A RETURN 10 YEARS IN THE MAKING...

Join Haunted Hamilton Founder Stephanie "Spooky Steph" Lechniak & The HH Spooky Misfit Crew for a Special After-Hours Haunted Evening at the Historic Elgin Winter Garden Theatre in downtown Toronto, Ontario!

This extended 3-hour tour (hosted by our friend Richard Fiennes-Clinton at Muddy York Walking Tours) will give you a VERY RARE opportunity to see the historic building up close and personal IN THE EVENING! The tour includes a visit BACK STAGE to see the original Silent Film Projector and many other theatrical artifacts discovered! You'll also get a chance to see the original DRESSING ROOMS backstage too!

THE HISTORY
of The Elgin Winter Garden Theatre

The Elgin and Winter Garden Theatre is the last operating, fully restored Edwardian double-decker theatre in the world!

Both theatres were originally built as the centrepiece of Marcus Loew's theatre chain in 1913. The building was designed by architect Thomas W. Lamb, who also built The Canon Theatre in Toronto, Madison Square Gardens in NYC, and even Hamilton's own Capitol Theatre (demolished in 1973).

The ornate lower theatre, then named Loew's Yonge Street Theatre, was home to plays and vaudeville productions that attracted some of the world's top talent. The upper level Winter Garden, which is decorated to resemble a forest, also housed vaudeville productions.

THE HAUNTINGS
at The Elgin Winter Garden Theatre

A woman dressed in pure white has been seen standing, and sometimes floating, slightly above the steps of the first level grand staircase.  Witnesses knew right away that the woman wasn’t of the living, because they could see right through her. 

On one occasion, the woman in white was seen by a lady working the gift shop.  She saw the spirit standing calmly and quietly in her peripherals.  The lady yelled to a volunteer, “She’s behind me!”  The volunteer saw nobody standing there.

The House Manager was called into the theatre one morning at 4:30am to unlock for a film shoot.  The security guard greeted her as she walked through the stage doors.  She went about unlocking the theatre and was on the balcony of the Elgin when she heard a woman’s voice right behind her say her name.  The manager quickly turned to find nobody behind her.  She ran to the edge of the balcony and found the theatre dark and empty as it was a moment ago. 

An usher also experienced the same thing, when hearing a disembodied woman’s voice call his name when alone in the Elgin Theatre.

Other Ghosts Include:

• A woman in an early 1900’s costume has been seen “floating” out of the coat room
• The original elevators will mysteriously stop at Level 3 when the only way to stop it is to press the button in a very empty lounge
• A man in a brown Edwardian suit has been in sitting in the orchestra stalls
• The Lavender lady still walks the hallways and has been seen by the elevators
• Seats in the Elgin Theatre have flipped up and down on their own
• ... and many more ghostly souls call this one-of-a-kind theatre home!

CASA LOMA

"Sir Henry Pellatt was the ‘King of Casa Loma’. It was his ‘eye for beauty’ that led him to invest millions of dollars to build this magnificent mansion comprising 98 rooms, 30 bathrooms, 25 fireplaces and much more. Sir Pellatt was a leading financier, industrialist and military officer of his time and controlled around 25% of Canada’s economy. To fulfill his ambitions for a palatial home, he hired Toronto’s brightest architect, E.J. Lennox, to design Casa Loma; it took 300 men three years to complete.

In 1882, Pellatt married Mary Dodgson, who came to be called Lady Pellatt. Lady Pellatt encouraged and sponsored the Girl Guides of Canada and held parties at Casa Loma for these girls. Misfortune, however, met the owners of Casa Loma when financial troubles forced them to evacuate their home in 1924. Since then, Casa Loma’s ownership has changed hands a number of times."

- The Secret History of Casa Loma, The Culture Trip

Features You'll Get to Experience...

• Original early 20th century living quarters, historic rooms, artifacts and see the Queen’s Own Rifles military exhibit
• Explore the SECRET PASSAGES
• Climb soaring TOWERS to view historical architecture and the city from atop
• View the original STABLES and antique CARS

• The TUNNEL EXPERIENCE!! Walk the 800ft. underground tunnel with City of Toronto Archives photo exhibit depicting “Toronto The Dark Side”
• Theatre experience: 20 Minute historic documentary “Pellatt Newsreel: The Story of A Lifetime” Located in the original swimming pool area
• 5-acre garden & forest trail
• Individual audio guides available too!

THE HAUNTINGS
at Casa Loma

• The mysterious "White Lady" who typically appears on the second floor but has recently been seen in the basement dressed in white. “The White Lady is someone we believe to be a maid who worked here in the early 1900s, around the time when about 60,000 people in Toronto died of influenza. She’s been seen in a lot of places by guests or by cleaning or cafeteria staff as they’ve been cleaning up at the end of the day.”~ CMH, M. Desrochers

• The tunnel leading to the castle’s stables are where another of its most notorious ghosts is believed to roam. Many have reported feeling as though they had been grabbed or had their hair pulled in the tunnel. People have also reported hearing the spirit in the tunnel sighing gruffly and he has even been captured in recordings speaking and interacting with visitors.
• The mutters and sighs of a crotchety man near the stables
• spooky voices and unseen grabbing hands
• The apparition of a man tending to the garden in the indoor conservatory
• Sounds of children’s voices when no children are around
• Sightings of Sir Henry Pellatt standing in the second-floor window
• A woman believed to be Lady Mary has also been spotted on the grounds

MACKENZIE HOUSE
The History...

"Toronto's historic MacKenzie House at 82 Bond St., circa 1949. The house was presented to William Lyon Mackenzie in 1859 after he was pardoned for trying to lead a rebellion against the British government, and following his retirment from political office. Mackenzie died in 1861 but his widow, three daughters and a servant lived there until 1871."  (TORONTO STAR ARCHIVES)  

THE HAUNTINGS
at Mackenzie House

Once Upon A City: Toronto’s original firebrand leaves ‘spirited’ legacy - theStar.com

• Two sets of husband and wife caretakers — the Dobbans and the Edmunds — told a reporter they’d seen a short, “frock-coated’’ man, matching the description of Mackenzie, who died in the front master-bedroom on Aug. 28, 1861, age 66.
• They also claimed to have seen the spectral figure of a woman, with long hair, and on one occasion this ghostly apparition apparently slapped one of the caretakers.
• In addition, apparently footsteps on the stairs were heard, the piano in the parlour played and there were printing press sounds.
• In 1960, seven spiritualists held a séance at Mackenzie House to try to contact the city’s first mayor.