Haunted residences
A couple recounted moving to a house in Selkirk in September 1999. The day they arrived they found children’s footprints going up the walls to the ceiling.
It was a two-story house, and in one of the bedrooms upstairs they would often hear someone calling out the husband’s name.
They tried not to let these two incidents disturb them, but after some renovations upstairs the paranormal activity picked up. Upstairs the husband continued to hear a woman calling to him. The wife started to feel a male presence around her. One night she was asleep in bed and felt her husband beside her, she rolled over to find that no one was there. The two often saw a woman walking up the stairs. Their objects would be mysteriously moved, and their two cats would often stare at a spot for an extensive amount of time.
Their friends didn’t like visiting. They even had someone stay the night once and that person refused to step foot in the house again.
It’s unclear where in Selkirk this was. But the couple moved away after a year and soon after the house was significantly remodeled.
Marine Museum
For countless years, both staff and visitors at the Marine Museum have encountered inexplicable phenomena. Many people have investigated the ghosts at the Marine Museum such as clairvoyants, ghost hunters, and paranormal investigation TV shows.
S.S. Keenora
The S.S. Keenora was built in 1897 as a passenger and freight steamship. It sailed on Lake of the Woods, the Red River, and Lake Winnipeg. Today it is part of the Marine Museum, where visitors can explore the boat. Frequently the lighting in the boat does not behave normally. The lights will flicker or turn of all together without anyone flicking the switch. Volunteers and staff also report that the decorations for the yearly haunted Halloween event move on their own. Staff have also seen pages from the ship’s logs flip to a new page all by itself. Upstairs the piano is often heard even thought no one is playing it.
CGS Bradbury
The Bradbury was constructed in Selkirk in 1915. In 1917, the Bradbury travelled through thick ice, taking doctors and medicine to a northern settlement struck by a flu epidemic.
The presence of spirits is often felt very strongly on and around this boat at the museum.
Suzanne-e
The Suzanne-E was built in 1946. On September 24, 1965, the 70-tonne freight vessel left Selkirk and faced a sudden storm around Grindstone Point. The boat sunk and 9 out of the 10 people aboard died in the tragedy. While the boat is not at the Marine Museum, there are artifacts left from it at the museum. Out of all the boats at the museum investigators have often had the strongest reaction and paranormal experience around these few remaining objects. Often chills are felt near the life preserver from the Suzanne-E.
Don’t forget to visit the Marine Museum yourself to learn the stories of the ships and ghosts. The museum hosts an annual Halloween Haunt event, as well as guided ghost tours throughout the year.
Sources
PSICAN – Paranormal Studies and Inquiry Canada – Selkirk Haunted House
Selkirk Journal, Nov 4, 2010, p. 16 | NewspaperArchive
Selkirk Journal, Oct 20, 2011, p. 7 | NewspaperArchive
The Other Side, Season 7 Episode 6 “Down with the Ship”, APTN.
