HAUNTED NOVA SCOTIA SCHOOLS

A lot of people have a deep interest in paranormal things: books, movies, websites, to name a few. People LIKE to be scared. It’s the reason you go to Halloween Corn Mazes and charity “haunted houses.” Your adrenaline starts flowing and hormones are released causing your fight or flight instinct to kick in when you feel you might be in a harmful situation. 

The ”fun” part happens when your brain realizes you’re safe and nothing terrible is actually happening, similar to when you are on a roller coaster or watching a creepy movie, and then you can usually just laugh it off. When it’s over, things return to normal quickly and your everyday life resumes. We all have those safe places to return to: your house (unless it’s haunted, bahahaha!), your job or your school.

Your school. Yeah, about that. You’d think that would be a safe zone and nothing could ever cross over from the paranormal world and infiltrate your academic life.

But you’d be wrong.

In fact, there are PLENTY of schools and universities with real ghosts roaming the halls and classrooms. We couldn’t be more pleased to tell you that a lot of them are in Nova Scotia. 

Shirreff Hall at Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS 

This old but impressive stone building on the corner of Oxford and South streets in Halifax houses a few hundred students every year. Over the last ninety years, most of them have heard of the resident ghost, Penelope. In the 1920’s, Penelope found herself impregnated by a professor, who refused all responsibility. Out of despair, Penelope hung herself in part of the building’s attic. As a result, to this day she still lingers around the fourth floor of this particular residence. 

As recently as the year 2000, a lone worker in the building discovered a set of wet footprints trailing down a hall that he could not account for. There have also been multiple reports of disembodied voices, unexplained electronic anomalies, lights manipulated by unseen hands, and the sounds of footsteps where there are no people. Some say they have even seen her in an ethereal blue dress.

Consider yourself lucky if you’ve lived in this residence or are going to. You may find yourself right in the middle of a good old-fashioned haunting as Penelope refuses to leave her tragic life behind and walks the halls at night, mourning her past.

Gilmora Hall Music Department at St. Francis Xavier University, Antigonish, NS: 

Formerly a Roman Catholic institution, this school became a university in 1866 under its new name, St. Francis Xavier University. Prior to that, around 1853, a nun and a priest found themselves in a torrid love affair. Ashamed and guilt-ridden, the nun jumped off a balcony to her death at the university. Reports also tell of the priest’s demise as well.

The ghastly nun and priest duo have been responsible over the years for turning on taps, knocking things over, footsteps, voices and giggles. Appliances working by themselves, objects moving seemingly on their own, shadowy figures appearing and books thrown about----well, you get the idea. How do we know the ghosts are to blame? They have been spotted quite a few times in the Gilmora Hall area of the school. The nun is always dressed in a blue habit.

One lucky student awoke in his dorm one night to find a shadowy figure with red eyes hovering above him. Was that the nun or the priest….or another entity altogether?

Seminary House at Acadia University, Wolfville, NS

Acadia’s Ladies Seminary was a finishing school for young Baptist ladies and was built as a companion school to Queen’s College, which was for future Baptist ministers. Together, it became known as Acadia in 1891. And has been haunted since its early days.

Like the other entities mentioned here, a young lady at the Seminary found herself with child, surely a terrible situation for a religious girl in the 1800’s.

As distraught as the others you’ve learned about here, she fashioned a noose out of some rope and ended it all on the back stairwell in the Seminary. Well, that did not end it ALL, because she is still there. 

Over the years, witnesses have spotted the meek blonde girl mostly in an area known as “the well”, which is on the second floor near that stairwell. She has been heard going up and down the stairs and making her presence known by opening and closing doors, causing cold drafts should you get very close to her, and participating in ghosts’ favorite activities: playing with light switches and moving objects. She is referred to as “Connie” as it is believed her name was Constance.

Some have heard her voice as she wanders in and out of the afterlife. 

Connie may not be the only unwelcome intruder in Seminary House. There are reports of a more physical spectre, who pushes people and can touch and scratch whomever he feels like.

Lunenburg Academy, Lunenburg, NS 

This seaside town and Unesco-designated site on Nova Scotia’s south shore has a very rich history, with deep roots in the sailing, fishing and tourism industries. It has many iconic landmarks but one of its most notable buildings is the Lunenburg Academy.

The town is not without its paranormal qualities and this school in question certainly falls into that category. Built in 1895, it is the only intact 19th century Academy building left in Nova Scotia. It was operated as a school continuously from 1895-2012. Originally it housed grades primary to twelve, then later primary to grade six. Standing above the town of Lunenburg on the infamous Gallows Hill, it emits a slight air of creepiness, especially when the fog rolls in.

To my knowledge, no one has died in the school. But as mentioned, it does stand on Gallows Hill, within a stone’s throw of Hillcrest Cemetery dating back to the 1700’s. Let’s just say there are plenty of resources in the area for someone (or something) to get their haunt on.

I was born and raised not too far from this town and I can tell you the Lunenburg Academy is rarely mentioned without talk of the ghosts that drift through its classrooms and hallways.

Here are just a few examples:

*A carpenter working alone in the school felt the hair on the back of his neck stand up. Turning around he could see a dead man, strung up in a noose. The vision disappeared but the carpenter saw him a few more times before the job was done.

*A security guard on duty saw the library light on. Upon investigating the empty school, he discovered a boy sitting down with a book. Asked what he was doing there, the boy replied he was reading. The security guard said he could stay for a while, thinking he was just an actual boy who wanted to hang out in the library. A while later, he found the boy still there and told him to head home as it was getting dark. The boy vanished before his very eyes.

Great video detailing the experiences of those that have worked in the school: 

And all this time you thought school was for just for education. 

Why would a ghost hang out in a school, you ask? Great question. I think we know by now they are pretty much everywhere. Don’t forget there are different types of ghosts which determine the type of activity they are seen doing. We mentioned them HERE in an earlier newsletter.

I hope wherever you went to school (elementary, high school, college, etc), you were lucky enough to have a ghost or two around. It could have made your whole experience that much more meaningful.

Don’t be afraid of the unknown. 

Well, okay, maybe be a little afraid. Paranormal stuff can get pretty freaky sometimes.

Nova Scotia Paranormal Events