FVC Perspectives—October: Ghost stories

There are ghosts among us. At least, a majority of FVC readers who responded to our poll think so.

In this month’s FVC Perspectives callout, we asked readers to take a stance on ghosts and spirits. In our poll, 39% of respondents said ghosts were real. Another 26% said they might be, while 35% said ghosts did not exist. And sure, the poll might be unscientific. But these are ghosts we’re talking about. Of course, it’s unscientific.

We also asked our readers to share their ghost stories with us. Below you can read about a friendly spirit who helped save a toddler from being injured when falling down the stairs, a ghost who just wouldn’t stop fiddling, and a specter who didn’t want to be left in Mission’s old health facility, among others.

(We weren’t able to use every response we received, but we appreciate them all. As noted in the form, we prioritize responses that come with a name.)

Joan Patton: “It's not so much a ghost story but more a spirit that was not ready to go to the other side.

“I had a roommate and he became very ill and was diagnosed with throat cancer. Three weeks later he passed. Ray had a little rat terrier and they were inseparable. One day I found dog kibble in the bottom of my stove and another time the drawer in my treadle sewing machine was full of kibble and bits of raw elbow macaroni. I was shampooing the carpet in his bedroom and put everything up on the bed. When the carpet was dry, I put everything back and again there was kibble on the bed. I found kibble in the dart board box. One night I was painting the bedroom and the next morning I wanted to put a second coat on and there was kibble in my back pocket.. I have photos of these occurrences.

“I have since sold the place and have adopted his little dog.”

Doreen Olson: “We bought our first Fort Langley home in 1980. This is a heritage home. The seller told us there was a ghost sharing our home and we were fine with that, believing or not. Heating it came from the basement, half on concrete floor and half on dirt floor, from a wood stove. To heat the main floor we had to leave the basement door open so the heat would rise.

“In 1983 our middle son was in his walker, scooting around. This walker was not like the ones used today, it was a plastic seat sitting in metal legs that could fold up—very unsafe by today’s standards. He took a tumble down that flight of stairs with a 90-degree turn at the bottom and another two steps. He landed upright not a scratch on him, not even crying.

“Preventing this from happening again, my husband put chicken wire at the top of same stairs. Sure enough our son went through the chicken wire again, same outcome. Coincidence? I think not. This is the point where I knew it was a friendly and protecting ghost.

“The last incident that happened was when I was searching for my copper plant pot but I could not find it so gave up. Time went by and as I was placing jars of canning on shelves in the basement, I was in awe as my copper plant pot was in plain site on top of the shelves where I was putting the canning. How could this happen without something, someone helping out?

“We moved from this home—family expansion in 1984. Development moved in but our home was moved to a new site just 1 block away. I drive by whenever I am in Fort Langley. I don't know if our ghost moved as well. Fond memories."

Hanne: “I don't believe in ghosts, but at the same time I don't have a rational explanation for these events. I was working permanent night shift in a long-term care facility. One night, one of the residents passed away. He was found lying across his bed, as if he had been trying to get up and suffered a heart attack or stroke. The next night, the call bell rang from his room. I was surprised the room had been filled already and went to answer the bell. There was nobody in there; the bed was still stripped. That was odd. I wondered if any of the other residents had wandered in there, but I hadn't seen anybody when I was walking along the hallway. I checked the neighboring rooms anyway; all residents appeared to be fast asleep. This kept happening a few more times that night and following nights. My co workers were convinced it was "Bob's" spirit (fake name). To this day I have no idea what happened.”

Eleanor: “Every year a few girlfriends and I leave our loved ones and journey to a lodge where we rekindle our many years of friendship, eat, rest, drink wine, laugh and thoroughly have a wonderful time.

“On one of our yearly sojourn, a woman (Rose) I didn't know, whose husband had recently passed away unexpectedly, was invited by one of our group to join us for the weekend. We were cosily sitting in the lodge sharing stories of ourselves when I notice a gentleman standing, leaning against the window listening to us intently.

“Thinking his occupation with our conversation was rude I was about to confront him when he spoke to me first.

“He enquired if I would speak to the new group member sitting me. I felt a bit shy about doing so but because he appeared so earnest in his request I went ahead.

“Having not yet had a conversation with this women I repeated the phrase the man had asked me to relay to her. Rose with a look of astonishment was at first speechless then said only her husband and her knew about what I had just said.

“Rose [was] open to further requests. Then the man asked me to say to Rose What is something about your desires that you have never shared with anyone.

“The man requested I say to that Rose that she had since childhood wanted to live in an Adobe house located in a desert landscape. Rose, in a tone of fear and excitement, stated she had never told anyone about this dream of hers

“I turned back to the man but he was gone.

“That Christmas season, Rose invited me to her home. When leaving and getting my coat from her bedroom where she had laid it on the bed, I noticed a framed picture of Rose with one middle aged man and two younger men. I asked Rose about the photo, the two younger men were her sons and the other one was her late husband.

“I told Rose that was the man who spoke to me at the lodge eight months earlier.

“I had thought at the lodge the mystery man did not move his lips when speaking to me but had tried over the months to dismiss this idea.

“None of the other woman saw the man at the lodge listening to our conversation nor had they heard anything.

“My rational mind keeps pushing this ghostly event aside but it will not go away, and I think why me.”

Carol Enger: “I rented a house in Vancouver in 1971 (or 1972). The man had passed away in the hospital, but the woman lived in the home a little longer. She passed away in the home. The home sold and I rented it from new owners. Some say I am batty but I know what happened there—knick-knacks were moved on the mantel. I did not dust for one week just to see. And there was not dust where the items had been. I tried this for five weeks with the same result. So yes I spoke to her (Emily, the next door gal, told me her name) and yes okay just don’t hurt my children. The items did not move from that day forward. I moved away but my cousin moved in and then quickly moved out She got spooked. Believe me or not as you wish but that’s my story.

“My grandfather—who was my best friend—stood at the foot of my bed one night. I had had a very bad day, and had lost a sum of money. He just nodded his head and left but the next few days were very good one and I even won some money on a lotto ticket. so yes I do believe.”

Bonnie: “When we were growing up in Cloverdale, we purchased an old house. My Mom and I out of 5 of us would hear a toe tapping fiddle music in the night sometimes, we just thought it was strange that someone in the neighborhood would be playing their fiddle in the wee hours of the night. Well, we finally asked a few neighbors if it was them, no they said, but the old guy that used to live in your house was a great fiddle player... aaaahhhh 😲”

Kathie: “I worked downstairs at the old hospital in Mission (on 5th and James). I definitely saw a good ghost while working on my own one afternoon. Looked like a patient in a hospital gown. When we were moving to the Health Center, the cupboards and doors would rattle lots. I would ask it to settle down and it would.

“My friend (coworker) saw a ghost that looked so real she thought it a man. Turned out it was the old hospital administrator (saw photos later). When we vacated the building for the last time there was a lot of loud howling. We just asked them to come with us to our new office.”

Bernice: “A B & B house in Vernon. Suitcase was moved in the room. Bed covers were lifted, child's voice saying ‘Goodnight Grandma,’ party sounds from the house.”

Leanne: “"This happened about 50 years ago.

“My maternal grandmother was originally from Northern Italy. She immigrated to Canada in the 1920s. One night, she woke up and her sister, whom she had not seen since coming to this country, was standing beside her bed. She couldn't believe it. She jumped out of bed and asked how she got there and why she had never let my grandmother know she was coming? Her sister did not say anything; just turned around and walked into the kitchen. My grandmother put on her housecoat and went into the kitchen, only to find nobody there. The next day she received a phone call saying her sister had passed away in the night.”

Chris: “My father was in hospice, and we'd spent the evening sitting by his bedside. Finally went home to sleep, then suddenly woke up in the middle of the night, and clearly heard his voice say "Love you, pet". I found out the next morning that he'd passed away at 2am, which is exactly when I had woken up.”