For decades now, people have been claiming to see the apparition of a headless woman near the old Lenora town site on Sicker Mountain (1900-1907) There aren’t any buildings left standing any more — and the exact location is hard to find — but the ominous ghost story persists just the same.
The local legend says that an early miner found his wife cheating on him and killed her, either by accident – when he tried to kill the other man – or on purpose. The husband then cut the woman up and scattered her remains across the site. Ever since, it is said that she’s been searching for her missing head.
Stories claiming that the century-old Heriot Bay Inn is haunted can be traced back for decades, but strange tales have always been a part of the inn’s colourful past.
In QuadraStory, author Jeanette Taylor says that it was Hosea Arminius Bull who first established the Heriot Bay Inn in 1895. After only a few years, however, a fire burned the original building down to the ground. The Heriot Bay Inn was soon rebuilt, but it was consumed by a second fire in 1911. The current Inn was then built in 1912. In the late 1920s, owner Charles Webster removed half of the building for unknown reasons. The other half remained in place, and is now the dining area and the loft above it. When Webster lost the property, residents rejoiced and immediately brought back either the same piece or a similar piece restoring the inn to its original glory.
In late February, travel blogger Sean Enns and myself conducted a two-night investigation of the Heriot Bay Inn on Quadra Island. Reports of the inn being haunted had already been in existence for decades; but we were determined to find out for ourselves if there was anything more to the century-old inn’s tales of the unexplained. With unprecedented access to the inn, Sean and I conducting interviews, shot hours of video, took EMF readings, and administered multiple audio recording sessions throughout the building. What we found may, or may not, surprise you…
Subscribe to Sean’s blog at offbeattravel.ca for his soon-to-be-released post on the Heriot Bay Inn’s haunting!
As for myself? Stay tuned folks! A Youtube video and blog post are sure to follow!
Ghost stories describing a Lady in White emerge from cultures all over the world. From Thailand to South America, Australia to Russia, a lone woman’s spirit wearing a white flowing dress has been described, and re-described, over, and over again. According to Wikipedia contributors, what is consistent in most of these tales “is the theme of losing or being betrayed by a husband, boyfriend, or fiancé.” This classic White Lady phenomenon is also said to only occur in rural or secluded spots, as well.
These specific qualities are what apparently differentiate “White Lady” tales from the countless other stories told of female-apparitions who are dressed in white gowns. In fact, these rigid requirements effectively disqualify many women-in-white-apparitions found on Vancouver Island. Victoria, for example, reports several non-rural spirits wearing white dresses. The rest of Vancouver Island can add a few more women who don’t quite meet the criteria, as well — including one lonely maid who even appears without her head!
…a tale, of course, for another day…
Strictly speaking, however, according to the rigid rules of qualification set out by these same sage-like-non-attribution-quoting Wikipedia contributors, Vancouver Island only has two White Ladies. Interestingly, both of these stories hail from the Greater Victoria area.
While doing some research for the museum, I came across this gem from the November 1, 1894 edition of the Nanaimo Free Press. As far as I know, this may be the earliest mention of the word Halloween in the paper:
The youthful gang of hoodlums, whose unhallowed sport made Hallow’en anything but pleasant for their victims, had better take their warning, the only one that will be given, if they are desirous of keeping out of jail. To take away property of any kind so as to deprive the owner of its use, is an indictable offence…
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