6 More of New Brunswick’s Most Haunted Places
With Halloween just around the corner, it’s time again to look at some of the spookiest places in New Brunswick. This province is home to a rich history of ghosts and the unexplained.
Last year, we shared seven noteworthy ghost stories. Here are six more we’ve dug up since then:
O’Donaghue’s Irish Pub, Miramichi
The Miramichi is known for its dark tales but one of the darkest features the strange things that wander in a 200-year-old sandstone building near the banks of the river. Now O’Donaghue’s Irish Pub, a popular local watering hole, the building is said to be home to strange “shadows” in its basement, but it’s upstairs where things get very spooky. Loud noises, lights switched on and off, footsteps and even a ghostly apparition that appears in a window after closing time. Best have a pint to drink before seeking out these restless spirits.
St. Andrew’s Gaol
Built in 1840, the St. Andrew’s Gaol (or jail) is one of several spooky places in this picturesque community. It’s said to be haunted by the ghost of an Englishman named Tom Roland Hutchings, a Royal Air Force member who was convicted of murdering a young woman named Bernice Connors after a dance in Black’s Harbour. Strangely, Hutchings offered no defence and made no statement at his trial. Sentenced to death in 1942, the official hangman of Quebec was brought in to do the gruesome job – but it went horribly wrong. The gallows, built next to the St. Andrew’s jail, failed and it took more than 12 agonizing minutes for Hutchings to finally die. He is believed to haunt the jail, and visitors to his cell seeking out his spirit have frequently complained of feeling cold pressure around their throats, as if they were being hanged.
Capitol Theatre, Moncton
It’s one of Moncton’s most iconic buildings, and one of its most famously haunted – the Capitol Theatre on Main Street. The story begins in 1924 when a volunteer firefighter named Alexander “Sandy” Lindsay was killed when the main stage collapsed onto him while he was battling a fire. Sandy’s ghostly image is said to remain there still. He appears seated in the empty auditorium, waiting for the next performance. He also causes a cold wind to blow through the theatre, so bring a sweater.
Boyce Mansion, Fredericton
Today it’s a stately Victorian home on Fredericton’s Waterloo Row but once it served as an off-campus residence for the University of New Brunswick – a residence with an unwelcome visitor. Male students would wake up in the night with a female apparition tousling their hair, telling them softly and soothingly to go back to sleep. She would often tuck in the students who would awaken on a warm morning with their blankets wrapped securely around their shoulders. While this ghostly spectre was peaceful, even loving, it was obviously unsettling to the young men. One evening the residence’s don stayed up in an attempt to contact the spirit. As he sat drowsily, cold fingers brushed his face and he leapt out of his chair, demanding that the spirit tell him who it is. She looked at him and said simply, “I am waiting for my letter” and then disappeared. The story emerged that she was a former resident of the home who wrote letters daily to her son who had moved away. One day, her son fell ill, but knowing his mother would respond to his letter, wrote her asking for help. Sadly, the letter never arrived, and the son died, his last words asking for his mother. When his mother found out her son had died, she was inconsolable and soon faded away and died. She never left the home, waiting for eternity for the fateful letter from her son to arrive.
St. Michael’s Basilica, Miramichi
This grand church in ghost-rich Miramichi is said to be home to a number of young spirits including a girl in the basement bathroom who disappears when you look in the mirror, and sounds of children laughing in the basement gym. If that wasn’t eerie enough, the legend says that a disembodied voice of a screaming nun can be heard throughout the building. Ok then.
Kouchibouguac National Park
Do werewolves roam Kouchibouguac National Park? Some people have reported hearing strange howling sounds at night that they claim are changlings, people who become fearsome werewolves during a full moon. Yes, the howling could be from coyotes, which roam the park, but be sure to look over your shoulder if you hear rustling in the woods as the full moon rises behind you. You never know.
RELATED: New Brunswick’s 7 Most Haunted Places