In Calgary's historic village, Heritage Park is not just filled with history but also teeming with ghosts haunting the grounds.But don't just take my word for it, Western Standard readers; instead, watch for yourselves as Western Standard reporters Leah Mushet and Alyson Fraser explore the haunted village and the spooky legends that come with it. .There are quite a few spooky ghost stories in multiple buildings that make up the Park.Take Thorpe House, which was built more than a century ago, in 1886, by a Norwegian millwright, Bernt Thorpe, very Folk Victorian picturesque.It belonged to the same family for nearly a century, and some say it still does — spiritually that is.Mrs. Matea Thorpe still haunts the premises, but in a very pleasant sort of manner.As blogger There Be Ghosts tells it, Mrs. Thorpe regularly walks down the main staircase with a smile, never reaching the bottom.The halls are often filled with the slight echo of children's laughter, along with their fast-moving footsteps: the ghosts of excited kids running around the room. .Airdrie House has one of the darkest energies in the whole park.The spooky factor is truly amplified here.Built by Samuel Bushfield in 1906, Airdrie House has been the site of incidents that park staff members have recounted, such as feeling hands pushing them down the stairs, or pressing on their bodies.On top of this, even in the warmest months, the house is unusually cold, potentially due to its paranormal activity.Locked doors also sometimes slam shut, Christmas decorations refuse to stay up, and one witness has even said to have heard footsteps from the upstairs late at night. .The most pleasing to the eye, Prince House, which features an eye-catching turret in the three-story building, was built by a wealthy lumber and electricity magnate, Peter Anthony Prince, in 1894.Prince was actually the one who gave Calgary its first streetlights after he fell off a wooden sidewalk one dark night.Prince's personal life was filled with tragedy: three of his four wives died in the house.The house's featured ghost is a woman named the Lady in White, often seen on the second-floor nursery, sometimes cradling a baby.It is said that other female spirits peer through the windows of the building..The Canmore Opera House was built in 1898 and was in operation in the mining town up until 1960.The log building hosted operas, plays, dances, and later even a movie theatre.It has one resident in its midst that can be seen only by spectators by chance: the ghost of Sam Livingston.The ghost apparently enjoys the shows performed at the house to this day, while staff often spot him in the third seat of the third row, watching rehearsals.Sometimes he appears as a man with long hair, other times an elderly gentlemen in period clothing..Outside of the spook-tastic hauntings the Park has to offer, it also hosts Halloween events lasting until the end of the month, which you can check out here.
