Christensen - Ghost stories of British Columbia

Ghost Stories
of
British Columbia

For
Steven Christensen Shappka;
my newest inspiration.

JO-ANNE
CHRISTENSEN

Ghost Stories of British Columbia

Copyright 1996 by Jo-Anne Christensen

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise (except brief passages for purposes of review) without the prior permission of Hounslow Press. Permission to photocopy should be requested from the Canadian Copyright Licensing Agency.

Hounslow Press

A member of the Dundurn Group

Publisher: Anthony Hawke

Editor: Nadine Stoikoff

Designer: Sebastian Vasile

Printer: Webcom

Canadian Cataloguing in Publication Data

Christensen, Jo-Anne

Ghost stories of British Columbia

Includes bibliographical references.

ISBN 0-88882-191-3

1. Ghosts - British Columbia. I. Title.

BF1472.C3C56 1996 133.1'09711 C96-930605-9

Publication was assisted by the Canada Council, the Book Publishing Industry Development Program of the Department of Canadian Heritage, and the Ontario Arts Council.

Care has been taken to trace the ownership of copyright material used in this book. The author and the publisher welcome any information enabling them to rectify any references or credit in subsequent editions.

Printed and bound in Canada

Third printing: January 2000

It is important to acknowledge that I did not write this book alone. I had help and support every step of the way, and I wish now to thank those who provided it.

Thank you Dennis, my husband, who is my partner in every way.

Thanks to my family and friends, who can always be counted on for their enthusiasm.

For all contributors who took the time to write down their personal experiences, then, at my request, often found more time to elaborate their accounts and search for accompanying photographsand, for those guardians of our past; the many helpful folks employed at BCs museums, libraries, and archivesI am most grateful. You are the people who shaped this book.

My appreciation goes to Stoddart Publishing for permission to quote from one of their books in the story, Grandmothers Visit. This tale is based upon a story originally written by Sheila Hervey.

And finally, many thanks to my publisher, Tony Hawke, who has been patient and encouraging, as always.

Ive always hated it when people ask me what I do for a living.

If you say youre a writer (and this may hold true for any slightly flaky non-nine-to-five occupation), peoples eyes just sort of glaze over. Back in the days when I wrote advertising, I would add that fact so that the blank stare would at least be replaced with a look of thinly veiled contempt. (Oh, so you lie for a living, one master of tact actually said. Ironically, he was in sales.)

But for the past few years, what Ive been writing are these true ghost stories, so if anyone presses me to be more specific about what I do, this is what I must tell them. And if the eyes were glazed over to begin with, were talking full-blown cataracts, in response to this.

I have to assume that most folks dont know how to comment on such a senseless choice of profession. As for those who do say something, they seem motivated by the subject matter, rather than the fact that I have written about it. Interestingly, the reactions vary wildly.

Religious conviction seems to influence the responsebut Im a little confused as to how. It leads some people to believe in the earthly presence of spirits, and others to adamantly reject such a possibility. Yet, both camps credit their faith as the source of their conviction.

A similar division can be found among those considering the possibility that their own departed loved ones may be lingering, in some form, among us. Some people are comforted and reassured by the notion; others are horrified by it, feeling that the person cannot be at rest if they remain earthbound in any way.

And then there are those who just find the concept of ghosts generally upsetting. If you are one of themand I must confess, I find it strange that youre even reading this book, if you areI encourage you to enjoy the stories simply as stories. After all, if there is a subject matter that falls into the believe-it-or-not category, this is it.

For the record, I do believe in ghosts. I have found it impossible to disbelieve the many credible, honest people who have shared their experiences with me. Howeverbeing a collector of tales, and not a paranormal researcherI have no burning desire to convince the rest of the world. I just hope that even if you cannot believe in the phenomena, perhaps you can find value in the folklore.

Butlove it or hate it, believe it or notit would seem that, as a society, we cant get enough of these mysteries. The books we read and the television programs we tune to are so often of a supernatural theme, these days. The immense popularity of Stephen King, R.L. Stine, and shows ranging from Are You Afraid of the Dark? to The X-Files proves our fascination. (Incidentally, Gillian Anderson, who plays Agent Dana Scully in the Vancouver-produced The X-Files claims to have a bit of a true BC ghost story of her own. She and her husband moved into a house near a native burial ground, and immediately sensed that they were not the only occupants. It was creepy, was her quote in the March 10, 1995 issue of Entertainment Weekly. It felt like there was someone attached to me. A smudging ritual was performed, and Anderson now feels that whatever spirits were there have left.)

But while our curiosity regarding the paranormal seems to be on the rise, its hardly a new interest. The X-Files is simply The Twilight Zone of this generation; Peter Straub, a current Edgar Allen Poe. Go back a little further, and youll see that even Shakespeare knew the entertainment value of a good ghost.

While I scoured the provinces old newspapers in search of ghost stories, I found local evidence of their enduring appeal. Nearly forty years ago in Victoria, a writer for the Daily Colonist by the name of Bert Binny wrote a series of articles on local ghost-lore, containing one of the more interesting theories Ive come across.

Binny was challenging the smugness of those who were inclined to deny the existence of ghosts, based on the fact that they had never personally seen one. How do you know you dont see ghosts? was the headline of Binnys response in the April 27, 1958, Daily Colonist.

Quite frequently, people think they have seen ghosts which afterwards prove to be real honest-to-goodness human beings.

But could not the reverse process also take place?

Are ghosts always recognizable as such?

Could not what looks like a real person actually be a ghost?