Scary Night

Haunted Airports!

Kaua'i, Hawaii is one of the most beautiful places on earth to live. The island embraces you with a feeling of love and there is a pulsating spiritual energy that covers the island. I was fortunate to live and work on the island for 5 years. I can recall several instances where I encountered ghosts when traveling around the island. I saw Hawaiian ghosts in my house, at my work, in restaurants and even hotel bathrooms.

At the airport my shift began at 5:00 A.M., even though the first flight didn't arrive until 6:10 A.M. or so. As I walked back to my podium from unlocking the foyer doors, the doors opened by themselves, and then another set of doors opened, then the same set opened again. I felt chills go through my body and got a little freaked out for a second. I regained my composure and thought to myself, standing alone in this room, I wonder if I'm not alone or if it is an electrical shortage. Then I remembered that this had happened in another foyer as well. It was not always the same doors and a different pattern, so I thought an electrical short was unlikely. I knew the history of the Hawaiian Islands and that the airport was close to sacred ground. I was afraid to admit to myself that the airport and the room I was standing in was haunted. I was trapped and couldn't leave my post, so I sat there talking to the ghosts, letting them know that I was only there to help people and that I didn't mean any harm. Later, I asked around the terminal and got verification that the airport was, in fact, known to be haunted.

I never told anyone what had happened except for a very spiritual coworker who believed in spirits. I asked her if the doors opening ever happened to her. She said never. I thought that was interesting. It proved my point that it wasn't an electrical short since she was recently assigned to the foyers as a result of an injury. I asked her to do me a favor. I told her that if she said good morning to the ghosts from me, they would respond by opening the doors for her. The next morning she did what I asked her to do, and sure enough the doors opened for the first time for her too. She couldn't believe it. She said they knew my name and that I had made some friends. I responded by saying, "Blessings to them."

There is a story about a lady in white who stands on the jet-way late at night. She just stands there, blowing in the wind. Many employees have seen her and agree she's not a malicious ghost. She just wants to exist. There seem to be a lot of friendly ghosts, like Casper. Knowing the spirits were friendly put me more at ease.

I discovered historically that the Hawaiians buried commoners along the shorelines and kings and queens in caves. Since the airport is built at the water's edge, I would say I was visited by Hawaiian commoners who wanted to check me out. The hair on my arms always stood straight up when they came around.

If you want to research Hawaiian ghosts, look up Night Marchers. Happy Halloween!

About the Author - Natalia Ippolito, a former airport screener and author of: I MIGHT AS WELL BE NAKED: How to Survive Airport Screening With Your Clothes On.

Hello From Montreal: The Old Montreal Ghost Walking Tour

After an enjoyable dinner at Modavie I was ready to head to my next scheduled activity: a ghost tour of Old Montreal. Old Montreal Ghosts or Les Fantomes de Vieux Montreal was founded about 8 years ago by a local Montrealer, Eric Poulin, who got the idea for a ghost tour on one of his travels to London. Recently he has started to collaborate with Louise Hébert, owner of Guidatour and a very experienced tourism entrepreneur who has won numerous prizes from Quebec Tourism and in 2005 was also honoured as one of Chatelaine Magazine Top Ten Women of the Year. Both entrepreneurs together combined to provide a special experience in Old Montreal.

Old Montreal Ghosts offers a variety of tours: a traditional ghost walk that introduces visitors to the streets, alleyways and piers of Old Montreal, to the locations of many historical events including fires, ghost appearances, political gatherings, hangings, crimes, heroic acts and unexplained facts. The Montreal Historical Crimes Tour makes visitors relive some of Montreal’s most famous crimes through the testimony of victims and criminals.

I was going to partake of the New France Ghost Hunt, with characters dating back to the founding times of Montreal. Another ghost tour focuses on the Port area while a Scavenger Hunt is also offered where competing teams have to find answers to rally questions.

Based on these interesting offerings, I was sure a special experience was waiting for me. So just before 8:30 pm I went to a booth on Jacques Cartier Quay in the Old Port of Montreal to participate in the New France Ghost Hunt. Quebec was part of New France and Montreal’s French regime lasted from 1642, the founding of Montreal, to 1760, when France conceded its overseas territories to Great Britain in 1763 at the end of the Seven Years War. The ghosts we would be meeting tonight would date back to that era.

Two ghost tours were being offered tonight: one in French and one in English. Together with a family from Battle Creek, Michigan, and another family from Boston I was ready to go searching for Montreal’s ghosts. A lady dressed in a late-medieval costume called us together and explained to us how the tour would work. She handed out some critical accessories: a flag of New France as well as a lantern and designated a tour leader who would have to coordinate our efforts.

She gave us maps of Old Montreal that contained 4 stops at each of which we would have to locate the resident ghost and call him or her by chanting “Long live the King of France”. This would make the ghost appear. And off she sent us on our treasure hunt for the ghosts of Old Montreal.

Well, it was a beautiful evening and hundreds of people on the outdoor restaurant patios on Place Jacques Cartier could attest to that. Our first ghost destination was located at Champ-de-Mars, a former parade ground for military manoeuvres, and since 1991 a place where the old fortifications of Montreal have been revealed. We went through our ghost calling ceremony and sure enough, the ghost of a young man appeared, telling us stories of young forbidden love, arson and his early death. He was a rather charming ghost that endeared himself to his audience with his French-Canadian accent and his bright smile.

Our next ghost location was just south of Montreal’s City Hall, in the Place de la Dauversière, a public square next to Place Jacques Cartier that holds several works of public art as well as a statue of one of Montreal’s most famous mayors, Jean Drapeau. Place Jacques Cartier itself at one point held a public market and a statue of British Admiral Nelson overlooks the square, however, the famous admiral interestingly faces away from the port area.

Having arrived at the proper spot, we were able to call up a young female ghost who told us tales of her voyage to North America and her love story with one of the sailors. She was also reaped away by an untimely death and her expressive playful demeanor was fitting for such a young girlish ghost.

Then we crossed Place Jacques Cartier and strolled to Cours Le Royer, a complex of huge warehouses that used to be the property of the religieuses hospitalières (nursing sisters) of Saint-Joseph, an order of nuns who rented out the warehouses to importers to generate revenue for their organization. The complex was built between 1860 and 1871 and features a cobble-stoned alley between the warehouses.

After some searching we found another ghost and went through our ghost calling ritual. A young male ghost talked to us of his journey to the New World and how he came into conflict with the authorities. In gruesome detail he depicted the torture techniques that were used at the time of the French regime. This ghost was the most scary of all and his anger at his fate was palpable. When he was finished telling us his story we started to proceed to search for our fourth and final ghost. As I looked back, this ghost was still standing on the rue Saint-Sulpice and his haunting gaze kept following our group, sending a chill up our spine.

Finally, on Place d’Armes, after a long search, we were able to find our last ghost. He was one of the "coureurs du bois", young men that used to venture deep into Native territory in order to negotiate with Indian tribes who were supplying fur to the merchants of New France. His stories made the early years of fur trading in wild and uncharted lands come to life.

Each of these ghosts shed light on a different aspect of life in New France in the 17th and 18th century, a time when adventure and danger were part of daily life. Our tour finished around 10 pm, a perfect time for me to walk back through the safe streets of Montreal to write up today's experiences and catch some sleep for my adventures tomorrow: a walking tour of Old Montreal.

About the Author - Susanne Pacher is the publisher of travelandtransitions.com, a web portal for unconventional travel & cross-cultural connections. Check out our brand new FREE ebooks about travel.