hmmm . . . they weren't in the book!

I am not particularly fond of the "typical" haunted house experience. The ones with costumed actors jumping out from corners . . . mechanical ghosts flying toward you . . . the usual. Most I find predictable and rarely unique. But then I saw this ad, which at first glance, seemed to be a haunted house based on the book, Bluenose Ghosts. I was thrilled. Bluenose Ghosts, a book of "true" Nova Scotia ghost stories collected by folklorist Helen Creighton, is one of my favourite books of ghost stories and often gets pulled off the shelf for a read in October. So naturally, I was eagerly anticipating a haunted house experience that incorporated these stories. Which ones would they use, I wondered? There were so many to choose from. I envisioned ghostly wandering women sharing their tales of woe . . . spectral crews from phantom ships searching for their hidden gold . . . visits from the devil (always popular in the book) . . . and maybe even a headless soldier or two. But still, I approached the haunted house with cautious optimism. Perhaps the creators' interpretations of the stories would be different than what I was expecting. Keep an open mind, I thought. Then, as I approached the entrance, I saw . . . a devil.

Yes, it was a soft, furry devil and it was collecting our tickets, but it was a devil nonetheless. I forged ahead. But as I made my way through the maze of rooms, I knew something just wasn't . . . right. None of this seemed "Bluenose Ghost-y" at all. In fact, apart from one rather crusty-looking pirate I soon realized that I was walking through a standard, run-of-the-mill haunted house. I've read Bluenose Ghosts cover to cover, and while I may have forgotten some of the stories, I'm almost certain there were no people trapped in bags in meat freezers, no vampires in coffins, and definitely no mad doctors operating on patients with chainsaws. So once I had safely emerged from the exit, I looked up the advertisement again. Hmmmm. It appears that someone didn't read carefully enough. It seems the haunted house itself was not actually based on the book, only the accompanying cemetery tour (which was great). Oh well . . . there are worse ways to spend an October evening.