Every Place Has a Story

Halloween Special 2023

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In this last episode of season 4, Cold Case Canada, I’ve asked four BC-based storytellers to tell us their favourite murder and haunted building stories.

Francis Rattenbury (1867-1935)

Will Woods

Will Woods, founder of Forbidden Vancouver Walking Tours tells us the story of Francis Rattenbury’s murder, an architect responsible for buildings that include the Parliament Buildings and the Empress Hotel in Victoria and the Law Courts in Vancouver.

Three ghost stories and a murder
Francis Rattenbury and Alma Pakenham
  • Beneath Dark Waters: The Legacy of the Empress of Ireland Shipwreck by Eve Lazarus, coming April 2025. Preorder through Arsenal Pulp Press, or your favourite indie bookstore
Vancouver Fire Hall no. 19
Three ghost stories and a murder
Is this who’s haunting No. 19 Firehall?

Vancouver Fire Hall No. 19 has been haunted for as long as anyone can remember. Captain Ryan Cameron, who has served 27 years with Vancouver Fire Rescue Services, believes that the ghost is none other than Bill Wootton, a fire fighter who worked out of the original fire hall in 1943 when he was killed on the way to a call. Bill likes to slide down the fire station pole, slam doors in the middle of the night, play ping pong and leave a chill in the stairwell.

Three Ghost Stories and a Murder
The original West Point Grey Firehall in 1925, now no. 19. Courtesy Vancouver Fire Fighters Historical Society
1329 East 12th Avenue, Vancouver

Amanda Quill

Amanda Quill is a Vancouver-based paranormal investigator who welcomes abnormal activity and has happily lived in several haunted houses over the years. In 2001, she and her son Nathan moved into this East Vancouver house along with a ghost cat, a male in his 30s, and a little girl who appeared to Nathan in a frilly dress.

Three ghost stories and a murder
1329 East 12th Avenue, courtesy Amanda Quill
Irving House, New Westminster

Jim Wolf

In 1990, Jim Wolf was fresh out of university and got his dream job as curatorial assistant at Irving House. Soon after starting at the museum, he met his first ghost. Most recently, Jim was the heritage planner with the City of Burnaby and he has authored several books including The Royal City: A Photographic History of New Westminster, 1858-1960. 

Irving House
Irving House, ca. 1880. NWPL #254
Show Notes:

Intro Music:   Andreas Schuld ‘Waiting for You’

Breaks: Nico Vettese, We Talk of Dreams

Intro:  Mark Dunn

Buy me a coffee promo: McBride Communications and Media

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