It's my favourite time of year...all Hallow's Eve, or Halloween as we have come to know it. It's a time to embrace your inner ghoul, a time for goblin (preferably your favourite candy), and a time for a walk back through history.
Nova Scotia is rife with history. From the battles at the Fortress of Louisbourg in Cape Breton, to the Halifax Explosion in 1917, to those lost in search of treasure at Oak Island. No matter where you are in Nova Scotia, you're always guaranteed a good tale or two. Such was the case when I took my daughter on a family ghost walk with the Boys and Girls Club this week.
Let me preface this by saying I won't tell you too many stories so as not to ruin the walk for anyone.
We met our narrator for the evening, Glenn Coolen of The Halifax Ghost Walk, on the steps of the Old Town Clock at Citadel Hill as dusk was settling in. It was the perfect setting to begin our journey.
The clock looks ominously down upon us. I hope our time is not limited!
Glenn prepares the young ones for our tour.
We started our tour at Citadel Hill, looking out over the harbour, where Glenn told us tales of a ghost who haunted Sable Island. As the story goes, a well-to-do woman washed up on the shores of the island barely alive. There she was met with a n'er do well who tried to steal a diamond ring from her swollen finger. When he couldn't remove it, he cut off her finger and threw her back into the ocean. She haunts the island to this very day waving her hand with the missing finger.
The children were transfixed!
He lead us down through the streets of Halifax recounting tales of this and that. My favourite was perhaps our most famous. The mysterious silhouette in the window of St. Paul's Anglican Church. As the story goes, a parishioner was thrown from the window of the church during the Halifax Explosion in 1917, but his silhouette remains in that same window today. They say the glass has been replaced several times, but the silhouette always returns. Since we were visiting at night, it was difficult to capture this in a photo. But I invite you to check out this flickr photo that was taken during the day.
The church itself is Canada's oldest Protestant church.
We ended our tour on the wharf on the waterfront. I can't tell you the story, but I will simply say that as the tale was spun, the children feared for Glenn who sat on the end of the dock. I offer you this caution, beware if a Halibut tries to talk to you....just walk away.
Want to add some spooky into your Halloween? Try a ghostwalk yourself, or check out some other Halloween Events on novascotia.com.
Want to add some spooky into your Halloween? Try a ghostwalk yourself, or check out some other Halloween Events on novascotia.com.
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