Calgary's Most Haunted

Book excerpt: In his newest collection of ghost stories, Ian Gibbs returns to Calgary, the city of his childhood, to reckon with its better- and lesser-known haunts, and the beginnings of his own sense of the supernatural. Following on the success of his first two story collections, ghost-walk guide and host of the Ghosts ‘N Bears Podcast Ian Gibbs returns to Calgary, the city of his childhood, to reckon with his earliest experiences of the supernatural, corroborate some of the city’s better known hauntings—think Heritage Park, Fort Calgary, and the Stampede Grandstand—and uncover many more. These thirty stories range from heritage homes and official historic sites, to strip malls and suburban basements. Along the way, Ian shares the beginnings of his sense of the paranormal, how he grew to trust his intuition, and relates conversations with friends old and new, whose outlook and experiences inform, alarm, and delight him. With stops at some of Calgary’s most famous tourist destinations as well as a number of private properties, the book provides a conversational overview of the city’s history, including its original Indigenous inhabitants and early Hudson’s Bay days. Ian takes readers inside family mansions, churches, and more old sandstone schools than you can shake a stick at. Read about the phantom revellers at the Palliser Hotel Lightning, the horse who haunts Firehall No. 3 the returning blood stain at Deane House the little black dog at Foothills hospital the haunting of Zoo Bridge and a sleepover that started with Atari and junk food and quickly turned more sinister