December 4, 2022 – Banff, Alberta

Bear and I had an opportunity to take up residence at the Banff Springs Hotel over the weekend to attend Essex’ year-end party.

We didn’t stay in room 873.

Every room in this majestic old hotel pulses with the elegance of an ancient castle. We got lost in endless passages, corridors and hallways, each one lined with uniquely Canadian art and artefacts.

Darkness comes early in the shade of the Rocky Mountains. Natural light faded long before the clock said it should have been dark.  As gloom ascended, the mood of the Banff castle darkened with it.  

I had taken an opportunity to read about abundant paranormal activity reported at the Banff Springs.  Those stories were fresh in my mind as darkness descended on the hotel the first night of our stay. The story of room 873 was foremost among them.

Many years ago, a couple with a child checked into room 873.  No one knows why, but some time during the night the man murdered both his wife and his daughter.  He then killed himself with the murder weapon, a large hunting knife.  Guests on the eighth floor sometimes report seeing an apparition of the girl and hear her screams in the night.

The ghost of Sam McCauley is another persistent visitor at the Banff Springs.  Sam was a popular Scottish bellman who worked at the hotel for many years.  He died on the job in the 1970s.  

An old bellman in an out-of-fashion uniform is often seen assisting guests by opening doors or moving obstacles in the foyer. When they look back, Sam has disappeared.

In another story, a bride was ascending the hotel foyer stairs to meet her groom.  The flowing wedding dress she was wearing touched a candle which was illuminating the stairwell. The dress burst into flames.  In the ensuing panic the bride tripped and fell over the balcony railing to her death.  

It is said that a ghostly bride often wanders the hallways of the Banff Springs in her wedding dress, looking for her husband.  She is sometimes spotted dancing alone in the Van Horne Ballroom.

The government of Canada minted a series of coins and stamps in 2014 entitled Haunted Canada.  The Banff Springs ghost bride is imprinted as a hologram on the 25 cent coin.  A translucent image of the bride stares forlornly downward.  When you tilt the coin she looks directly at you with grief-stricken eyes.  Fires glow behind her and an image of the Banff Springs Hotel rises in the gloom.

The merriment of the party we attended on Saturday pushed all thoughts of ghosts from my mind, until I looked in the mirror on Sunday morning.  There before me stood, not the old bellman, but the greying image of a man who once ran Essex.  Unwilling to abandon my post entirely, I show up to haunt the annual Christmas party.  

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