This past weekend, I was in Montreal to launch Macabre Montreal, which I co-authored with Shayna Krishnasamy. We did two events at two different locations. Given that, at both events, we sold all but a single copy, I'd call the events a success.
THANK YOU to everyone who came out to see us, to hang out, to chat, and to get books signed. Thanks to the awesome staff at both the Chapters Pointe Claire and the Indigo downtown Montreal.
Our event on Sunday Oct 7th took place at the Place Trust Indigo in downtown Montreal and was followed by a mini ghost walk of three nearby locations from the book conducted by the good folks at Haunted Montreal. (Seriously, if you go to Montreal and DON'T check out their wonderful historic ghostly tours, you are really depriving yourself of some fun)
At the end of the mini-ghost walk, where we were all left with chills, our guide warned us to be careful when returning home in case a ghost might follow us back.
What she should have warned us about was the ghost that might have already been following us.
Let me explain.
When I returned home to Waterloo last night (Monday night) around 9 PM, I received a disturbing text from Shayna.
"Question about our signing yesterday." She wrote. "Who the hell is that in the mirror?"
She included a picture that her friend Naz had taken of the two of us and Barnaby.
In the image you can see, in the reflection of the mirror of an Indigo display behind us, what appears to be the spectral image of a child, perhaps a little boy, with dark eye sockets whose disembodied head is overlooking the scene.
"That's awesome." I texted back. "Ha Ha. Who doctored the image to add the ghost kid?"
"Naz swears up and down she did nothing to the photo."
"Well, then, THAT'S a story to share!!!"
We messaged a bit back and forth while I showed the image to Liz. Liz was looking at the pic to determine if there was someone maybe standing behind Naz or off to the side whose reflection was appearing in the mirror. We couldn't find a match, nor did a little boy (I decided it was a little boy) who looked like that ever seem to have been around that evening.
Shayna and I joked about it possibly being Mary Gallagher, one of the most famous Montreal ghosts - a murdered Griffintown prostitute who allegedly returns every 7 years to look for her head.
Liz then asked if I had taken any other pictures that evening, reminding me of the selfie I had taken of a woman who we wished Happy Birthday to on Instagram.
When I looked at that photo I felt my face going pale.
Sure enough, the mysterious ghostly boy face appeared in that photo too.
"What the hell?" I said. I knew I hadn't touched up the photo, with the exception that I added an Instagram filter. So who the heck was that little boy with the haunted sunked eyes?
I wondered about contacting the store, to see if anyone else had spotted this little boy ghost? I was curious about it not just as an intriguing Montreal ghost mystery that we could share on our Macabre Montreal Facebook page, but also one for my Tomes of Terror: Haunted Bookstores and Libraries page too. Also, we had to call Donovan from Haunted Montreal to let him know about a new tale they could share.
My heart was racing.
My skin was continuing to get more and more pale.
And, a chill running down my spine, my phone ping'd
Another text.
From Shayna.
It read: "It kind of looks like Audrey Hepburn."
Then, a few minutes later. "The image is clearer here." And she sent me a photo.
And, finally: "This is indeed Audrey Hepburn."
Liz and I looked at the image. And we laughed. It was Audrey Hepburn.
It was likely part of the display of the mirror for the products Indigo had on display.
We laughed, but I still felt a delicious shiver over the experience.
And I love that Shayna and I approached writing this book with the same sense of open-minded skepticism. I'm the true believer. She's the skeptic. We did our best to balance that as we researched, read about and then presented the facts in order for the readers to decide for themselves.
Of course, in this particular case, the mystery is solved. It's not the ghost of a little boy. It's an image of Audrey Hepburn. Although, if one admits, she DOES possess a haunting beauty.
In the initial slightly blurry image, I saw a creepy dark shadowed boy staring at us with his eyes open; when in fact, it was the timeless classy beauty of Audrey Hepburn with eyelids closed or down-turned.
Evidence that sometimes you see what you want, or you see what you are looking for. Like one of those psychology/Escher style prints where you see either an old woman or a young woman, depending on how your eyes focus.
A mystery solved, but still a fun one nonetheless.
THANK YOU to everyone who came out to see us, to hang out, to chat, and to get books signed. Thanks to the awesome staff at both the Chapters Pointe Claire and the Indigo downtown Montreal.
Our event on Sunday Oct 7th took place at the Place Trust Indigo in downtown Montreal and was followed by a mini ghost walk of three nearby locations from the book conducted by the good folks at Haunted Montreal. (Seriously, if you go to Montreal and DON'T check out their wonderful historic ghostly tours, you are really depriving yourself of some fun)
At the end of the mini-ghost walk, where we were all left with chills, our guide warned us to be careful when returning home in case a ghost might follow us back.
What she should have warned us about was the ghost that might have already been following us.
Let me explain.
When I returned home to Waterloo last night (Monday night) around 9 PM, I received a disturbing text from Shayna.
"Question about our signing yesterday." She wrote. "Who the hell is that in the mirror?"
She included a picture that her friend Naz had taken of the two of us and Barnaby.
 |
| Who is the mysterious child in the mirror behind us? |
In the image you can see, in the reflection of the mirror of an Indigo display behind us, what appears to be the spectral image of a child, perhaps a little boy, with dark eye sockets whose disembodied head is overlooking the scene.
 |
| Zoom in on the mysterious child with sunken eye sockets staring out from the mirror |
"That's awesome." I texted back. "Ha Ha. Who doctored the image to add the ghost kid?"
"Naz swears up and down she did nothing to the photo."
"Well, then, THAT'S a story to share!!!"
We messaged a bit back and forth while I showed the image to Liz. Liz was looking at the pic to determine if there was someone maybe standing behind Naz or off to the side whose reflection was appearing in the mirror. We couldn't find a match, nor did a little boy (I decided it was a little boy) who looked like that ever seem to have been around that evening.
Shayna and I joked about it possibly being Mary Gallagher, one of the most famous Montreal ghosts - a murdered Griffintown prostitute who allegedly returns every 7 years to look for her head.
Liz then asked if I had taken any other pictures that evening, reminding me of the selfie I had taken of a woman who we wished Happy Birthday to on Instagram.
When I looked at that photo I felt my face going pale.
 |
| The mysterious vampire-like child appears in another photo from different camera |
Sure enough, the mysterious ghostly boy face appeared in that photo too.
"What the hell?" I said. I knew I hadn't touched up the photo, with the exception that I added an Instagram filter. So who the heck was that little boy with the haunted sunked eyes?
 |
| The ghostly image zoomed in |
I wondered about contacting the store, to see if anyone else had spotted this little boy ghost? I was curious about it not just as an intriguing Montreal ghost mystery that we could share on our Macabre Montreal Facebook page, but also one for my Tomes of Terror: Haunted Bookstores and Libraries page too. Also, we had to call Donovan from Haunted Montreal to let him know about a new tale they could share.
My heart was racing.
My skin was continuing to get more and more pale.
And, a chill running down my spine, my phone ping'd
Another text.
From Shayna.
It read: "It kind of looks like Audrey Hepburn."
Then, a few minutes later. "The image is clearer here." And she sent me a photo.
And, finally: "This is indeed Audrey Hepburn."
 |
| Audrey Hepburn does possess a haunting beauty |
It was likely part of the display of the mirror for the products Indigo had on display.
We laughed, but I still felt a delicious shiver over the experience.
And I love that Shayna and I approached writing this book with the same sense of open-minded skepticism. I'm the true believer. She's the skeptic. We did our best to balance that as we researched, read about and then presented the facts in order for the readers to decide for themselves.
Of course, in this particular case, the mystery is solved. It's not the ghost of a little boy. It's an image of Audrey Hepburn. Although, if one admits, she DOES possess a haunting beauty.
In the initial slightly blurry image, I saw a creepy dark shadowed boy staring at us with his eyes open; when in fact, it was the timeless classy beauty of Audrey Hepburn with eyelids closed or down-turned.
Evidence that sometimes you see what you want, or you see what you are looking for. Like one of those psychology/Escher style prints where you see either an old woman or a young woman, depending on how your eyes focus.
A mystery solved, but still a fun one nonetheless.
