Back from the Dead: The St. John's Haunted Hike returns for 2023!

The first St. John's Haunted Hike of the 2023 season is this Sunday, May 28th. We've shifted slightly to a 9pm start, and have tickets available for opening night!

Order here:

https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/haunted-hike-2023-tickets-615042567877

The St. John's Haunted Hike returns with new tour dates for August and September 2021

The Haunted Hike returns with a coffin-load of new tour dates. Get your tickets before they fade into nothingness before your very eyes…


https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/the-haunted-hike-returns-tickets-163443988369


Mon Aug 16 – 9:30pm
Tues Aug 17 – 9:30pm
Wed Aug 18 – 9:30pm
Thurs Aug 19 – 9:30pm
Sat Aug 21 – 9pm
Sun Aug 22 – 9pm
Mon Aug 23 – 9pm
Tues Aug 24 – 9pm
Wed Aug 25 – 9:30pm
Thurs Aug 26 – 9pm
Sun Aug 29 – 9pm
Mon Aug 30 – 9pm
Tues Aug 31 – 9pm
Wed Sept 1 – 9pm
Thurs Sept 2 – 9pm
Mon Sept 6 – 9pm
Tues Sept 7 – 9pm
Wed Sept 8 – 9pm
Thurs Sept 9 – 9pm

Bodies, Barrels, and Boxes - Gruesome Tales from Newfoundland

By Dale Jarvis

Around 1835, one of the English clerks at the Newman and Company’s plantation in St. Lawrence on the Burin Peninsula suffered a rather untimely demise. Embalming of any sort was an impossibility in that far flung fishing station, so the unfortunate man’s body was preserved inside a puncheon of rum until the body, by that point well pickled, could be taken back to Europe for burial. While unusual perhaps by today’s standards, this practise was apparently not uncommon.

The most famous of these pickled corpses was Admiral Horatio Nelson, who himself had a Newfoundland connection. In May of 1782, Nelson, in command of the HMS Abbemarie, spent several days in St. John’s. Nelson was not impressed with St. John’s, and in a letter home to England described it as a most disagreeable place. During his stay he spent most of his time courting the bottle at the historic Ship Inn, close to what is now the Crow’s Nest on Water Street.

Thankfully, the Admiral turned down a post in Provincial Tourism, and left St. John’s. In true heroic fashion he was killed at the battle of Trafalgar in 1805, and was shipped back to England in a barrel of brandy. According to naval legend, when the barrel was finally opened it was found to be drained of its liquor. Apparently sailors unaware of the true contents had tapped it for some illicit tippling.

These tales have a gruesome similarity to another story from the community of St. Lawrence, which apparently had a strange association with disturbing objects inside casks. The event in question shocked the community when the preserved corpse of an African baby was found sealed up inside a puncheon of molasses which had been imported from the West Indies.

The delight of finding a body sealed up inside a container of one sort or another is reflected in a popular ghost story from downtown St. John's. Sometime around the 1870's, a married couple by the name of Packerson moved into St. John’s from a settlement in Conception Bay, and rented the house for two pounds four shillings a month. Mrs. Packerson always felt that she was being followed through the house and this made her feel very uneasy.

The months slipped by and Mr. Packerson was offered a berth on a sailing vessel. It was barely a week after his departure when his wife had the horrifying experience of coming face to face with the house’s paranormal inhabitant. On that day, Mrs. Packerson had three times attempted to light the gas burner in the kitchen, and three times someone beside her blew out the flame. In a state of frenzy she turned to run from the kitchen but she was unable to move one inch.

Directly in front of her, in what she was using a closet, she saw the figure of a woman standing in the doorway, illuminated with a dazzling brightness from the crown of her head to the very soles of her feet. Mrs. Packerson stared at the amazing spectacle for a few moments before realizing that she was actually gazing upon the figure of a ghost. When she realized what she was witnessing, she instinctively put her hands to cover her eyes and fell into a state of unconsciousness.

When she revived, she ran to her neighbours, who informed her that a former owner had killed his wife, placed her body in a box, walled it up inside the closet, and had fled the country before the murder was uncovered. By the time the Packersons entered the story, they had been able to rent the house so cheaply only because the place was known to be haunted by the unhappy spectre of the murdered bride.

Dale Jarvis is an author, storyteller, and professional folklorist who splits his time between St. John’s and Clarke’s Beach, Newfoundland, Canada. The proprietor of the St. John’s Haunted Hike ghost tour, Dale tells ghost stories, supernatural stories, legends and traditional tales from Newfoundland, Labrador and beyond. The Haunted Hike runs every Sunday to Thursday during the summer, and is online at www.hauntedhike.com. You can like us on Facebook, or better yet, come along and let us tell you a tale!

Ghosts of Signal Hill returns with new actors Brad Stone & Chris Bishop

Daring escapes, murdered pirates, ghost ships, buried treasure, tragic drownings, and headless phantoms: it is all in a night’s work at Signal Hill National Historic Site!

Ghosts of Signal Hill is back in full swing, running every Friday and Saturday night at 8pm for all of July and August. Tickets are limited for each show, and available in advance (cash sale only) from the Signal Hill Visitor Centre.

The show returns this year with two new actors taking on the role of the dashing Lieutenant Ranslaer Schuyler: Brad Stone and Chris Bishop.  Brad takes to the stage for the first time this summer on Friday; Chris takes over for Saturday night's show. Show creator Dale Jarvis will also fill the role select nights in August.

Despite being a busy realtor and a father of two, or perhaps because of it, Brad Stone has spent over twenty years on, off, and near the stage. Recently he has performed in the Twilight Zone episodes Escape Clause as Walter Bedeker and To Serve Man as Michael Chambers. He has also played Elwood P. Dowd in Harvey, The King of France in King Lear, Lennox in Macbeth, Mortimer Brewster in Arsenic and Old Lace, Tranio in Taming of the Shrew, Oedipus in In Your Dreams Freud, and more. Despite the fact that this is certainly not his first show on the hill, he still hasn’t gotten used to the cold.


Chris Bishop is a native of St. John’s and is graced with a wonderful and supportive fiancée, Sabrina Roberts, of whom he is eternally grateful. Chris would also like to extend a thank you to Ghost Conservationist, Dale Jarvis. Chris recently performed in the St. John’s Players’ production of VIMY which traveled to the NL Drama Festival in Gander, where Chris took home the award for Best Actor. When not on stage Chris enjoys working to help families as a Child Management Specialist.

Haunted Hike news for the week of Canada Day

Happy Canada Day from all of us here at the St. John's Haunted Hike!

And yes, we will be running our regular "Ghosties and Ghoulies" Tour tonight, Wednesday, July 1st, and Thursday, July 2nd.

Also, starting this week, is our "Ghosts of Signal Hill" program. We open this Friday and Saturday, at 8pm.  Tickets are limited, and are available in advance from the Signal Hill Visitor Centre on Signal Hill Road. Tickets are $15, cash sale only. Then we are back downtown on Sunday with our "Sinners and Spirits" Tour!

Full details on all our programs available at www.hauntedhike.com

Wicked new St. John's Haunted Hike art by Rayne Gallows

I spent last weekend at the Sci-Fi On The Rock 7 convention here in St. John's. It was great fun, and smashed its attendance records from previous years, with over 5000 people through the doors. One of the things I loved about it most was that I got to meet and chat with people I might not have otherwise - fans, lovers of ghost stories, and other artists and enthusiasts.

One of the vendors at the event was Rayne Gallows Art and Design, who were selling fan art and doing on-the-spot cartoons of conference goers. I liked their stuff, and at the end of the con, I asked them if they'd be interested in doing up a new piece for the St. John's Haunted Hike.

A day later, here it is! I'll be using it as the new avatar for the St. John's Haunted Hike twitter account and Facebook page, and I'm sure it will pop up in other places too. I'm tremendously pleased with the art, and with the quick turnaround time and pricing of Rayne Gallows. If you need something like this done, definitely check them out!

The St. John's Haunted Hike - 15 years of spooking tourists

This Sunday, May 27th, 2012, the St. John’s Haunted Hike returns to the streets of the capital city. When I look back, it is amazing that 15 years have passed since I started the Hike. We’ve already had a few group bookings this year for visiting conferences and student groups.  Fingers are crossed that the good weather continues, though the Hike is one of the only businesses in town that benefits from dismal, foggy weather!

New this year, I am expanding the “Ghosts of Signal Hill” show to two nights, Friday and Saturday. We sold out almost every night of the show last year, so this year the number of shows has been doubled. Our final performance on September 15^th will commemorate the 250^th anniversary of the Battle of Signal Hill.

We’ve had some great storytelling talent on the Hikes over the years.  Steve O’Connell and Dave Walsh return with yours truly for the Sunday to Thursday night walks, while Jedediah Baker and Chris Hibbs will join me on Signal Hill. The Haunted Hike alumni include Dr. Mark Scott, Gabriel Newman of the Ghost Tours of Vernon and Danielle Irvine, who this summer will be directing “Pride and Prejudice” on Prince Edward Island (still no word on if it will feature zombies).

If you are on twitter, you can now follow the Hike @sjhauntedhike 

Actor Chris Hibbs joins the Ghosts of Signal Hill storytelling crew

The St. John's Haunted Hike is pleased to announce that local actor Chris Hibbs will be joining the cast of "Ghosts of Signal Hill" for the 2012 run. Hibbs will join storytellers Dale Jarvis and Jedediah Baker for the season, with shows running every Friday and Saturday night from June 1st to September 15th.

Oft' described as an "old soul," Hibbs feels it quite fitting to personify this characteristic through his role in the Ghosts of Signal Hill. Theatrically speaking, he has conspired with the likes of the Shakespeare by the Sea Festival for the past decade in a variety of capacities, though enjoys the extraneous pursuits of photography and writing. He is a local of St. John's by choice, and is continually inspired by the richness of its historical depths and the artisans that thrive within.