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).

…more

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

I've almost always lived in Ontario and I don't think I have seen a ghost. Not something I could prove to myself or anyone else for certain. I explore abandoned, old buildings and never feel they are haunted. I don't expect to see a ghost and maybe that's why I haven't. But, I do believe in ghosts.

I don't think I've ever seen a ghost. How can you ever really be sure though? Something spotted from the corner of your eye... an odd light in a photo you took... a sudden draught in the room... Would you say you've seen a ghost, for sure?

So many people believe in ghosts - you feel it must be true. But, everyone should use their own judgement. Take what you see and use what you know to make our own decision about what you believe to be true.

Haunted Towns and Cities

• Burlington Ghost Walks

• Hamilton Paranormal

• The Peterborough Paranormal Society

• Halton Paranormal

• Thunder Bay Paranormal Society

• Haunted Hamilton

• Oxford Ghost Researchers

• Sault Ste. Marie Paranormal Group

• Stoney Creek Supernatural

• Ghost Tours of Niagara

• The Toronto and Ontario Ghosts and Hauntings Research Society

• Flickr: Niagara Cemeteries & Spooky Places

• Superior Paranormal Haunting Research Society (Sault Ste. Marie based)

• Niagara Area Paranormal Society

• Da Guys Paranomal Team (South Western Ontario)

• Trent Hills Ghost Seekers

• Haunted Walk: Kingston and Ottawa

• Haunt Pursuit | Paranormal Northumberland | Port Hope | Cobourg

• Prince Edward County Hauntings

Haunted Ontario Groups

• O.P.I.S. - Ontario Paranormal Inquest Society
• OCPRS Toronto (Ontario Catholic Paranormal Research Society)
• Flickr: Creepy Ontario

Start Your own Ghost Hunting or Paranormal Investigations Business

You don't have to turn your ghost hunting into a business. You could keep it a little more casual and turn it into a society for your area. Get others with the same interest in ghosts to come together. Talk about your own experiences, your beliefs, places you have explored and then make plans to explore and document a location as a group.

Or, you could try turning it into a business. A unique home business.

How to be a Ghost Hunter

• How to Start Your Own Paranormal Society - Yahoo! Voices
• So You Want to Be a Ghost Hunter - Squidoo
• How to Become a Ghost Hunter: This is Serious Business - Yahoo! Voices - voices.yahoo.com
• How to hunt for ghosts! - About.com
• How to hunt for ghosts!
• How to Investigate a Paranormal Activity or Experience: 6 steps

Articles to Read

• How to Have a Spooky Time in Ontario | eHow.com
• Top 5 Most Haunted Places in Ontario | eHow.com
• Toronto-area paranormal investigators seek ghost hunter - The Star
• Haunted Gibraltar Point Lighthouse, Toronto: One of Canada's Oldest Structures on Lake Ontario Has G
• Tales of Haunted Ontario: The Ghost Stories of Lake Ontario's Oldest Cities | Suite101.com

I've read about haunted toys, as a concept, before. Each time I just think -- how gullible are these people? How badly do they want to believe in ghosts, spirits and hauntings? I don't believe you see, not to the point of overlooking common sense.

I do think there are ghosts, of some sort. Feelings and emotions left over from the past. Turbulence doesn't just disappear because the cause of the disturbance has gone. It's like having a huge fight with someone. You can feel it in the atmosphere.

But, I don't think that's all there is to the ghost thing. I don't know exactly what I do believe. I haven't quite pinned it down into so many little words. My Grandmother did see ghosts, her sister and her husband both appeared to her soon after they were gone. Gone in a permanent way, not just out of the room or out of town. Seeing ghosts scared her. Me too. I don't trust them all to be benevolent or casual or just want to come over for tea and a chat. So, like my Grandmother before me, I picked a day and spoke out loud and told everything (whatever everything is) that I don't want to see ghosts. My Grandmother was told to do this by a psychic and she said it worked for her. She stopped seeing anything once she clearly said she did not want to see anything, of that sort.

Anyway, the idea of haunted toys annoys me. Why take something simple and kind of innocent and turn it into something frightening?

When I watch the ghost hunting shows I can see through almost everything they do. I understand the difficulties with proving the existence of ghosts when others are watching and the people filming can't show they really didn't cause the camera to shake or prove they really do feel a cold air pocket. But, it seems to look so phony I just can't take it very seriously. It seems scripted, pre-planned.

So I don't believe in haunted toys. I don't believe children who have died would hang around an old toy and try to harm people or scare them with it. Children aren't like that, except in movies.

One good thing about the haunted toy thing, it's a great way to bump up the value of vintage toys. If you can show the toy as haunted... the interest in having the toy (even if just to prove or disprove the ghostly haunting) will help to sell it and sell it for a bigger price. Which just throws more doubt on the concept of haunted toys.

What do you believe? Have you had a haunted toy? Has an old doll given you the creeps? Do toys mysteriously move when you know no one and nothing is logically making them move?

I have felt creeped out by an old doll. I admit. But, I'm sure it was just my own doing. I let myself feel that way. It was based on nothing, just a suggestion by someone else. But, I can remember the feeling. I didn't like it.

One interesting side note... the haunted toys all seem to be dolls. Co-incedence? Not likely.

Robert, the Haunted Doll

Haunted Toys and Dolls

Haunted Doll Stories

Flickr: Creepy Dolls

Misbehaving Toys and People

Annabelle: The Haunted Doll

David's Haunted Dolls

Haunted America Tours: Real Haunted Doll Gallery

Haunted Dolls.net

YouTube: Scary Doll