Iroquoians, a First Nation that has since mysteriously disappeared.

During Jacques Cartier’s voyage of exploration in 1535, he landed on what is now known as Montreal Island but he failed to mention its tiny cousin, today’s St. Helen’s Island.

It wasn’t given a European name until 1611, when it was visited by Samuel de Champlain. Admiring the island’s natural beauty, he decided to name it in honour of his pubescent 13 year old wife, Hélène de Champlain. Just a year earlier she had been given in marriage to Samuel de Champlain, who was 31 years her senior.

Given that she had not yet reached the age of consent, a clause in the marriage contract required a lapse of two years before the couple could cohabitate. St. Helen’s Island appears on a map he drew at the bottom, in the middle of the St. Lawrence River.

The island witnessed several deaths during the early years of French colonization. On June 5, 1611, A Montagnais leader named Outetoucos and a French colonist named Louis drowned while attempting to shoot the swirling rapids after hunting for heron on a nearby island. Outetoucos was buried on St. Helen’s Island whereas Louis’ death would go on to influence Montreal’s toponymy. The turbulent waters where the men drowned were named Sault-Saint-Louis Rapids and, further to the west where the river widens, the body of water was named Lake St. Louis, in honour of the drowned Frenchman.

The island saw death again on August 9, 1664, when French colonists Jacques Dufresene and Pierre Maignant were killed by Iroquois warriors. Following the establishment of the Ville Marie colony on Montreal Island in 1642, a state of war broke out between the local Mohawk First Nation and the French colonizers, who were attempting to convert them to Catholicism.

The first record of ownership of the island dates back to 1635, when the Company of New France granted the Seigneury of Citiere, which included St. Helen’s Island, to Francois de Lauzon, the governor’s son. In 1657, de Lauzon ceded a strip of the seigneury to Charles Le Moyne, including St. Helen’s and Ronde islands. Remarkably, in 1700 the King of France designated Charles LeMoyne as a Baron to honour his military achievements, making him the only person born in New France to ascend into the nobility. The Longueuil Seigneury was also declared a Barony, the only one to exist in New France.

In 1760, British soldiers marched on Montreal and the city capitulated, putting an end to the New France project. However, the new British overlords did not dispute the private ownership of lands, so St. Helen’s Island remained in the hands of the Longueuil family in the following years.

The British wanted the island to build a fort on it following the War of 1812, a conflict that saw American militias invading Upper and Lower Canada, albeit unsuccessfully. To better defend Montreal, they wanted to build a fort, powder-house, barracks and blockhouse on the St. Helen’s Island. In 1818, the Baroness of Longueuil authorized the sale of the island to the British government for the sum of £15,000.

The fort was constructed between 1820 and 1824, according to the plans of Lieutenant-Colonel Elias Walker Durnford, an officer of the Royal Engineers. It included an ammunition arsenal, weapons depot, barracks, a small powder house, and a guard house, surrounded by a thick limestone wall. Outside the fortified complex stood a large, bomb-proof powder house which could hold up to 5000 barrels of gunpowder. Designed to serve as an arsenal and storage facility, it was part of a defensive chain of forts built to protect Canada from the threat of an American invasion.

The stone used to build the fort is a mix of red breccia, quarried locally on the island, and grey fieldstones from Montreal’s original fortifications, which were dismantled a few years earlier.

During the 1832-1834, Montreal was hit with a crisis. After a ship arrived carrying infected immigrants, a cholera epidemic began ravaging the city. The fort was pressed into use as a cholera hospital and many of those hospitalized surely died there because the disease is highly contagious and had a death rate often higher than 50%. The epidemic claimed almost 2000 victims in Montreal, killing almost 6% of the inhabitants. It left in its wake devastated, broken families and hundreds of orphans whose parents had succumbed to the disease.

More change was to come. In 1829, a military cemetery was laid out in the eastern part of the island. In 1837, the fort changed vocation again when it was transformed into a military prison following a series of rebellions. It was ravaged by fire in 1848, but was rebuilt from 1863 to 1864. Only four years later, in 1867, the Dominion of Canada was created on July 1st. The British troops left Canada in 1870 and the Canadian government acquired the island and transformed it into a public park in 1874.

The fort was active during both World Wars. During World War I, the fort served as a munitions depot and in the 1930s it was restored as a Depression era job creation project. During World War II, the fort was converted into an internment camp called s/43. POWs in this camp, mostly of Italian and German nationality, were forced to do hard labour, included farming and chopping down trees.

In 1944, the internment camp was closed following the release of an internal report about the mistreatment of prisoners.

The David M. Stewart Museum was founded in 1955, to collect, store and display historical artifacts from Canada’s colonial past, particularly from the era of New France. Established within the fort, the museum’s collections include artifacts dating from the 16th century through to the 19th century.

During the 1960’s St. Helen’s Island saw major changes because it was chosen as the site of Expo 67, a World’s Fair on the theme of “Man and His World”. Using 28 million tons of earth excavated from the construction of the Montreal metro, St. Helen’s Island was greatly enlarged and merged with several nearby islands. The adjacent Notre Dame Island was also constructed at this time to host pavilions from over sixty countries for the World’s Fair. From April 27 to October 29, 1967, 50 million visitors attended Expo 67, which is considered to be the most successful World’s Fair of the 20th Century.

After the closing of Expo in late 1967, the site was renamed the Parc des Îles de Montreal. In 1999, it was renamed again, this time Parc Jean-Drapeau in honour of former Mayor of Montreal who had built the Montreal Metro, enlarged the islands, and brought Expo 67 to the city.

Returning to the fort and museum, today they are open year-round. While visitors can enjoy some exceptional exhibitions and activities at the museum, they must also contend with all sorts of paranormal activity.

There are many reports of hauntings at the museum. Strange apparitions have been spotted lurking in the shadows. The sound of phantom boots can be sometimes be heard marching in unison, as though soldiers were marching in formation. Objects are also known to go missing and some visitors complain about feelings of malaise and shortness of breath. Add to this mysterious mists, strange lights, disembodied voices, and the unexplained smell of smoke, and it is easy to conclude that the fort is very haunted.

One box office worker, who is a bit creeped out working at the fort, suggested that there is at least one ghost she is aware of. The spirit is of a quartermaster or cook from long ago, according to the young lady. She heard reports that area where the barrack’s kitchen used to be is haunted. People have smelled a wood fire burning and heard the sound of pots clanging, despite the fact no fire is lit and the area is not used as a kitchen anymore. Staff whisper that the ghost of a quartermaster haunts the site.

The most famous quartermaster to work the military canteen was a gruff philanthropist named Charles McKiernan, also known as “Joe Beef”. After feeding troops during the Crimean War, he was transferred to Montreal in 1864 with his artillery regiment and charged with cooking for the troops stationed at the fort. When he was discharged in 1868, he opened “Joe Beef’s Canteen,” an infamous inn and watering hole located at 201–207 rue de la Commune in what is now Old Montreal.

Hundreds of longshoreman, labourers and seamen frequented the canteen to drink and have a meal. Wealthier clients could have steak and onions for 10 cents, while the poorer patrons received a bowl of soup and hunk of bread for free. The eccentric Joe Beef also kept a menagerie of wild animals in the cellar and two human skeletons behind the bar to entertain guests. Known to dislike authority, he supported striking Lachine Canal workers in 1877 by providing free bread and soup to the picket line. On January 15, 1889 Joe Beef died suddenly of a heart attack. His funeral was one of the most well attended in Montreal’s history. Could Joe Beef’s ghost have returned to haunt the old fort, perhaps to continue thwarting authority?

The haunted fort was also featured on a French ghost investigation program on television called L’Enquêteur Du Paranormal. In an episode entitled Le Fort De l’Île Ste Hélène & La Maison Hanté De Contrecoeur, paranormal expert and host Christian Page, interviewed Laure Pavlovic, the Education Co-ordinator at the museum. She acknowledged that there are many reports of haunted activity and mentioned that security cameras sometimes pick up strange phenomena, such as lights turning themselves on and off. Christian Page also invited three mediums to the fort to try and communicate with its ghosts.

The first medium, Michel Alexandre L’Archevêque, saw a spirit moving quickly near a basement wall and detected the ghosts of young soliders. The second medium, Sylvain Bolduc, heard phantom boots marching and cutlery clinking in the area where the kitchen once existed. He also smelled paranormal smoke and witnessed the ghost of a prisoner in a green shirt who spoke Italian, but not French. This spirit was likely an Italian prisoner in the s/43 internment camp, perhaps one of the inmates who had been mistreated. He also detected the ghosts of children, perhaps the spirits of orphans from the time when it was a cholera hospital. The third medium, Sylvia Davenzo, identified the ghosts of people who had starved to death and others and who were chained up, suggesting they could have originated from the time it was a military prison.

Meanwhile, one persistent rumour that has been circulating on the internet suggests that 800 soldiers were buried in a mass grave on the island after being taken down by sharpshooters.

According to hauntedplaces.org: “Fort de l’Île Sainte-Hélène on Saint Helen’s Island is haunted by some of the 800 soldiers who are buried nearby in a mass grave, victims of enemy sharpshooters.”

Meanwhile, thechive.com reports: “Witnesses report that it is to be home of eight hundred soldiers who lost their lives when their General purposely put them in the line of fire of enemy sharpshooters. They are buried in a mass grave on the island.”

However, a visit to the nearby military cemetery, located to the south-east of the fort, reveals no such nonsense.

Estimates put the number of bodies in the cemetery at around 100. According to the commemorative plaque in the graveyard, inaugurated in 1935, there are a total of 58 known soldiers and “several others of names unknown” buried from various regiments and brigades. The plaque also informs visitors that “several wives and many children were also buried here”, but there is no mention whatsoever of 800 soldiers buried in mass graves.

Furthermore, according to some sources, the graves were exhumed and the bodies were moved around 1915. Where these unfounded rumours originated and why they were circulated is unknown at this time, but they continue to make the rounds on the internet.

Whatever the case, the curators of the Stewart Museum are not unaware of its ghosts. Indeed, they sometimes celebrate Halloween with a nocturnal event called “Strange and Haunted Objects”. Children aged 7 and up are invited to examine presumably cursed “locks, keys, globes, telescopes, sundials, powder horns, kitchen accessories, antique prints, sculptures, miniature objects, hat boxes and pipe cases,” while hearing “extraordinary tales about objects and ghosts” in the creepy fort.

The sum of all the ghostly rumours, paranormal investigations and strange encounters suggests that the fort on St. Helen’s island is very haunted. With so many stories about ghosts and paranormal activity at the fort and museum, it is no wonder it is such a popular place for mediums, ghost-hunters and curiosity-seekers to visit.

Company News

The Haunted Montreal public season of ghost tours is now open, with Haunted Griffintown and Haunted Mountain being offered in both English and French. In May and June, the two tours will alternate every Friday night. From July to October, Haunted Griffintown will be offered on Friday nights and Haunted Mountain on Saturday nights. There are also many extra tours that have been added on Mount Royal in French due to high demand.

To learn more, please visit our website. It was recently re-done to make it more manageable and user-friendly. With an integrated platform it is easier to navigate the website and blog. The blog has also moved onto the website itself and can now be read in either language in separate areas. Ticket sales have become completely automated and we have added a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) page.

We have been busy helping establish a new company called Secret Montreal! The new company will take over the Haunted Red Light District Ghost Walk and will also offer a brand new Montreal Burlesque Walking Tour that is being led by real burlesque queens!

From June 23 to September 4, the Haunted Red Light District Ghost Walk will be offered in English on Sunday nights, in French on Monday nights and in both languages on Friday nights.

Secret Montreal plans to develop other tours in the future that delve into the city’s fascinating past with a focus on hidden history.

For details on Secret Montreal and its walking tours, please visit the Secret Montreal website.

Lastly, a big thank you to all of our clients who attended a Haunted Montreal ghost walk! If you enjoyed the experience, we encourage you to write a review on our Tripadvisor page, something that helps Haunted Montreal to market its tours. Furthermore, 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 July 13th: Maison Pierre du Calvet

The Maison Pierre du Calvet is one of the oldest houses in the city. Built during the French regime in 1725, the house has remarkable architecture and a fascinating history. From the outside, the Breton stone facade is built with 3-foot-thick field stone walls, iron window shutters, tall chimneys, French windows and a pitched roof. It is named after Pierre du Calvet, one of Montreal’s more colorful characters. A Hugenot merchant from France, he was appointed a Justice of the Peace following the British Conquest of 1760. Today, Maison Pierre du Calvet is an intimate 9-room boutique hotel known for hosting private receptions, business meetings, weddings, and romantic getaways. The house is also rumoured to be haunted. According to Haunted Canada 5, the ghost of Du Calvet’s wife, Marie-Louise Jusseaume, is known to interact with guests. While she is known to spook the female visitors, she is flirtatious with the men, often winking at them. With rooms renting for almost $400 per night, the Maison Pierre du Calvet offers an unforgettable experience for guests who want to soak up Montreal’s history – and possibly witness a ghost!

Donovan King is a 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 Abbot 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).