With Halloween just around the corner, thoughts tend to turn to the supernatural, and although the Peninsula is hardly a hotbed of supernatural phenomena, it is certainly not without its own spooky stories.

John Adams, the operator of Ghostly Walks in Victoria, recounts a few of the best known of these scary sightings.

B次元官网网址淏envenuto, the family home at Butchart Gardens, has reportedly had a ghostly apparition cruising through the rooms late at night. There have also been stories of a young girl riding her tricycle down the pathways late at night and inexplicable organ music that seems to come out of nowhere,B次元官网网址� Adams said.

At least the spirits at Butchart Gardens seem to be having a good time.

Adams shared a story about a house on Admore Drive that was considered very haunted and was finally demolished when no one could be found who wanted to live there.

ThereB次元官网网址檚 the haunted fields at StellyB次元官网网址檚 X Road where a ghostly farmer appears on a phantom tractor to tend his fields in the dead of night. Look away, and heB次元官网网址檚 gone.

But the strangest story involves The Stonehouse Pub at Canoe Cove.

The stone building was built in 1935 by Hugh Rodd, a British immigrant and businessman who settled in the area and started a boat-building business. The home was built in the style of an English Manor house, complete with locally quarried stone, hand-hewed beams and decorative leaded windows.

In 1940, though, the house was the scene of a horrific occurrence. The eight-year-old son of the owners was found hanging in his upstairs bedroom.  Was it an accident or was there a darker side to the event? No one knows.

But, according to legend, the little tyke never left the property.

In one account, a little girl visiting the house reported playing with her friend upstairs. It was assumed that she had created an imaginary friend, but when she was questioned about the friend, her description matched the little red-headed boy to an uncanny level of accuracy.

The little girl had never heard the story about the hanged boy.

Emma Davenport, the supervisor at the Stonehouse Pub, admits that there have been several instances that have left her believing in the possibility of a resident ghost.

B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 never anything really bad. Just stuff like lights turning on and off and glasses falling (or in one case, being thrown) onto the floor,B次元官网网址� said Davenport. B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址� does make you a little nervous if youB次元官网网址檙e the last one here. I guess we know that thereB次元官网网址檚 a presence here, but weB次元官网网址檝e sort of accepted it.B次元官网网址�

These days the upstairs rooms of the Stonehouse Pub house the offices and washrooms, accessible by a narrow winding staircase.

B次元官网网址淲eB次元官网网址檝e had people say that they felt like someone was up there with them, but itB次元官网网址檚 never anything more than that. ItB次元官网网址檚 more mischievous than anything else.B次元官网网址�

Gina Armstrong, the author of B次元官网网址淓venings and Avenues B次元官网网址� Hauntings in the Outskirts,B次元官网网址� said that Victoria and the surrounding communities are known as being some of the most haunted areas in the country.

B次元官网网址淲e donB次元官网网址檛 necessarily go to any location with the preconception that itB次元官网网址檚 haunted. We learn about the history of the place and try to go in with a skeptical attitude,B次元官网网址� said Armstrong. B次元官网网址淪till, we have experienced knocking on walls, heard voices and seen some things that are hard to explain.B次元官网网址�

B次元官网网址淚n the end, there are some things that you just canB次元官网网址檛 explain.B次元官网网址�

Of course, itB次元官网网址檚 possible, said Armstrong, that people just love a mystery and tell stories of ghosts and spirits as a way to make sense of the world.

B次元官网网址淚 think that stories help us to understand ourselves,B次元官网网址� said Armstrong. B次元官网网址淲e learn what society believes, what theyB次元官网网址檙e afraid of. It all serves a purpose.

B次元官网网址淔or some itB次元官网网址檚 a way to deal with grief, or sometimes itB次元官网网址檚 a cautionary taleB次元官网网址� keeping kids from wandering into the woods, for example. But in the end, it can also just be a lot of fun.

Surveys have shown that about 50 per cent of Canadians believe in ghosts.