Take a tour through one of Calgary’s most haunted neighbourhoods

Not all ghost stories are created equal.

In fact, some aren’t real at all — but there is definitely a long list of ghosts and spirits calling Calgary’s oldest community of Inglewood home.

Because of this, there is a multitude of spooky tours that explore the cracks and crevices of the community year-round, but October is always the busiest – for obvious reasons.

Sisters Fay Steinberg and Laura Olschewski recently started ‘Ghost Gurus’ in July, adding their special flair of authentic psychic abilities and extensive knowledge of ghost stories to the mix. Their main focus, of course, is Inglewood.

“I lived in Inglewood in the ’90s… and I noticed even back then there’s definitely a lot of energy,” explains Faye Steinberg, the older of the two sisters.

“Here’s the thing about Inglewood; not only do you have a lot of buildings that have been wonderfully preserved by the community, but you’ve also the geographical location of Inglewood,” she says, pointing to the nearby Bow and Elbow rivers.

“Water is an incredible conductor of energy.”

Tapping into their sixth senses

Steinberg has been “able to see the other side” and tapped into her psychic side since she was four. Her mother has the same abilities, though she tends to turn away from them while Steinberg embraces them.

Her sister, Laura Olschewski, discovered her “sensitive” abilities later than her sister, but together the duo has teamed up to create Ghost Gurus.

“To be honest, I was always very skeptical (of Faye’s abilities.) As I got older though, I started having my own experiences and was converted,” Olschewski says.

“I definitely sense energy, and pick up on things but I’ve also had a few interactions where I’ve basically had a physical experience with the paranormal.”

The duo focuses on Inglewood because it’s loaded with history and riddled with spirits and ghosts. What sets them apart from other various ghost tours in the area, is their extensive investigations into the real stories behind the legends.

That and their sixth sense, of course. But when they dig up obituaries of ghosts they’ve actually met, it makes things a lot more interesting.

Tapping into the community’s darker history

“When we were doing our research, we discovered a large concentration of deaths in Inglewood,” Steinberg explains, adding there are two main reasons.

“There were hundreds of deaths in the Bow River (over the years). And two, when the railway was first built, there was a big chunk of it that was right in Inglewood, and there were hundreds and hundreds of deaths on the railway.”

That and the historic buildings have been well kept.

“You’ve got all these wonderfully beautiful, beautifully restored, in some cases, historical buildings. And in a concentrated area, you’ve got a lot of death, so it just makes sense that you’re going to have a lot of paranormal activity to tap into.”

Here are just a couple of the iconic Inglewood haunts that many Calgarians have probably heard stories about.

The Deane House

Steinberg says the Deane House is a perfect example of where you have tragic deaths but stories that have gotten lost in translation over the years.

“Some of the stories that are told on other tours are not accurate, because I think what’s happened is they’ve relied maybe on local legends instead of the research. And so you’ve got a couple of stories that are not true.”

That’s not to say it isn’t haunted. With 146 years of history, it’s loaded with characters.

“There’s definitely a lot of activity,” she says, adding there are stories she has researched and knows are true that she shares on her tours.

“There was a very brutal murder at the Deane House that that is actually true. And then we have a number of deaths that were within a very concentrated time.”

She says there’s even a spirit that has wandered in from the railway.

“There’s definitely a ghost there that has just wandered in and said, ‘Oh, this feels good. So even though he died on the railway and his leg is amputated, one of the servers has actually seen him.”

The Hose & Hound

This former fire hall-turned-Inglewood pub is known for having otherworldly visitors of both the human and animal kind.

While there are locations in Inglewood with more paranormal activity than the Hose & Hound, there is something unique about the ghosts that haunt the halls, Steinberg says.

“There was an old captain that was very into collecting exotic animals,” Steinberg says.

“He had a pet monkey and he had tied it up out front in the ’40s and there was a child that was trying to feed it peanuts and the monkey attacked the child, so they felt that they needed to put the monkey down.”

Since then, people have reported feeling a tail brush past them. People have also reported hearing horses or feeling heavy breathing on their skin.

“People can feel animal energy in there,” she adds.

There’s also a newer ghost. How does she know that? She can feel him.

“There was a gentleman who passed away a few years ago that was kind of like the local legend, he would go there often. And I believe his energy is there.”

You can book a tour (and more) with Ghost Gurus via their website.