.JPG)
Care
For Some Ghosts With Those Scones?
A blog for the upcoming All Hallow’s Eve
Its
designer, Francis Rattenbury, who died a very lonely death in England after
being bludgeoned to death by the very young lover of his second wife is
reported to be one. As a bold young architect, he moved to Canada and won his
first blind entry into designing the BC parliament buildings by signing it, ‘local
Canadian architect’. Then built the five-star hotel that everyone views as they
come into Victoria, The Fairmont Empress.
Another
is Margaret from Calgary, an elegantly dressed older woman, taking afternoon tea,
always searching for her would-be beau. On the outlook for the man that admired
her large-brimmed hats. She passed away in her room, having lived there for
months on end in the winter. The room later became the un-rentable room as
lights would flicker and TV channels would change.
Working
on the redesign of the hotel when the Fairmont chain bought it two construction
workers quit when they spotted a man hanging from the rafters. In fact, a man
did hang himself in that room decades earlier in the fifties.
There
are reports of maids being spotted long after their deaths, still servicing the
rooms. A woman who knocks on the suites' doors trying to find her room. Guests
who try to help her are surprized when she leads them to the elevators and
vanishes.
Bastion
Square, in central Victoria. The site of the original cemetery was covered over
and built on. None of the nearly thirteen hundred bodies moved only the
headstones, some of which were found in an old storehouse. "You left the bodies,
and you only moved the headstones". Okay, I pinched that from a very
famous movie (PS. I’ve talked to some of the store owners and yes, they have
crazy stories of things that have happened). Wonder if things fly about in
nearby buildings! Perhaps that, and the fact that ley lines are reported to
cross the area, is the reason that Victoria is the most haunted city in North
America.
The weirdest true story is courtesy of the
doorman of the Empress. While waiting for the valet to return my vehicle, I
struck up a conversation (as I usually do) and asked if he'd any ghost stories
to help me with my novel. Apparently one couple, looking very ashen, told him
that they returned to their locked room only to discover the wife's luggage had
been taken out of her suitcase and "ghost clothing" put in. "Ghost
clothing?" I asked. "Very old clothes," he said.
As a writer, the question I always ask myself
is what if? What if there's a ghost walking about on his tourist travels,
dressed like us. I think after that sobering thought something stronger than
the great tea they serve there is required.
I myself have never seen a ghost. But would
love to hear from people that have, I went to a Writers Convention in Calgary,
When Words Collide https://www.whenwordscollide.org/ and my talk was the last
of the night, nearly at midnight, and after asked if anyone had ghost stories
and several told me of theirs, this I’ll put in another blog, some for the
first time sharing. Glad they felt free to open up.
So, if anyone want to share their ghostly
experiences with me, I might add to the next blog or safe it for a novel idea
as well.
PS. I did put the Fairmont Empress doorman’s
ghost story into my novel, The Mystery of Ms. Teak and yes, he was walking
around in modern day clothing, you’ll have to buy the book to find out who, but
all I’ll say is he signs his dinner bills with Local Canadian Ghost.
And if you are interested learning more
about Ghosts in Victoria, check out these videos below.
No comments:
Post a Comment