The Prince George Ghostly Walks tour is not about jump scares and boogeymen. It's about which historical building is haunted by which ghost. Is it a husband-and-wife tag team? Somebody’s grumpy grandpa? Or perhaps that flirty birdy everyone used to gossip about back in the day?
You’ll soon get all the answers when Ian Gibbs, an author who specializes in ghost stories and just got a gig to write about ghosts across Canada, offers an hour-long tour twice a night on Friday, July 26 and Saturday, July 27 in downtown Prince George. There will be more walks later in the summer, too.
As part of the walk and talk, Gibbs will offer tidbits of history while infusing his ghost stories with some hard-to-believe facts.
Did you know the original city hall used to be a house of ill repute?
Gibbs, who spent 10 years offering tours of Victoria’s most gasp-worthy sites, recently moved to Prince George and immediately started on his quest for the quirky.
There are as many as 13 stops on the tour, depending on the size of the group, which maxes out at 30.
“The bigger the group the slower it goes,” Gibbs said, adding he knows from experience.
And this is just the beginning. As Gibbs gets to know the town, he’s discovered more spots that have those intriguing ghost stories and will soon have enough to put together another route for his tour.
“And the other thing I’m thinking long-term is because everyone loves true crime right now, I will do the research to do a Murder and Mayhem tour and go to infamous spots in town. Nothing modern. I won’t be doing any 1990s crime – I don’t want to have any impact on the families – but if you’ve got a crazy murder-suicide from 1935, I’m your guy,” Gibbs said.
The idea of doing a ghostly walking tour started when Gibbs asked a friend to take him around downtown in April 2023 as he was new to the city.
Well, as they were going for lunch they stumbled across Corless House at 1276 Fourth Ave. where Sisters Rock’n Gems is currently housed.
“And I said ‘this is so different’ and I am someone who is sensitive to energy – always have been since I was a kid,” Gibbs said. “So I walked in the door and I went ‘oh, my goodness’ and the ladies in there were so cool – it does not bother them and they just share the building. And I was like maybe I could actually do something so I did some research online and then I went to the library and found some great books and when I went to check them out they told me they were for in-library use only so then I went to Books & Company and I found three of the four books and bought them right away.”
Books & Co. is also on the walking tour, by the way.
The historical conflict between Fort George and South Fort George is part of the walking tour’s footnotes. So not only is the tour entertaining but educational.
“During the tour I talk about building bridges with the past and how the stories I’m telling don’t make much sense when looking through a modern lens but if you look at them when these people were alive then they make a lot of sense,” Gibbs said.
“For example, the library is built on stilts because it’s on a flood plain and water used to come up all the way to city hall so they didn’t want to take any chances.”
It’s all part of the conversation with Gibbs.
And don’t be afraid to come downtown. Gibbs said when he was doing the Victoria walking tours it was much worse than what we have in our downtown core, and he knows how to navigate any situation.
Tickets are $15.
To find out more about Prince George Ghostly Walks and the schedule including the 90-minute special on Halloween night visit www.pgghostlywalks.com.
