On Halloween night the streets of Lethbridge may be filled with ghosts and ghouls, but the haunting in the city may not end because the calendar flips to November.
President of the Lethbridge Historical Society Belinda Crowson says throughout the City of Lethbridge there are numerous ghost stories, which she says are also folk stories, that could be told. Crowson explains these stories tell as much about a community and culture as they do the ghosts themselves.
“Different communities often have different ghost stories, based on who immigrated into that area and who lives in that area,” Crowson says. “So if you know southern Alberta well, I could tell you a ghost story and you could probably pick out what community it is from.”
“I think we are not only telling stories, you know we like to spook ourselves as the nights are getting longer, but we are also telling the history of the community.”
In the downtown core alone there are several stories Crowson could pick out, including one about whether or not the only person to be executed in Lethbridge haunts the Fritz Sick Pool.
“The Yates (Theatre) has some really strange stories of some young girls that have been seen playing ‘Ring around the Rosie’ and then just sort of disappear when people approach them.”
According to Crowson, she doesn’t know or care if ghosts truly exist, but she knows ghost stories do and they are a lot of fun.
