Is James Bay home to ghosts and spectres?

The sacred festival of Samhain (Sow'en) marked the start of Winter, and the beginning of the New Year in the old Celtic calendar. It was considered a liminal time in which the world of the living and the realm of the deceased overlapped. This was a time for the remembrance of those who passed on to an unknown place. Candles were set in the window to welcome the beloved ancestors and to light up the path of the recently departed so that they may be blessed as they set out on their new journey.

There was always an element of fear and trepidation about this night – the eve before Samhain – and also one of expectancy. Not only were certain kinds of divination practiced, but also questions were asked of the ancestors and wisdom sought from their descendants. And, it was also a 'mischief night' when young people disguised themselves, played pranks or engaged in light-hearted jokes involving the community.

The modern custom of trick-or-treating is based upon these old traditions, where those in costume went from door-to-door begging for food and drink. At inhospitable houses, for example, the gate might be removed from its hinges.

The mystery and mayhem often associated with this night is not aided by the commercialism of modern Halloween which tends to emphasize ghoulish fascination with goblins and ghosts not to mention spooks and spectres rather than the communal commemoration of their ancestors.

For those who prefer the scary sights and sounds of haunted houses and their mysterious ephemeral inhabitants, James Bay resident and local historian, John Adams highlights one haunted home worth checking out (as reported in the Times Colonist , October 31, 2010.

THE BENT MAST

The Bent Mast (512 Simcoe St.) is a pub-style restaurant in James Bay. The structure started as a house in the 1880s for the Chandler family, but over the years saw many other uses and occupants. The place has been home to so many reports of ghosts, one former employee who was familiar with paranormal phenomena suggested it might even be a portal between our earthly sphere and the underworld.

Among the most frequently reported ghosts are a middle-aged man sitting by the front window, the upper torso of a woman hovering near the women's washroom and several children on the staircase. One spectral boy in particular is said to play hide-and-seek upstairs, and may be the same one who has reportedly talked with patrons on the front-yard patio and has the ability to take control of their cellular phones.

Residents of James Bay have also reported that there are several ghosts who are known to inhabit the Gatsby Mansion Hotel at 309 Belleville Street. Apparently they appear rather regularly which is probably why it takes a certain kind of person who is willing to work the graveyard shift doing maintenance work in the more remote areas of the property.

James Bay Then & Now – January 2010