The Haunting of British Columbia – Page 2

The Missing and Unexplained Podcast with Tyler Hooper

The Haunting of Vancouver Island is four years old! It’s hard to believe. Interest in the book–as well as my perspective on local ghost lore–hasn’t waned as much as I thought it would. This Halloween, I was interviewed for two podcasts and will be doing a large Zoom presentation for kids for Vancouver Island Regional Library on October 26th.

The Missing and Unexplained interview with Tyler Hooper was a lot of fun. It was the first time I’ve spoken about the Valencia story almost exclusively. The Valenica is a legendary West Coast phantom ship. There’s a chapter about her in The Haunting of Vancouver Island. In the interview, I explain the difference between a ghost ship and phantom ship and talk about the haunted vessel the Melanope–as a teaser for the sequel I’m working on, The Haunting of British Columbia (working title). Continue reading “The Missing and Unexplained Podcast with Tyler Hooper”

Urban Legend

The Vanishing Hitchhiker by Jan Harold Brunvand defines an Urban Legend as a “realistic story concerning recent events (or alleged events) with an ironic or supernatural twist.” The teller of the story believes the legend is true, and that the events actually happened to someone just out of reach–to a friend of a friend, for example, or to somebody’s relative.

An Urban Legend is not believed to be true by academics or investigators. This is often determined because the same events are said to have happened in several different geographical areas to more than one person. The stories will often be similar to one another, but will have contrasting details such as where, when, and to who the events happened to. Continue reading “Urban Legend”