Reflections

Canada the Macabre

Episode Summary

A haunted restaurant. A mummified toe. A porter who’s been dead for decades, but still helps guests with their luggage. Welcome to the creepy side of Canadian history! From unexplained encounters to stories of lingering spirits, Jennie Bovard explores the strange tales connected to places you can still visit today, drawing on firsthand experiences, secondhand accounts, and expert perspectives. Author Vernon Oickle unravels the hauntings at the Five Fishermen Restaurant in Halifax, Nova Scotia, widely considered the most haunted building in the country. The spirit of Sam McCauley, former Head Bellman at the Banff Springs Hotel, continues to help guests with their bags, directions, and sticky elevator buttons. Samantha Welanc of Banff Canmore Ghost Walks tells us the story of Sam McCauley. And legend has it that in the 1920s, a Yukon rum runner cut off his frostbitten toe with an axe and placed it in a jar of alcohol. Forty years later, a local bartender found the mummified toe in a remote cabin and created the world-famous Sourtoe Cocktail! Kim Hovey, who participated in the Sourtoe Challenge, shares her experience. Are you brave enough to explore the places where Canada’s past refuses to stay buried?

Episode Notes

A haunted restaurant. A mummified toe. A porter who’s been dead for decades, but still helps guests with their luggage. Welcome to the creepy side of Canadian history! From unexplained encounters to stories of lingering spirits, Jennie Bovard explores the strange tales connected to places you can still visit today, drawing on firsthand experiences, secondhand accounts, and expert perspectives. 

Author Vernon Oickle unravels the hauntings at the Five Fishermen Restaurant in Halifax, Nova Scotia, widely considered the most haunted building in the country. 

The spirit of Sam McCauley, former Head Bellman at the Banff Springs Hotel, continues to help guests with their bags, directions, and sticky elevator buttons. Samantha Welanc of Banff Canmore Ghost Walks tells us the story of Sam McCauley. 

And legend has it that in the 1920s, a Yukon rum runner cut off his frostbitten toe with an axe and placed it in a jar of alcohol. Forty years later, a local bartender found the mummified toe in a remote cabin and created the world-famous Sourtoe Cocktail! Kim Hovey, who participated in the Sourtoe Challenge, shares her experience. 

Are you brave enough to explore the places where Canada’s past refuses to stay buried?