Nova Scotia Ghost Stories: Fact or Fiction?

With a history that dates back more than 400 years, Nova Scotia is brimming with old ghost stories, legends, and plenty of troubled souls that haunt this beautiful coastal location.

Bedford Basin
Halifax Harbour is home to Bedford Basin, where legend has it a small boat full of fishermen overturned and they all tragically drowned.  Many people have claimed during foggy evenings to hear the sound of a boat rowing towards shore but soon the sound fades and no boat is ever seen.  Some locals believe it is the sound of the fisherman, destined to spend eternity searching for a shore they will never reach.

Cathedral Church of All Saints
Patrons of this historic church in Halifax believe it is haunted by one of the past deans, whose ghost has been seen in various spots throughout the church.  However, most reports center around the altar where the ghost has been seen standing numerous times.

Deadman’s Island
What a perfect name for such a creepy, frightening place.  It is well known that Deadman’s Island was the site of a mass grave but no one really knows where the exact location is.  When a development company began clearing trees on the island for impending construction, several workers came forward describing ghostly lights that would float above the tree line as night would approach.

St. Paul’s Anglican Church
Canada’s oldest Protestant church is also known as the most haunted building in all of Halifax.  The most reported paranormal activity by visitors includes the ghost of an old parishioner of the church was tragically killed in an explosion in 1917.  The ghost has been seen on several occasions peering out an upper-story window.

Northumberland Strait
One of the most famous hauntings in all of Canada is that of the burning ghost ship that sails the Northumberland Strait between Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia.  Sightings of the burning ghost ship have persisted for years, appearing entirely ablaze from bow to stern.