Issue date: 2/17/05 Section: Features

My heart pounds so hard I feel like it's going to jump out of my chest and land at my feet. I tell myself that there's nothing to be afraid of, that it's all just the power of suggestion. I steel my nerves and reach for the heavy door that separates level eight from the rest of the building. I hold my breath. I pull it open...

Level eight of 75 Nicholas Street in downtown Ottawa is what once served as death row to inmates of what was then the Old Carleton County Jail.
The jail, opened in 1862, was closed in 1972 due to "poor and unsanitary conditions," according to Stephanie Lechniak from Haunted Hamilton, an Ontario society specializing in supernatural and occult history.
A year later, the building re-opened, this time as both a Hostelling International youth hostel and one of the most haunted places in North America.

Megan McDonald has been director of the hostel for the past three and a half years, during which time she has seen people actually check out due to the building's unique reputation.

"A lot of people come to stay here because it used to be a jail, or because it's rumoured to be haunted," she says. "It's a novelty to stay in a jail cell, especially at first." McDonald has discovered, however, that a haunted jail isn't necessarily everyone's cup of tea.

"Some people have checked in and said, 'you know, I thought I could do this, but I can't. Especially in the winter when you're one of two people staying here, it can feel pretty empty," she explains.

While McDonald claims that she doesn't really believe in ghosts, she has also experienced some strange things during her time at the hostel. And although level eight is now used for storage as opposed to accommodations, she says that employees usually go up there in twos.

"I don't hang out on death row by myself," she stresses. "It's just level eight that gets me."

The hallway is long, with darkened windows to my left and empty cells to my right. The floor creaks as I pass by. I peer inside the tiny cells, but don't step too close. I'm chewing my pen into mush and wishing I had asked someone to come up here with me. Cells two and three swing open when I touch their doors. I jump back. Cell one stays shut. That's fine with me...

Travis Croken is one person who freely admits to a belief in the unbelievable. Currently working as a tour guide with the Haunted Walk of Ottawa, Croken gives supernaturally-infused tours of the city, including one of the jail entitled "Ghosts and the Gallows".

Continued...

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