Eerie Whispers: Exploring Canada's Reluctant Relationship with its Ghostly Lore

by Brian Baker, J.J. Dupuis (foreword)

Why are Canadians afraid of ghosts?

Canada’s paranormal roots run deep. We tell ghost stories around flickering campfires and share unexplained encounters with family and friends. Yet our polite, risk-averse nation often buries these experiences, rarely encouraging them in the places we live or in our arts and entertainment. Fear of stigma and discomfort with the unknown ― especially death ― keep the supernatural in the shadows. We allow only flirtations with ghosts, ghouls, and goblins, mostly at Halloween.

Eerie Whispers explores Canada’s haunted history, drawing from the diverse folklore of its immigrant communities and the traditional stories of Indigenous Peoples. It asks why Canadians, unlike Americans or the British, are reluctant to celebrate this part of our culture. Brian Baker encourages us to embrace the uncanny and find the courage needed to amplify our nation’s supernatural voice.

Genres: Nonfiction

240 pages, Paperback

Published September 30, 2025

About the author

Brian Baker is a Toronto-based journalist captivated by pop culture and the paranormal. His journey began at a young age. While living in British Columbia, he encountered a shadowy apparition that sparked a lifelong fascination with the supernatural. This passion eventually led him to launch The Superstitious Times in April 2018, a news site dedicated to Canada’s strange and unexplainable tales, and write his first book, Eerie Whispers: Canada’s Reluctant Relationship with its Ghostly Lore.

Before diving into journalism, Brian studied archaeology at the University of Toronto, driven by a lifelong curiosity for ancient civilizations and the mysteries therein. He grew up immersed in paranormal lore, a passion he now shares with his family, including his wife, two children and their ever-watchful cat. With two decades of work with publications like the Town Crier, the Canadian Press, Torstar Digital, the Globe and Mail, Sun Media, Urban Male Magazine and Chrome Magazine, Brian is all about capturing the unique and quirky in his articles. Oh, and he loves puffins.

Reviews

[Courtney · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was mostly about Canadians acceptance or lack there of, of paranormal encounters. I did like how the author broke the book up by province and territory and explored each region and its unique relationship with the paranormal. However, I wish the ghost stories were told in more detail and less quotations from experts were given. Overall, a good book to set the vibe for spooky season.

Thank you for the complimentary copy Dundurn Press.

[Paul Sutter]

Many of us enjoy a good old ghost story. I am not talking about a really blood-soaked tale that will have people cringing under their covers, and never leaving the house. I am referring to the classic ghost stories that create images of wispy spirits, and those who seem to have a transparent body and float through the air.
Brian Baker has done precisely this with EERIE WHISPERS-EXPLORING CANADA’S RELUCTANT RELATIONSHIP WITH GHOSTS. The best part of the book is that there are ghostly stories from every province of Canada, and then some. Brian Baker has always had a fascination with things that go bump in the night, interest accelerating when viewing a ghostly apparition, sending him in the direction of the occult. And we find that myths and legends of spirits vary by province, adding that much more to the book.
The haunted history of Canada, is complete with plenty of legends and different types of ghosts that have appeared after both violent deaths and even fairly normal deaths. The ghosts linger around the areas for the most part, where they met their demise as if seeking closure in one way or another. Haunted houses, haunted buildings, graveyards, railway tracks, universities, hotels, and pretty well any other area that ghosts are able to frequent, becomes fair game in the book.
There are specific cities such as the old jail in Ottawa, where a vampire ghost makes her presence known. Whether in British Columbia, Quebec, Nova Scotia, and elsewhere, you experience cold feeling as Baker so eloquently describes the dozens of spectral creatures, those without heads, those seeking justice, those seeking the love of their lives again, and basically looking for a part of their past cut short one way or another. You don’t have to be a die-hard ghost lover to appreciate this book, giving readers a scary good read!

[Jackie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a fascinating and insightful journey through Canada’s supernatural landscape. I loved learning about the unique hauntings and local legends of each province. I highly recommend for anyone who is curious about the paranormal.

[Dianne Landry · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like the way the author broke the book down by province. All in all it was an interesting book.

[Chelsea Carr Kinnear · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved the unique perspective on folklore shared in this book and the discussion on how its embraced or ignored throughout the different Canadian provinces. It felt like a fresh take on folklore compared to other books I’ve read. I enjoyed learning about the ghost stories within a regional context.

[Diane · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was informative and I found it very interesting how different Canada views paranormal stories and happenings compared to the way we do for instance, in the US.

[Joanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thanks to Dundurn Press for the ARC!

Happy Pub Day to Baker’s Eerie Whispers, an exploration of what makes Canada on the whole a more curiously reluctant player in seeking and speaking about the paranormal. Each chapter gives historical context and pulls out regional haunts per province/territory and the challenges to ghost hunting groups and journalists with businesses and locals.
This is my first foray into the genre of non-fiction paranormal investigative journalism.
While I’ve seen various books on haunted Canada at tourist stops and books stores, I’ve never had the inclination to delve deeper than fiction and film, and a few documentaries. Baker guides the reader toward worthy authors, investigators and fellow journalists, which has got me intrigued to read more.
I really appreciated the attention given to First Nations and Indigenous groups in the Northern areas, and also the history of immigration changing the cultural heritages behind local paranormal lore. I will definitely be looking out for more from the genre that have this focus.