Ghosts of the Southern Interior

Gabriel David Sumegi Newman the Second outside the haunted Towne Theatre.

(CHARLOTTE HELSTON / iNFOnews.ca)

October 31, 2014 - 2:28 PM

FROM ALBERT OF SAGEBRUSH TO LOYD OF TOWNE THEATRE

THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - If spooky is what you are after this Halloween you are in luck, the region is ripe with ghosts and haunted houses sure to make your hair stand on end.

In Kamloops, one of the most famous haunted buildings is Padova, the old sanatorium at Tranquille Farm Fresh. Years of ghost sightings and haunted stories led teens and young adults to break into the buildings to see who could handle being in the dark tunnels with the creepy ghosts who still live there. The owners of the farm decided to open the tunnels and buildings to the public through tunnel tours that tell the story of days gone by.

The Kamloops area also has a well-known ghost or two. There is Albert of Sagebrush Theatre, his seat is Z24.

Albert has been showing up at the theatre since his coffin was misplaced in the 1939 flood. The Sagebrush ghost is believed to be Arnold Mallott, a 23-year-old bartender who was the first man to be hanged in Kamloops in the late 1800s. Despite being considered a convict and executed, Albert is known as a usually friendly ghost and often appears on the catwalks above the stage.

It is not known who the Ghost of Walhachin may be, but the town that grew rapidly in the early 1900s quickly became a ghost town once war was declared. The many young men that had flocked to the town took off to help Canada in the war, leaving just the shell of a community that remains today.

Loyd is a Vernon ghost. While the North Okanagan city has enough ghost stories to warrant regular summer tours, this particular ghost hangs out at the Towne Theatre and has been known to lock doors, move things around and even play music.

Kelowna has its share of ghosts as well. Guisachan Ranch reportedly has a haunted gravel driveway where phantom footsteps and carriage sounds can often be heard. Rumour has it the hauntings have stopped in recent years.

In the South Okanagan, both Penticton and Naramata have ghosts to call their own. The Blue Lady, Sophia, is a vague blue haze who could be heard rustling her dress at the Penticton Museum. She apparently stopped haunting the museum in 1992 though when a box of human bones was found packed away in the museum and removed.

In Naramata you may even experience a haunted hike. People have reported hearing the sounds of hooves and seeing a group of men on horses in the area around Elinor Lake. As the riders take off no sounds can be heard and no hoof prints could be found.

There are many more unexplained sounds and sightings out there, some with ghosts at homes, others at businesses and more yet out on the streets of our cities and towns.

Do you have any ghost stories or know of any haunted places you think people should know about? Let us know.

To contact a reporter for this story, email Jennifer Stahn at jstahn@infonews.ca or call 250-819-3723. To contact an editor, email mjones@infonews.ca or call 250-718-2724.