Great Canadian Ghost Stories: Legendary Tales of Hauntings from Coast to Coast

by Barbara Smith

Time and place are infused with ghosts and hauntings. From coast to coast to coast, Canada’s provinces and territories teem with the supernatural—phantoms obscured in the mists of time, spectres that delight in wreaking terror, and spirits destined to linger forever at the edge of the veil. Visit the far-flung corners of Canada to discover the folklore and legends From east to west to way up north, bestselling author and renowned storyteller Barbara Smith traverses Canada's provinces and territories to unearth more than 100 supernatural tales that careen between heartwarming, horrifying, sorrowful, and spine-chilling.

Genres: Nonfiction, Ghosts, Paranormal, Canada

240 pages, Paperback

Published October 16, 2018

About the author

Barbara Smith is a Canadian author celebrated for her captivating collections of ghost stories steeped in folklore, history, and national identity. Since leaving her job as a school secretary in 1988, she has published numerous books exploring Canada’s most enduring supernatural legends. Her passion for the paranormal was sparked as a child in Toronto and grew into a lifelong pursuit, fueled by a background in social history and mystery. With titles like Great Canadian Ghost Stories and Great Canadian Campfire Stories, Smith shares eerie tales from coast to coast, entertaining readers while preserving Canada's rich storytelling tradition.

Reviews

[Lollita · Rating 4 out of 5]

All the stories are short and simple, its enjoyable if you like this kind of thing folklore/ghost stories they did make me want to look up a lot of the towns and places mentioned, Canada is gorgeous I need to travel my country more ;)

[Evelyn · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5/5. It was alright, but some tales were definitely more interesting than others. The writing style was a bit choppy sometimes, with static sentences and odd grammar choices (in my opinion), and it honestly failed to make the tales feel truly spooky. It was very to the point and pushed everything as fact, and without any stylistic flare the account just felt like a dry guide to Canada's ghosts. The accounts varied in length, with the best ones being the longer ones, and the short ones feeling often tacked on and lacking detail. Those short ones sometimes almost literally read like: 'There was a place here, and people died. There's talk that it is haunted' end of entry.

There were a couple sections I was particularly looking forward to, such as my own province of Ontario, but ended up being a bit underwhelmed. For Ontario's tales, they were alright but I was surprised to not see her mention the few I also know of that I think are more interesting! Once we hit the north, the Yukon, NW Territories, and Nunavut all get lumped together in the "Canada's North" section, unlike the preceding provinces who all got a section to themselves. I was really looking forward to more ghost-stories from the Inuit tribes up there, as I'm sure they have plenty of creepy tales that they share over the long cold winters up north, but found there to be few and sparse accounts that involved them. The author seemed to be more intent on tales featuring people who went to the Yukon during the gold-rush.

The wendigo entry was a huge let-down in particular, because instead of recounting any tales of encounters there was simply a short entry that basically said 'wendigo are scary creatures that possess people and turn them into cannibals', ending with: "Clearly this tale is a warning against eating human flesh, no matter how dire times might be". After all of these ghost stories, where she pushes time and time again they're true stories, the author concludes that this is just a cautionary tale, not real. It just felt like a weird switch. She did this again with the next short entry about Shadow People/Taqriaqsuit, briefly describing their habits and ending with "Perhaps this tale warns people not to go too far from home when conditions are perilous". Again, weird switch after insisting in all of these other entries that the ghosts haunting these areas are real. Suddenly it's too much of a stretch to posit that these figures from indigenous tales could also be real?

Overall, some interesting bits in this book (shout out to "Esther's Story" and "Haunted Quarters" for being the 2 most interesting entries), but in the end this book was a bit too dry and sometimes felt a bit vague/sparse on the details. Not something I'd really pick up again.

[Elise · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a collection of about a hundred ghost stories from across Canada. They are told from east to west, and then the last section is for all three territories. Some are only a couple paragraphs long and others are a few pages. And those are not only scary ghost hauntings either, there are sad tales, funny poltergeists, etc.

I was quite entertained by this. I am neither a believer in “another plane of existence” not a firm denier. Even though many stories made me wonder if and how science could explain whatever was happening, a little suspension of disbelief makes the whole thing a fun read.

In the end I got a tad bored with Barbara Smith’s narration, though. The stories weren’t narrated so much as told as a collection of facts. But I guess she would have had to tell fewer of them if she made them all into a whole story.

Enjoyable collection of Canadiana! I read it just as I was coming back from a trip to Western Canada, so I had fun looking for stories in places I’d visited.

PS: Fun drinking game idea: take a drink every time the phrase “nobody was around to [make something happen] - nobody alive that is!” appears.

[Linda Heggs · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great stories(even my city made it into it, although there is better stories than the one she used) but it read like a police report. Just the facts, mam. It was a choppy read for me. She would say things like ‘Wonder if the people today...’. A phone call could have answered those questions. Maybe unanswered questions were left to drum up some sort of mystery? Loved how she laid out the book as the chapters were the different provinces and territories. Not something I will read nor will I search the author out for more.

[Kimberley · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really fun read for those of us who enjoy ghost stories!

[Stephanie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Although I am a huge fan of the other books this author has written (More Ghost Stories of Alberta for example), I found this collection underwhelming. Although the stories are interesting, I found I wanted more details, more explanation, or even just references to go read more about the stories. As an overview of some stories from across Canada is it stellar, but as a spooky or interesting read it is so-so.

[Jen Sangiovanni · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was a little disappointed to be honest. There are probably so many stories that couldn’t fit all into one book, but there are definitely some more interesting ones from my city. It was good to read about ones I hadn’t heard of however. That being said, I had a bit of difficulty following this book even though
It was all short stories. Took me a lot longer to get through than I would have expected.

[Tara · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don’t remember when I started this book, but I found it on my bookshelf with my last spot bookmarked, so I decided to finish it up! I like the little snapshots from around Canada. And learning about the doll Mandy- so close to where I live. Some stories were more interesting than others. And, unfortunately, a lot revolved around cities. Would’ve liked more variety.
⭐️⭐️⭐️ 3/5

[Brian Baker · Rating 4 out of 5]

A decent cache of Canadiana that progresses geographically throughout the nation.

[Alan Clark · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thoroughly enjoyed this diverse, well written collection of creepy tales.

[Michelle M · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting, entertaining, and well written.

[Shawnya Boisvert · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an awesome book

[Lorelei · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lots of fun and interesting story variations across the country. Great gently spooky read.

[Carrie Chase · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF. Was more general ghost stories that happened to take place in Canada; no Canada-esque culture. Stories were very factual (this person saw this), little wonder and/or spook.

[Meg · Rating 3 out of 5]

Loved how it was a collection of short stories, some better than others. Really enjoyed the haunted light and haunted hockey hall of fame story.

[Brittney · Rating 5 out of 5]

Finding Barbara Smith books on our adventures is always a beloved treasure as we explore BC. Our kids get so excited to find a new book for around the fire.