In 1936, Doris Gravlin’s strangled corpse was found on the 7th fairway of the Victoria Golf Course. People soon started reporting sightings of the April ghost. According to local legend, if a couple saw her, they would immediately break up, and her ghost wouldn’t leave until her son was told the truth about her murder.
This episode includes an interview with Patrick Dunae, a University of Victoria history professor who recounts his eerie encounter with Doris.
Oak Bay Beach Hotel
The stories for this first series are from my book Blood, Sweat, and Fear: The Story of Inspector Vance (Eve Lazarus, Arsenal Pulp Press, 2017). Vance was one of the first forensic scientists in North America, and during his 42-year-career, helped to solve some of the most sensational murders of the 20th Century. Each episode focuses on one of those cases.
Credits
- Intro and outro music: Duke Ellington’s St. Louie Toodle
- Intro: Mark Dunn
- Background track created by Nico Vettese www.wetalkofdreams.com
- Logo: Victoria Daily Times, September 1936
Sources:
- Blood, Sweat, and Fear: The Story of Inspector Vance, Vancouver’s First Forensic Investigator, by Eve Lazarus (Arsenal Pulp Press, 2017)
- The April Ghost of the Victoria Golf Links, by Charles Lillard and Robin Skelton (Hawthorne Society, 1994)
- Newspapers.com: Victoria Daily Times, Times Colonist, Vancouver Sun and Province
- Inquests of Doris and Victor Gravlin, BC Archives
- The personal files of Inspector John F.C.B. Vance
- Interview with Patrick Dunae, May 9, 2019
- Interview with Lon Wood, December 1, 2016
Audio effects:
- Waves: https://www.zapsplat.com/author/alexandergastrell/
- Ghostly sounds: Skyclad Sound, Standard License