Читать книгу Real Hauntings — 3-Book Bundle - Mark Leslie - Страница 5

I’ve always been afraid of the monster under my bed, of the ever-growing shadows that begin to stretch and creep across the room, ever-larger as the sun begins its descent in the western sky. Ever since I was a young boy, I’ve darted up the basement stairs, just in case the creature that lives behind the furnace decides to come out and get me, and I’ve closed the closet door that final crack so the ghost that lives inside can’t get out.

One of my favourite things about being a Cub Scout was going on the camping trips and listening to ghost stories in front of the fire well into the wee hours of the morning. I was held in rapt fascination, getting a chill from hearing “true tales” shared by fellow scouts and scout leaders. Sleep deprivation was simply an added benefit: the less sleep you got, the more your mind began to create monsters out of the shadows and turn every strange noise into some sort of otherworldly creature or horrifying night stalker.

Despite how those nights of stories held my interest, history lessons never really captured my heart or my imagination. Perhaps it had something to do with the manner it was being taught to me; or maybe my young mind was simply closed to how something occurring in the past could be interesting or relevant to me in the present.

Nonetheless, it was about eight years ago that my love for ghost stories and my previous aversion to history collided, offering me a wonderfully serendipitous moment of revelation. My wife Francine and I were back in Ottawa, visiting old friends and some of our favourite haunts (we had moved to Hamilton in 1997 but had met in Ottawa, where I’d lived since 1988 when I moved there to attend Carleton University). After a wonderful dinner at D’Arcy McGee’s on Sparks Street, just outside the pub we joined a “Haunted Walk” group that took us on a tour behind Parliament Hill, along the Rideau Canal, and into a few neighbourhoods downtown.

It was a late summer evening, but there was a brisk chill in the air. Our group, wearing sweaters and thin fall jackets, huddled around the tour guide — dressed in a dark, flowing robe and carrying a lantern — as we slowly moved on a short pilgrimage through time. During the walk, we learned a great deal about the history of the many buildings, of the construction of the canal, and, of course, of the accompanying ghost stories.

Learning about the history, and how it affected the ghostly tales and legends associated with various locations, was just the kick-start my imagination needed to absorb and appreciate Canada’s past. My previous aversion to historic tales was shed, and I listened with bated breath to the tour guide as the stories of the history and local legends of ghosts rolled off her tongue.

During the tour, I felt shivers crawling up and down my spine, but I also marvelled at the tales of people who had walked the very same ground decades or even hundreds of years before me — people whose spirits seemed to be present with us on our historic walk.

That evening, history came alive for me: it leapt off of the pages of history books and became a real, live, waking thing. My mind finally put together the connection between then and now, and for the first time, I fully appreciated how others could find historical accounts of people, places, and times so absolutely captivating.

Since then, I have been fascinated with ghost walks and with historic walking tours and was thrilled to learn that Hamilton has just such a group. Daniel and Stephanie, founders of Haunted Hamilton Ghost Walks & Events, have been offering their special blend of investigative paranormal research and historical preservation for over ten years. Their company offers several local ghost walks and historic tours, a ghostly Victorian parlour theatre, and many other themed special events in Hamilton, Niagara-on-the-Lake, and farther outlying destinations.

Over the years, I have not only enjoyed the offerings that Daniel, Stephanie, and their magnificent team bring to the Hamilton region, but I have also worked with them, creating a Haunted McMaster evening in late October, which ran in 2008 and 2009. The night featured short custom ghost walks of the McMaster campus, beginning and ending at the bookstore, which hosted horror writers doing readings and signing their books until midnight.

When I started writing this book, it almost went without saying that I would spend time learning as much as I could from Daniel, Stephanie, and their team. Many of the tales that follow are thanks to their generous sharing of time and information.

Some of the marvellous side effects of working on this book were the time I spent talking with people like Daniel and Stephanie, the many books and articles I read, and the time I spent with folks from the Hamilton Public Library, who helped me dig into various archives and historic scrapbooks to find more information about places and people from Hamilton’s past.

With almost every item I uncovered, I was tempted to keep exploring, keep digging for more. I found myself having to pull back on several occasions and withdraw from the rich historic detail I was poring through. For that reason, I have included a long list of suggested readings at the end of this book. These represent a selection of the many talented, passionate writers who have pooled their resources together to share what makes Hamilton a dynamic and significant city, both historically and in modern terms.

Upon digging through documents, listening to first-person accounts, and looking at pictures, I found the need to stand in the very spots I was writing about and experience the subtle ripples of history crossing my psyche.

Perhaps it is not surprising, then, that through the course of writing this book — in both the research as well as the visits to haunted landmarks — I scared myself silly. One might expect that from a man who readily admits he is still cautious about the monster under the bed, but even in the re-writing and editing of the very stories you’re about to see, I experienced that wonderfully creepy spine-tingling sensation.

And that’s why I am delighted with the opportunity to put together a book that combines two things I am quite passionate about. Hopefully, I can share a little bit of the “thrill-seeker” in me who enjoys a chilling true ghost story, as well as my newly discovered appreciation of a fascinating and rich history.

So, if you’re ready, turn the lights down, get comfortable, and join me on an enriching journey of historic fact merged with local legend and lore. And if you think you hear something, or detect a subtle shift in the shadows, don’t worry: it’s just your imagination putting in a little overtime.

Or is it?