Fall is the perfect season to embrace the spooky spirit and there’s no better place to begin than The Haunted Walk. As Canada’s largest and longest-running city ghost tour company, we partner with them to offer our groups captivating experiences in Kingston, Toronto, and Ottawa, which you can add to your programs. Students will be drawn in by the engaging group activities that blend mysterious folklore with spine-tingling history.

We caught up with founder and CEO Glen Shackleton to uncover how this hauntingly fun idea came to life, hear about his personal favourites, and find out why school groups have such a spooktacular time.

These ghostly adventures will have your class shrieking with delight as they uncover eerie tales and local history.

Q: What inspired you to create The Haunted Walk? Was it a love of history, a fascination with the paranormal—or something else entirely?

A: When I started the company in 1995, I was a history student at Queen’s University and had just spent a term in the United Kingdom. I went on a ghost tour and was fascinated by the way it combined folklore, ghost stories, and local history. I knew it could work in Canada, and the idea was born! We are now the largest and oldest city ghost tour company in the country, operating for more than 30 years.

Q: What’s the most haunted stop on one of your tours and what’s the story behind it?

A: For me, it's the Bytown Museum—one of Ottawa’s oldest buildings right next to the historic Rideau Canal. We visit that dark and historic building on our Ghosts of the Bytown Museum tour. I experienced phantom footsteps, a door shaking back and forth, and a thoroughly sleepless night!

Q: What’s the funniest or most unexpected reaction you’ve seen from a student on one of your tours?

A: Probably my favourite reaction was a group on my tour that groaned and said, “Ugh, I hate history!” I said, “Ok, let’s forget about all the history,” and I shared some funny and creepy stories. They absolutely loved it.

Q: How do your tours tie into Canadian history or local folklore? What can students learn while they’re getting spooked?

A: From the Murder of D’Arcy McGee on Sparks Street, to the workers who perished during the construction of the canal, to stories about the Indigenous history of the cities where we operate—our groups learn a lot of history in an environment where it doesn’t feel like a lecture.

Q: What’s one historical myth or ghost story you love debunking—or confirming—on your tours?

A: A lot of groups think some of the furniture for the Chateau Laurier hotel sank on the Titanic. But a far more interesting story is tied to the man responsible for building the hotel, Charles Hayes. He perished on the Titanic and is thought to haunt the hotel ever since!

Q: Can you help us break them down some of the ghostly or historical terms throughout your tours and explain what they mean?

A: On our Kingston tours, we talk about a group called the Resurrectionists, or professional grave robbers. The medical students at Queen’s University, and many other medical schools, would have to supply their own cadavers on which to practice—thus a booming trade in illegal body snatching became a local industry!

Q: What makes your ghost walks a great fit for school groups?

A: We have the perfect balance of humour, spooky stories, and learning on our tours. We present the stories as well-researched bits of folklore and leave room for the students to have fun with it. They’re often the most excited for our tour and say it's the most memorable thing they did!

Q: Is there anything else you'd like to share with our Program Leaders? Maybe a tip for making the most of the experience or something unique about your tour?

A: Our biggest advice for returning teachers is to not share the best bits of our stories before we get the chance! Many of our teachers do the tours year after year until they know the stories almost as well as we do.

If educators want to explore our new line of tours, they’re under our sister brand, Hidden InSite available in Ottawa, Kingston, and Toronto. These excursions are focused on the unique, quirky, and funny stories of our cities without the supernatural stuff.

Whichever way you want to explore, our guides make the tours truly special. They’re selected and trained as storytellers first—crafting entertaining and educational adventures for a memorable trip.

Check out some of The Haunted Walk tours available to Brightspark groups!

Haunted Walks Kingston

• Ghosts of Fort Henry: Prepare to be captivated by the infamous 19th-century fortress’ dark twists and turns.
• Ghosts of Queen’s University: Listen to spine-tingling tales of student grave robbers, professors reaching out from the beyond, heists gone wrong, and streets shrouded in mystery.
• The Original Haunted Walks of Kingston: Uncover the secrets of haunted hotels, hidden burial grounds, grave robbings, hangings at the old courthouse, and Kingston’s famous haunted courtyard.

Haunted Walks Ottawa

• Haunted Cemetery Tour: Visit Beechwood Cemetery National Historic Site for a one-of-a-kind evening filled with storytelling and chills.
• Haunted Museum Tour: This lantern-lit evening walking tour recounts ghost stories of the Bytown Museum, the Fairmont Château Laurier, Friday's Roast Beef House, and more.
• The Original Haunted Walk of Ottawa: Hear ghost stories by lantern light including the Bytown Museum, the Fairmont Château Laurier, and Ottawa’s haunted high school.

Haunted Walks Toronto

• Ghosts and Spirits of the Distillery: Your costumed guide will lead you along the haunted cobblestone streets of the historic Distillery District and the St. Lawrence Market area.
• Haunted University Tour: Take a haunted tour of Canada’s largest (and most haunted) university—St. George Campus at the University of Toronto.
• Toronto’s Haunted Walk: From the old military town of York to the metropolitan city of today, discover Toronto's ghost stories and darker history.

If you're looking to embark on a ghostly tour steeped in history, The Haunted Walk is your sign from the beyond. Their years of experience, knowledgeable yet entertaining guides, and wide variety of tours make it everyone’s top choice. Surprise students with an engaging and educational activity on your next tour—talk to your Tour Consultant about adding it to your upcoming program, or fill out our form to learn more. You'll be shocked at how much fun they’ll have while learning!