Museum Ghosts Told to Behave at Randall’s Hallowe’en House

Museum Ghosts Told to Behave at Randall’s Hallowe’en House
By Wendy Elliott

Three ghosts appear to inhabit Randall House in Wolfville: There’s the young boy, the woman in white on the staircase, and the grumpy man upstairs.

Bruce Simpson and other paranormal investigators clearly heard a little boy utter words when they visited last year, but it wasn’t any ordinary little boy. It was a spirit.

Simpson and his wife, Charlene, own Caretakers Paranormal Investigations in Truro. They use their free time to travel to heritage homes and listen for spirits.They do not charge for their services. There’s one rule to this line of work, Simpson says: “you have to be respectful. Introduce yourself and indicate your intentions.” The Simpsons became fascinated by the paranormal about four years ago. They use various means, including digital recorders, to hear different voices. According to Simpson, many spirits choose to remain earthbound for a variety of reasons, such as unfinished business, waiting for loved ones, sudden death, and fear. Sometimes, he’s discovered, they are very anxious to speak. On other occasions, the spirit world stays silent.

When the couple made their first trip to the Wolfville museum, the three resident spirits were heard. The situation at Randall House isn’t unique. Simpson says there are homeowners who hear strange noises, footsteps, and things that they can’t explain. He and his wife try to find answers. “What we heard at Randall House was very intriguing,” he says. “There is so much in that home.”

Curator Krystal Tanner says that staff and visitors to Randall House have reported feeling similar sensations in the house. “We often get the question of whether Randall House Museum is haunted and whether anyone has ever experienced anything paranormal before,” she says. “The simple answer to both questions is yes. All we can say is that there is a reason why the house has always been known as one of the spookiest houses in Wolfville.” At the museum, light bulbs dim and cell phones tend to lose power. There have been reports, she says, of doorknobs moving without people around, and a woman seated at the sewing machine. While some are highly skeptical of this phenomenon, Tanner says, others believe implicitly. She feels mostly neutral but has been spellbound during investigations.

Located on Main Street in Wolfville, N.S., Randall House is an old farmhouse built in sometime in the late 1700s or early 1800s. It was turned into a museum in 1949. This year, it will become Randall’s Hallowe’en House, but, as Tanner says, “before you get too scared, we promise that we have asked our resident spirits to tone down the bump-in-the-night factor enough to let us host Randall’s Hallowe’en House. It’s a family friendly event, for ages 4 and up, that will be taking place on Saturday October 27 (at 4pm, 6pm, and 8pm) and Sunday October 28 (2pm and 6pm). We will have ghost stories, fortune telling, and other Halloween fun and games. Costumes are encouraged. Adults are $15.00 and children are $5.00.” Baked goods and barbeque items will also be available for purchase. All proceeds from the spooky (but not too spooky) fundraising event will go towards keeping the heat on at the museum this winter.