These are some of the most haunted places in Vancouver

An internet consultant by day and ghost hunter by night, Greg Mansfield of Ghosts of Vancouver has been uncovering some of the city’s spookiest residents and their stories for decades. Fascinated by the paranormal since childhood, the author and researcher has plenty of expertise to offer – and we’re here to dive deeper into the places he describes as “the most haunted” in Vancouver.

In an interview with Curiocity, Mansfield touches on a handful of places with off-kilter histories, which he details on his website and his book of over 40 haunted locations.

“When I realized how easy it was to set up a blog in 2007, I thought, why don’t I start researching ghosts of Vancouver?”

And so his journey began.

What makes a place ‘haunted?’

A self-described open-minded skeptic, Mansfield doesn’t judge those skeptical about the existence of ghosts.

But after years of people writing into his website with jaw-dropping accounts (and after a slew of his own spooky experiences), he became convinced that “something real is going on.”

And he’s not alone.

A member of the Coldspotters (one of Vancouver’s many ghost-investigating collectives), Mansfield says that two factors come into play when defining a ‘haunted’ location: Its number of ghosts, and the number of people who have had abnormal experiences there.

“Ghosts can’t hurt you,” he assures, “but they can be a bother.”

So in terms of tracking down the ‘most’ haunted locations in Vancouver, Mansfield says that the following spots come to mind.

Old Comox building at St. Paul’s

First up is the older Comox building on the north side of St. Paul’s, which sits pretty much empty now due to its old age, according to Mansfield.

“There are ghosts in there of priests and nuns that used to run the hospital. People have had all kinds of experiences there, from shadow figures to footsteps, strange balls of light, hearing voices – you name it.”

Mansfield says it’s not uncommon for nurses and patients at older hospitals to have such experiences, though it’s worth noting that St. Paul’s will soon move to False Creek, and the old site will be redeveloped.

The Lamplighter

As the city’s oldest pub, the Lamplighter’s reputation for spooky sightings proceeds it.

Mansfield shares that many bar patrons and staff have seen ghosts over the years, and all accounts describe a chef wearing a white jacket with dark hair.

“He makes the glasses above the bar rattle, so late at night when someone is cleaning up, they’ll hear gasses rattling, and there’s nothing there,” he explains. “Occasionally bar staff may turn around and see his ghost with a smile on his face dissolving into thin air, or running away in a blur.”

A ghosthunting friend of Mansfield’s even had her own such experience.

“She had her glass on a long table with friends, and the glass started to slide at a fairly rapid speed right across the table,” he shares. “Even though the table was dry, and no one touched the glass.”

Similar accounts detail levitating glasses smashing onto the floor, a pretty common phenomenon for haunted bars, it turns out.

“The ghosts seem to like to smash glasses!”

Waterfront Station

Next, we head to Waterfront Station, which is apparently home to more than just living passengers. In fact, Mansfield says it used to be his #1 haunted place in Vancouver!

He says that security guards most often spot a variety of ghosts late at night, often the ghosts of passengers sitting on benches that no longer exist.

There are also accounts of the ghost of an old lady upstairs where there used to be a ballroom, as well as a dancing girl from the 1920s wearing a flapper dress.

Another interesting mystery lies on the station’s top floor, now occupied by regular businesses.

The owner of one such business, SWIM Recruiting, once told Mansfield about his employees’ experiences working above the station.

“One young woman had gone to the office early one day, and suddenly, the back door began shaking very violently,” explains Mansfield. “It was as if someone was pounding on the door to be let in. And when she went to open it, there was no one there.”

Hotel Vancouver

Hotel Vancouver is known to be haunted by the famed “Lady in Red,” but there are more ghosts in that hotel than just her, according to Mansfield.

“There are the ghosts of children playing around in one of the elevators late at night. There’s also a haunted room they won’t let anyone stay in,” he says.

Overlynn Mansion

“One of my favourite haunted locations is Overlynn Mansion in northwest Burnaby. It’s this old, old house that was built by a wealthy tea merchant (Charles J. Peter) who imported teas and coffee from Asia.”

Constructed in 1907, the mansion was called Overlynn because, in those days, “you could see across the Burrard Inlet to Lynn Canyon from the house.”

He details the mansion’s portfolio of functions, which include its 15-20-year stint as the Peter family home, a convent and Catholic girls’ school, and a senior care centre.

Today, it’s leased out to movie and TV productions, which means everything from Supernatural to Loudermilk on Netflix has been filmed there.

Mansfield says the elaborate, Tudor-style mansion has at least two to three ghosts in it, and that he’s interacted with some on more than one occasion.

“There’s the ghost of a little girl in there that likes to play pranks on people,” he says. “She likes to play hide-and-seek.”

In addition to scaring someone cleaning the mansion post-filming, Mansfield shares that he’s had his own experience with this particular ghost while recording her voice.

“We asked her her name, but she wouldn’t tell us,” he starts. “She told us her age is five – and she did the ABC counting game with us.”

What makes a location ‘haunted?’

All in all, there are some solid ghost stories here worth exploring!

If there’s one thing we’ve taken away from our conversation with Mansfield, it’s the question: What do all of these haunted places have in common?

To us, the answer is not much, which begs the question of what makes a location haunted in the first place.

Is it the places where people have passed on? Where they were happiest when alive? Or do buildings that tend to change roles or ownership often invite the potential of ghost stories?

This requires more digging. So until then, happy spooky season, Vancouver!