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A historic Canadian railway tunnel, in disuse since the 1930s,
suddenly becomes an Internet-driven, ghost hunting sensation. What was
it that sparked such intense interest around this site? Paranormal
investigator and author John Savoie was among those caught up in the
fascination over this rail tunnel. The tunnel is located near the
Welland Canal which was constructed in the late nineteenth century. The
canal slices across the Niagara Peninsula in Ontario between Lake
Ontario and Lake Erie. To understand the making of the legend around the
tunnel in context of its history and paranormal studies, John has
written The Blue Ghost Tunnel: The Making of a Legend, which
will be soon be released as a printed book and an e-book. (Publication
details will be noted here when it is available.)
At least since the 1950s, the abandoned tunnel has had a reputation
among the community, especially among its young people who ventured to
it at night as a party spot, but its spooky atmosphere remained a fairly
obscure part of local lore. Until 1999. In that year a young man only
known by the name Russ sparked mass interest in the tunnel, telling
tales on his website about encountering misty apparitions, banging
noises, green slime, and sexual harrassment from a demonic entity. He
referred to it as the “Blue Ghost Tunnel,” and from his dramatic
accounts (which Russ attempted to sell to publishers and to Hollywood),
interest among paranormal enthusiasts became viral, spawning a televised
investigation by ghost hunters on the Canadian television series Creepy Canada and countless night vigils documented on websites.
In his book, Savoie also looks at the history of the tunnel, the
construction of the Welland Canal, the land on which the tunnel was
built, and how historical events were distorted to fuel the urban legend
of the haunted tunnel. Interspersed are John’s own experiences at the
tunnel that suggest that despite the hype, there are things that are
extraordinary about this tunnel. Featuring historic photographs, maps,
and artful photography by Kevin Valencourt, the book is a valuable
contribution to studies on folklore, urban legends, and paranormal
experiences.
John has a blog related to paranormal investigation, Out of the Dark: The Ghost Hunting Chronicles. He is also the author of Shadows of Niagara: Investigating Canada’s Most Haunted Region, available through lulu.com and iTunes.
He currently lives in Bragg Creek, Alberta, where he investigates the
paranormal in Alberta, British Columbia, and the western United States.
I spoke to John as he prepares the release of the book.
Christopher Laursen:
How did you personally become part of what was happening at the Blue
Ghost Tunnel (BGT)? What did you originally think of the place?
John Savoie: I became aware of the tunnel through
conversations with friends about suggested haunted locations that were
accessible in Niagara and I became fascinated by the stories of the
tunnel, the suggested consecrated cemetery and the remoteness of the
location.
My first impression of the tunnel was one of awe. The dark,
large-mouth of the tunnel was oppressive, even during the dusk hours.
Inside the cold, damp atmosphere brought imagination into play. My
relationship with the tunnel started off with fascination and fear, and
later turned into belief, and then some ten years later turned to
skepticism. What the tunnel had allowed me to do was to change my
perception of ghosts and hauntings and to examine a totally different
angle of why places are haunted.
Individual people experienced
the tunnel in very different ways. In what ways did these experiences
bring people together or create adversity?
The tunnel has produced a great deal of experiences for many
individuals and paranormal groups and these experiences vary to such a
degree that this single location has caused a great deal of tension and
misunderstanding amongst ghost hunters, researchers and others
interested in the paranormal. It is one of the most highly contested
“haunted” locations I have ever come across. No where else can one
expect threats of violence based on your belief of the occurrences and
history of the location.
What I found particularly
fascinating in the book is that originally it seemed that one person who
we only know as Russ had spawned the intense attention around the Blue
Ghost Tunnel in 1999. But you later found out that the tales around the
tunnel went back quite a bit further. How did these earlier experiences
emerge as you were assembling details, and in what ways did they impact
the direction of your research?
I knew that Russ had not stumbled upon the tunnel, as he maintained
online and through conversations with others. His story simply did not
add up and it was evident he was trying to be the discoverer of the
tunnel, as this would add to his story later on.
As I assembled the history of the tunnel and conversed with others
who had visited the tunnel I learned that the stories about a haunting
went back as early as the 1950s. However, these tales did not weave
their way into the fabric of the legend that we know today. They were
simply stories passed on between children and teens.
I tried hard to find evidence of the essence of the hauntings and
followed a few leads that did not pan out. Without news clippings,
police reports, historical documents and death records, I was lead to
believe that these earlier stories were not based on fact. I included
all the stories in the book because, they are now part of the urban
legend.
Interview: John Savoie on the Making of the Blue Ghost Tunnel
NEW BOOK: Paranormal America: Ghost Encounters, UFO Sightings, Bigfoot Hunts, and Other Curiosities in Religion and Culture.
About 68 percent of Americans believe in the possibility of the paranormal, according to the authors of the newly published book "Paranormal America: Ghost Encounters, UFO Sightings, Bigfoot Hunts, and Other Curiosities in Religion and Culture."
Baylor associate professors of sociology Dr. Carson Mencken and Dr. Christopher Bader, along with Joseph Baker, co-authored the book about paranormal beliefs in the U.S. The book is geared toward a general audience.
"Anyone can read it and everyone should read it," Mencken said.
The book examines who tends to believe in the paranormal and how pervasive paranormal beliefs are in society. The book also researches paranormal theories but does not confirm or deny their validity.
"The book is about the believers of the paranormal, not whether or not it is real," Bader said.
Mencken and Bader began their work on this book in response to the realization that by looking at existing research, no one knew who paranormal believers were.
"Research was a mess," Bader said. "It was old and no one had done a random sample. There were good studies done about whether Methodists or Presbyterians believe, but not about the average American."
Mencken said a lot of media stereotype paranormal believers as uneducated, unemployed alcoholics.
"We were surprised to find in our research that the people who believe in the paranormal fit none of those stereotypes," Mencken said. "We discovered that those that held unconventional beliefs were of a respected position."
Mencken and Bader hope that readers will walk away from their book with an understanding of what sociologists do, and how pervasive the paranormal is in society.
"Roughly two-thirds of people believe in the possibility of one paranormal item, which includes astrology, UFOs, psychic abilities, Atlantis, Bigfoot, ghosts and haunted houses," Bader said.
People from more conservative religious traditions tend to be less willing to believe in the paranormal than those from more moderate traditions, Mencken said.
"People who are more moderately religious tend to believe in the paranormal," Bader said. "If you are not at all religious, or highly religious, it is not likely that you will believe. Someone who attends church once a month is much more likely to believe in the paranormal than someone who attends church on a weekly basis."
While researching, the authors found that it was not difficult to find paranormal believers due to the large number of organizations devoted to the unconventional beliefs.
"Something that has changed in the paranormal over the decades is the level of organization," Bader said. "Texas has several Bigfoot organizations and Waco has a ghost hunting club."
The two professors went on a ghost hunt in the fall of 2007 and brought along a few graduate students of sociology, including Andrew Whitehead.
Whitehead said spending time with the ghost hunters and learning about their experiences and how they hunt ghosts was an interesting experience when he was new to learning how to study society.
"I didn't see or feel anything so I can't speak to whether or not ghosts were there," Whitehead said. "But I was surprised to remember how it felt when I was a kid and I was discovering my grandparents' attic and it's all new and exciting. Going into the haunted house with the ghost hunters, I had the same exciting rush."
Whitehead said he can't recommend going ghost hunting, because he wasn't actually hunting ghosts but watching the hunters. He said that spending time with ghost hunters is always exciting.
Bader said there are fliers at Ninfa's in downtown Waco about weekly ghost tours that are offered if anyone is interested in experiencing the paranormal this Halloween season.
The book is now available in bookstores and online.
