Real Hauntings 4-Book Bundle. Mark Leslie

very clear, breathy voice could be heard right up at the microphone, saying, Yesss!

      “We slept with the lights on that night!” Daniel joked.

      But that incident was the genesis of it all. Daniel and Stephanie went to a local Toronto paranormal group with their story but didn’t hear anything back. So they posted about their experience on the Internet, and among the website hits they received, they heard from a couple of guys who were planning on doing a paranormal television show. Stephanie and Daniel met with them and the guys listened to the EVP. They were quite intrigued and spent a long time discussing the event the couple had experienced as well as sharing other stories. Nothing ever happened with them or the television show, but Daniel and Stephanie’s interest in the paranormal had been piqued. During the discussion, the guys who were working on the television show had mentioned something they called “the murder house” in Hamilton.

      Afterwards, Stephanie and Daniel learned they were speaking about the Bellevue Mansion in Hamilton and they spent a great deal of time doing research on this building, discovering the tales surrounding it were akin to the legends associated with The Amityville Horror.

      The two visited the mansion during the day. “Mostly because we were too frightened to visit the home in the middle of the night,” Stephanie joked. Stephanie also went to her parents’ home in Hamilton, snuck into her father’s closet, and “borrowed” her father’s rather expensive 35mm camera.

      They entered the Bellevue Mansion, which was wide open, and marvelled at the sights, such as pieces of the stairwell missing and a tree growing up through the dumbwaiter area, and spent about an hour taking notes about and pictures of this historic building. Their visit wouldn’t be complete, however, without checking out the Widow’s Walk, where they saw the most beautiful view of the city.

      They felt a connection to the house the second they stepped into it. The controversy about the house interested them so much that they started a website called Disappearing History as well as a site dedicated to ghosts and the supernatural. They wanted the stories of the disappearing history of the Hamilton area and these beautiful landmarks to be heard.

      The ghostly tales, however, are what drew most visitors to their website, so they evolved the historically focused articles to include a supernatural flavour. Haunted Hamilton isn’t there for the shock factor but instead to document and report. Yes, there is entertainment in the telling of their ghost stories, but never at the expense of the history.

      “There’s a respect that is given to the story,” Daniel said. Respect for the person’s legitimate story is what Stephanie, Daniel, and their team are all about. And while they prefer the term Paranormal Investigators to ones such as Ghostbusters, they’re flexible in how people refer to them.

      “We used the hate the term Ghost Hunters,” Daniel said. “But you’ve got to have a sense of humour and learn to go with the flow.” Both Stephanie and Daniel have taught themselves to roll with the terms that become popular for people describing their theatrical approach to sharing Hamilton’s spooky history.

      In 2003, the same year that they started the ghost walks, a tour of various haunted locations in Hamilton’s downtown core, they won two Tourism Hamilton awards: one for the best rookie of the year and another for the best new tourism idea. At a time when attracting people to the downtown core of Hamilton was a critical venture for the city, Haunted Hamilton managed to host huge groups of walking tours that celebrated Hamilton’s historic buildings and people. It was ironic that their walks and tales of scary things going bump in the night were leading toward people feeling less scared to be downtown.

      The night they received those two awards was the moment they first realized that this was something more than a hobby — this was something they could do full time.

      They have since created multiple different ghost walks, as well as non-supernatural walks designed to entice people with details of Hamilton’s rich history. Their Hamilton’s Dark Past tour appeals more to the history and true crime buffs than to those interested in ghosts. The Victorian Parlour Ghost Stories evening they host in the old Scottish Rite building in Hamilton is a throwback to the classic verbally shared tales from yesteryear. It is ideal for those who wondered what it might be like to enjoy the unique magic of verbal storytelling, either from the age of Charles Dickens, or, as more recently, when Canada’s own Robertson Davies spent eighteen consecutive years sharing oral ghost stories as part of annual Christmas celebrations at Massey College in Toronto.

      In April 2011 they opened a museum of the paranormal (www.MuseumOfTheParanormal.ca) in Niagara-on-the-Lake at 118A Queen Street. The museum is Canada’s only space dedicated to everything dark, creepy, and paranormal. In it they carry a range of products, from the fun, spooky novelty items you might expect, to beautiful gemstones, candles, and paranormal tools. But the museum is also home to one of the world’s largest personal collections of post-mortem photography (yes, that would be photos of the dead), as well as displays of the world’s most famous ghost photos, haunted dolls, and modern haunted locations in North America. Ultimately, the shop is dedicated to paranormal history, and that makes it rather unique.

      The group conducts regular out-of-town bus tours as well as an annual costume ball for Halloween and continues to combine their interest in the paranormal and their respect for the city they so love and cherish. “People don’t even know the rich history we have in Hamilton,” Stephanie said. But, thanks to the efforts of Stephanie, Daniel, and their team, more people walk away with a better understanding of their city and the people who made it what it is today.

      Stephanie and Daniel’s Team of Ghost Guides

      Ghost Guide George

      George Sanford is an actor, composer, choreographer, poet, and playwright. He has been a performer for more than forty years and has been on stage, radio, TV, and video. He has a wealth of stage experience and theatre knowledge. He was one of the creators of the Sheridan College musical theatre program and has taught theatre arts at all levels of education. His business background is extensive, and he has found a unique and exciting way to combine his love and skill in the arts with the changing landscape of business and industry, in both the private and public sectors.

      Established in 1999, Haunted Hamilton is one of the oldest paranormal groups still in existence in all of North America.

      Lady Elizabeth

      Lady Elizabeth, also known as Sue Hilton, has been involved in theatre for most of her life — after performing in A Christmas Carol with Simcoe Little Theatre while in public school, she was “bitten.” Over two decades, she performed with Simcoe Little Theatre, Lighthouse Festival Theatre, and the Academy Theatre in Lindsay, Ontario. She attained her B.F.A. in acting from the University of Windsor and performed in numerous productions, such as Sam Shepherd’s A Lie of the Mind, Michel Tremblay’s The Real World?, Guys and Dolls, Waiting for the Parade, and many others. She has done children’s theatre, tours, studio workshops, improv comedy, and a little bit of television (and is convinced her part is on a cutting room floor somewhere). After a lengthy hiatus to raise her son, she is thrilled to be back in front of the crowds doing what she loves most — entertaining!

      Jack Lawrence

      Jack, also known as Derk Ewert, has been intensely involved in the performing arts since a very young age. He devoted his entire high school experience to performing on stage and in the Sears Drama Festival and has put on fifteen major productions. He has been awarded four awards for acting through the Sears Festival while attending the St. Catharines Collegiate Institute and has also put on shows with the St. Thomas Players and the Carousel Players. An enthusiastic actor and musician, he is currently attending Brock University, working on his Honours Bachelor of Arts in Dramatic Arts degree. Being somewhat sensitive to the paranormal, he has always been interested in his experiences and hearing the experiences of others. He hopes you enjoy his playing on our haunted piano at the Museum of the Paranormal if you attend his tours and he diabolically asks, with a rue grin, if you would like to hear a story.

      Daniel “Rook” Holbrooke

      “Rook”