Gaslight Chronicles

Send us Fan Mail In today’s conclusion, we’ll venture to William Head Prison, officially called William Head Institution. Originally established as a quarantine station by the Department of National Health and Welfare in 1881. The location developed an unsettling reputation before it even became a penitentiary. Podcast links and further reading: Quarantined: Life and Death at William Head Station,...

Send us Fan Mail Today we’ll explore the 4-Mile Pub, named for being four miles from downtown Victoria. Formally the Four Mile House/4 Mile Restaurant & Brewpub, it has a rich collection of ghost lore from its long history. Podcast links and further reading: https://www.fourmilehouse.com https://livinglibraryblog.com/white-lady-thetis-cove-video/?utm_source=chatgpt.com https://www.hauntedplace...

Send us Fan Mail Today we’ll explore Bastion Square in downtown Victoria, which transitioned from an early trading post to the center of colonial government, law courts, and police barracks before being redeveloped into a pedestrian square in the 1960s. Podcast links and further reading: https://dspace.library.uvic.ca/server/api/core/bitstreams/894c91ae-8a6b-40db-a78a-eae7a67cd790/content?utm_sour...

Send us Fan Mail Today is Day Ten of the Thirteen Days of Halloween, where we’ll explore Victoria’s Cherry Bank Hotel, considered a legendary, slightly seedy and deeply nostalgic watering hole, that combined a maze-like interior with a popular cocktail lounge, betting den and famous restaurant. Sometimes remembered as the Cherry Bank Motel, the Cherry Bank Hotel has had several incarnations over i...

Send us Fan Mail Today is Day Nine of the Thirteen Days of Halloween. Today we’ll venture into a house that became the subject of substantial newspaper investigations due to the number of manifestations reported. Tod House is nestled in Oak Bay and is known as western Canada's longest continuously occupied residential home and one of the oldest surviving houses in British Columbia. Podcast li...

Send us Fan Mail Today is Day Eight of the Thirteen Days of Halloween, where we’ll explore Roger’s Chocolates in Victoria BC. And what is Halloween without the chocolate? Podcast links and further reading: https://www.cohosts.ca/victorias-most-haunted/ https://www.emrvacationrentals.com/blog/haunted-places-in-victoria-bc/ https://wholesale.rogerschocolates.com/our-history?utm_source=chatgpt.com ht...

Send us Fan Mail Today is Day Seven of the Thirteen Days of Halloween, where we’ll venture to the Bent Mast in James Bay where the restaurant openly acknowledges ghostly happenings. Podcast links and further reading: https://www.thebentmastvictoria.com/home?utm_source=chatgpt.com https://bcliving.ca/travel/bc/victorias-most-haunted-places/?utm_source=chatgpt.com https://victoriabuzz.com/2025/10/31...

Send us Fan Mail Today is Day Six of the Thirteen Days of Halloween, we’ll explore the abandoned mining settlement of Leechtown, situated on the southern end of Vancouver Island near Sooke in British Columbia. Podcast links and further reading: The History of Leechtown Part 1 by Bart van den Berk https://www.amazon.ca/history-Leechtown-Part-I/dp/0993817505 https://apps.gov.bc.ca/pub/bcgnws/names/9...

Send us Fan Mail Today is Day Five of the Thirteen Days of Halloween, where we’ll explore this historical Craigflower Schoolhouse, which is known as the oldest surviving school building in Western Canada, that began as school, evolved into a museum and today serves as the headquarters for the Hallmark Heritage Society. Podcast links and further reading: https://www.historicplaces.ca/en/rep-reg/pla...

Send us Fan Mail Today is Day Four of the Thirteen Days of Halloween, today we’ll explore Pioneer Square, which began as Victoria's Old Burying Ground in 1855, and it was the city's principal cemetery until 1873. Podcast links and further reading: https://www.bcmag.ca/15-haunted-places-in-victoria/?utm_source=chatgpt.com https://victoriabuzz.com/2025/10/31-haunted-places-in-and-around-vi...

Send us Fan Mail Today is Day Three of the Thirteen Days of Halloween, where we’ll venture to the outskirts of Victoria into Sooke to discover the 17 Mile House, considered one of British Columbia’s Bucket List Pubs, not only for the food, but for the atmosphere, as is haunted by a menagerie of spirits. Podcast links and further reading:   https://www.17milehouse.com/our-history/?utm_source=chatgp...

Send us Fan Mail Today is Day Two of the Thirteen Days of Halloween, where we’ll explore Emily Carr House in James Bay. Podcast links and further reading: Ghost Stories of British Columbia by Jo-Ann Christensen (1996) Ghost Stories & Mysterious Creatures of British Columbia by Barbara Smith (1999) https://www.pc.gc.ca/apps/dfhd/page_nhs_eng.aspx?i=48951&id=90&utm_source=chatgpt.com htt...

Send us Fan Mail Today is Day One of the Thirteen Days of Halloween, where we’ll explore St. Ann’s Academy in Victoria BC. Podcast links and further reading: https://www.pc.gc.ca/apps/dfhd/page_nhs_eng.aspx?id=105 https://victoriabuzz.com/2021/10/your-guide-to-haunted-victoria/?amp&mailoptin-ajax=%25%25endpoint%25%25 https://www.stannsacademy.com/history_and_research/places/former_cemetery.php...

Send us Fan Mail In today's episode we’ll explore the history of the origins of the Old English Inn in Esquimalt, now known as Rosemead House. Podcast links and further reading: https://victoriamemories.substack.com/p/rosemead-429-lampson-street-esquimalt?utm_source=chatgpt.com https://www.esquimalt.ca/sites/default/files/meetings/2013_03_20_heritage_advisory_agenda.pdf?utm_source=chatgpt.com...

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Send us Fan Mail Today’s episode is going to be a bumpy ride as we’re going to explore three of Victoria’s most notorious murder cases: Belle Adams and the murder of Charles Kincaid, the death of Mary Ellen Janes and the Agnes Bings murder. Podcast links and further reading: https://www.photopainter.ca/blogs-victoria/victorias-secret-belle-adams-mugshot https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3ABe...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode of the Gaslight Chronicles we’re going to explore the question: did Vancouver Island ever have pirates? We’ll also explore the origins of Buccaneer Days in Esquimalt and the Infamous "Pirate" of Vancouver Island: John "Bungo" Kelly. Podcast links and further reading: https://apps.gov.bc.ca/pub/bcgnws/names/4119.html?utm_source=chatgpt.com https:...

Send us Fan Mail In today's episode we’ll travel to the outskirts of Victoria into Sooke to explore one of my favourite walking destinations – Whiffin Spit, historically known as Long Spit. Sculpted by nature, it evolved from a working landscape to a place of conservation and recreation. Podcast links and further reading: https://vancouverislandbucketlist.com/experiences/whiffin-spit/ https:/...

Send us Fan Mail In today's episode we'll explore The Empress Hotel and the Inner Harbour. Built on reclaimed tidal mudflats to serve a working harbor and to attract wealthy travellers, they evolved together to create a grand gateway into Victoria. Podcast links and further reading: Barrett, Anthony A., and Rhodri Windsor Liscombe.  Francis Mawson Rattenbury and British Columbia: Archite...

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Send us Fan Mail In today's episode we'll explore Ross Bay Cemetery, where nearly 30,000 burials spanned more than 150 years on the 27.5 acre property. Podcast links and further reading: 1.              "Funeral of Mrs. Pearse" . Daily British Colonist. Victoria, BC. 1872-12-29. p. 3. 2.              "New Plot Opportunity at Ross Bay Cemetery" . City of Victoria. 2004...

Send us Fan Mail In today's episode we'll explore the historic Point Ellice House alongside the significant but often overlooked Point Ellice Bridge disaster which resulted in 55 deaths. Podcast links and further reading: ·        Francis, Daniel, ed. (2000) [1999]. "Point Ellice Bridge Collapse" . Encyclopedia of British Columbia. Harbour Publishing . p. 562. ISBN 1-55017-200-...

Send us Fan Mail In today's episode we'll explore Victoria's Chinatown, which is the oldest surviving in Canada and its connection to the opium trade from the late 1800s. Podcast links and further reading:  Yee, Paul (2005). Chinatown: An Illustrated History of the Chinese Communities of Victoria. James Lorimer & Company. ISBN 1-55028-842-3 . "Archived copy" . Archived...

Send us Fan Mail In today's episode we'll explore Victoria's infamous cult leader Brother Twelve and his followers who resided on DeCourcy and Valdes islands near Nanaimo, BC. Podcast links and further reading: Oliphant, John (2006), Brother XII: The Strange Odyssey of a 20th-century Prophet and His Quest for a New World, Twelfth House Press, ISBN 0-9780972-0-3 Oliphant, John. &quot...