Tis the season for spookiness, creepiness and just plain ordinary hauntedness. So, I started looking for Haunted Canada. Who better to find haunted sites and locations than a Canadian urban explorer? Sure, there probably is someone better, but I'm here.

How to Tell if a Place is Haunted

You might want to try exploring and ghost hunting yourself. But, how do you become an instant expert on the topic of hauntings? Here are some guidelines to get you started.

• Try a little historical research. What history does the place have? Were there any deaths in the building? Any history of violence or tragedy?
• Watch for suspicious or odd flashes of light or light orbs in your photos of the location.
• Do you see anything else unusual like a mist or something that disappears once you turn your head for a better look.
• Have a map (your own hand drawn map is great) and mark down any odd cold spots or places where you suddenly feel emotional: fear, aggression, anger, etc.
• Listen for noises - especially anything unusual that can't be explained in a simple way.
• Are things different when you are alone, at night? Be careful you aren't just letting your imagination have free reign.
• Are any pets afraid to enter a room in the building? Animals can be more sensitive than humans.

Take these tips with a grain of salt. Most noises, lights and atmosphere can be explained once you start looking for a logical answer. I think this is why it is so hard to prove the existence of ghosts. There are so many logical answers. Logic is so nice, firm and solid. Meanwhile, everything else is just a feeling, something you could have imagined or something you want to believe in spite of the logical explanation.

I don't know if anyone will ever find concrete proof of ghosts. But, they keep on trying.

How to Explore a Haunted House

Don't go alone. It's safer with an exploring buddy who can call for help if one of you has an accident, like falling through rotten floor boards.

Gather the gear you need: flashlights digital (or film) camera, tripod to set the camera on, extra lights for better photos in a dark house, sound recording device, temperature gauge, notebook and pen. Bring supplies for first aid and cleaning up after the exploring. Consider a back up for your camera and flashlight this isn't the time you want a mechanical problem to keep you from exploring.

Don't impede your own investigation with alcohol, smoking or long hair. Not drinking alcohol should be common sense. But you should consider the photos you will be using as evidence and make sure you get the cleanest, clearest photos you can. Don't let stray cigarette smoke or long hair wind up being a 'ghost'.

Find a place to explore. Get some historical background, talk to others who have explored there and get permission from the property owner. (If you are carrying a bunch of equipment into the house this might be the smarter way to go rather than risk having the police charge you with trespassing).

If you can, make copies of floor plans from the location. This will let you plan the route you will explore so you can make sure you don't miss a room while you are there. You can also use your floor plan to note the exact area you found any paranormal activity.

Visit the location before you plan to explore it. Make sure you will be able to get in. You may need to contact the owner again for a key. You may find your information is out of date and the house has already been demolished, etc.

Don't start out expecting to find something haunted, spooky, etc. Try to be unbiased when you explore. Don't get into scaring each other for fun. If you are serious about detecting paranormal activity, approach the location like a detective or a scientist.

You won't find a lot written or reported about the paranormal in Canada. Canadians just don't talk about it all that much. Almost seems to be a secret from the rest of the world.

But, Canada has a dark past, hidden history and things that go bump in the night.

Canadians have not always been so polite and quiet as they appear. You can hide a lot in the frozen tundra, the endless forests, islands and the long stretches of roads between small towns and the odd big city.

The Haunted Canada Collection is available at Canada Post this year (the collection came out Friday, June, 13, 2014).

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Why do we assume historical places are haunted?

I would not say I don’t believe in ghosts. But, in my experience there are far less hauntings and haunted places than people would have you think.

I like to visit old buildings. Usually, living in a rural area of Ontario, I explore abandoned farms and farm houses. I like the houses in particular. I have explored at least 50 different old homes in various states of ruin and I have never had an experience which made me feel spooky, scared or consider any place to be haunted.

At most I think I once accidentally stepped on a toad in the long grass. That was gross enough. I get shudders just remembering. But, that was far from being ghost related.

Terry Boyle writes about local history and ghosts in Ontario, Canada.

I have quickly picked up each of his books as I find them. I don’t look for ghost stories but I do want to know about my own local history. (I consider all of Ontario to be at least somewhat local for me). Also, I will visit (and/ or have already seen) the places Terry Boyle has written about. I even have the photographs I’ve taken from my travels and adventures.

Maybe ghost lore and stories of haunted places come about from the loneliness of the locations and not the actual presence of anything spooky. Just the feeling that something was lost there, something has been abandoned and left to fall into ruin. Abandoned houses are sad. Old ruins are mysterious and that would be enough to make them seem haunted to anyone who wanted to find something more than just a sad, lonely and neglected place.

You can’t find the history of a place just from a visit there. I love finding a new (old) place. There is history and mystery to any old, ruined place. But, you need to research, talk to people and dig a bit to get more than photos and your own first impressions.

History is all about the story.

Terry Boyle Interview with Bookends TV