place this hostel is to travellers worldwide.
A female co-worker of Greg’s, who wished to remain anonymous, offered a couple of recent stories surrounding the spirit activity on the premises. Apparently last summer a male employee working the night shift was walking along death row when he heard footsteps behind him. He put the creaking noise down to the wooden flooring but, when he reached the section of concrete flooring, the footsteps could still be heard behind him.
“Six years ago I began to work here. My first experience was during a quiet time in the winter when I and a fellow employee were involved in a fire drill. We were responsible for floors seven, eight, and nine. Our job was to travel the floors and to make sure that no one had remained in the hallways or rooms. We did know we were all alone when walking floor eight, which is death row. By the little door in the hallway we heard two men shouting. My partner ran away. I stayed rooted to the spot, crying.”
Guests at the hostel have the opportunity, if they wish, to fill out a report of any ghostly experience in the building. Surprisingly, a number of travellers take the time to share their experiences.
Guests and visitors of the hostel can tour the gallows. The hangman’s noose still swings from the rafter inside.
On April 8, 2004, a guest wrote this, “We were going up to the seventh floor to see this noose thing (gallows). My three friends and I suddenly heard ‘help me, help me.’ We freaked. We were not expecting this. We still had three more nights left here. We hadn’t even spent our first night yet. I was so excited.”
On July 19, 2004, Matt and a friend stayed overnight at the hostel. Matt wrote, “Last night at about 3:30 p.m. I was walking past death row with my friend. I was commenting on how stupid I thought Whelan was for busting a cap (shooting a bullet) in McGee’s ass, instead of poisoning him. Then I got this really creepy vibe shortly thereafter. Then all of a sudden, I got a nose bleed.
“Later the two of us went through death row with two-way radios to talk to our other roommate. As soon as we opened the door to death row my radio started to make a howling sound, which got louder the closer we got to cell 4. Creepy as hell!”
In January 2005 Anne wrote, “I came back to the hostel at 3:00 a.m.; I was neither drunk nor hallucinating. I was alone in the lobby typing an email when I heard ghosts wailing in the wall behind me (behind the front desk). It was very clear and unmistakable (just like what you would hear in a horror movie). The rest of the morning didn’t get less scary either. I went to my jail cell on floor four, too scared to use the bathrooms. On this floor, earlier that day, I had heard of a story that had happened just the week before. An Australian school teacher had been in the bathrooms on floor four. She saw a woman wearing only a blanket that went over her head. When the woman turned around, the teacher saw that this woman had no face. Needless to say, after hearing the ghosts in the lobby, I was expecting to see this faceless woman in the fourth floor bathroom.
“Too scared, I went to the fifth floor bathroom. As soon as I went into the bathroom, the pipes started to bang very loudly and mysteriously stopped banging when I left the bathroom. The same thing happened when I hurried up to use the bathroom on the seventh floor.”
On August 12, 2005, Holly encountered an apparition on death row. She stated, “I was walking down death row when I swear I saw someone in a long black cloak. When I walked by they waved and said, ‘hi there’ in a very squawky voice. It was in the cell where they say all the creepy stuff happens. It really creeped me out.”
Greg is so keen to develop more interactive activities with the spirits in the building that, starting in July 2007, medium Connie Adams from the Merrickville Psychics Parlour began conducting séances at night on death row. According to Greg, “Connie also feels the spirits who come around the participants, as well as the spirits that live in the building.”
In April 2005 she held the first séance, just with the hostel staff. Greg participated. “She got the staff so emotionally charged that some people began to cry in the intense atmosphere. Now I get goose bumps every time I go up to death row.”
What does Connie Adams think about all this?
“It was the first time I had ever been in the building when I held the séance on death row last October. During the séance I got a sensation that the jail keeper was coming up the stairs. I could hear his keys rattling. I can always see and sense spirits coming. In the case of this phantom, I could see about 20 rats racing ahead of him. I could see the participants begin to squirm once the rats arrived. Then he stepped forth and the temperature dropped.
Exterior shot of Carleton Gaol.
“I noticed that not one member of the group would sit in front of the second cell near the gallows. Something was going on with the person who was seated in the corner of the room by the steel door. I could clearly see a spirit swiping or brushing at the persons arm. The participant could actually feel someone grabbing at them. I described this spirit as looking like the movie character Hannibal Lecter. I could see it coming near to the participant’s neck.
“Later that night, after I went to bed, I began to dream about the jail. I was quite lucid and saw myself checking the energy and closing all the doors to protect everyone from harm. I then saw myself in the basement of the jail. I was a young lady wearing a bonnet and an old-fashioned hooped dress. Next, this lecherous spirit appeared again in front of me. He was testing me. He had such bad teeth and breath. I knew then that everyone was safe from him.”
I asked Connie to explain what she experiences when she conducts a séance.
“I can often see a person’s past, present, and even their future. I can name all their family members.” Then she mentioned seeing orbs of light. I asked her to explain what she thinks an orb of light represents.
“I see orbs in the air. These orbs are energy forces that come from different dimensions. Usually I see sparks in the air first and then one orb will appear. This first orb is a scout for the others. They are there to make sure it is safe for the others to come. Then others will follow arrive. These orbs are either coloured or translucent. They appear for a reason. The yellow-coloured orbs are there for health related issues. For example, they will travel around the person and then go inside them. They are there to cleanse and heal a person. This is a very healing experience at a soul level.”
There is no question that Connie’s séances will become a popular event at the Ottawa Jail Hostel.
It would seem that there is more going on here now than there was in 1997. Recently, a couple, who were visiting Ottawa, decided to take the ghost tour of the jail. During the tour the man entered a jail cell and asked his partner to take a picture of him behind bars. Later in the evening when they went to review the pictures they were shocked to discover the figure of a person standing behind the man in the jail-cell photograph. They made a copy of the picture which now hangs on the wall by the main desk.
If you need a room in Ottawa for the night you might consider the Ottawa Jail Hostel, but be sure to keep your eye on your clothes, your watch, and your nerves! And remember, this is not for the faint-hearted!
The Bermuda Triangle
of the Great Lakes
~ Kingston and Picton ~
A place marked by unexplained forces can be found out on the open waters of Lake
