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Ghost
Stories of Alberta
An excerpt from this book: Copyright © 1993 Barbara Smith Ghostly Bookworm? Edmonton is a city of shopping malls. It is home not only to the gigantic West Edmonton Mall but also to dozens of cookie-cutter-same retail groupings. The shops along Whyte Avenue in old Strathcona area are a pleasant diversion from this routine sameness. In 1986, a former school teacher added to the ambience of the neighbourhood and realized a lifelong dream at the same time. Donna Tremblay (a pseudonym) opened Gryphon Books. The buildings along the popular strip are old by Edmonton standards. Some date back to the 1800s, many to the early 1900s. It was such a building that housed the newly opened bookstore. The owner was aware that the shop had, at various times, been a millinery store, a clothing store and, once, even a shooting gallery. As the bookstore was the fruition of many years of thought and planning, Donna expected few surprises. The first several months of operation were, in fact, completely uneventful at Gryphon Books. Then, just as the new endeavour began to feel comfortable, strange things began to happen. One morning, when she unlocked the store, Donna found books lying on the floor. "There were books piled in stacks at various places around the store," the proprietor explained. She was more than a little surprised, but because "the show had to go on" and the store had to open, Donna quickly filed the volumes back where they had been and opened the store for another day of business. That particular occurrence set a precedent for Gryphon Books and, over time, a pattern developed. Every morning there were books out of place. Whoever or whatever was doing the re-arranging clearly had certain places in the store that he, she or it preferred. "Most often there were books stacked near the cash register or by the staircase leading to the basement," Donna explained and then added that she became used to these occurrences and merely scheduled sufficient time for tidying up before opening. The fact that an unseen, unfelt, and unheard presence seemed to want to have a hand in running her business did not really bother the proprietor. The easy-going and confident lady merely accepted the inconvenience and worked around it. Several months later, concerned about both health and safety, the store owner hung "No Smoking" signs around the store. The next morning they were on the floor. Presuming they'd only fallen, Donna re-hung them and opened the store for the day. All went well for two days. Then the signs were not found merely lying on the floor: one "No Smoking" sign was found nearly twelve feet from its original place, another was hidden behind some books on another shelf, and the third was found by the front door. The signs had dearly offended the ghost of Gryphon Books. By trial and error, Donna found that if she hung only one sign and only in a particular spot by the front of the store, it would remain in place. The unseen bookworm was not, however, as easily satisfied where the merchandise was concerned. During the entire time Donna Tremblay owned the store, books were sorted through and re-stacked each and every night. Every morning the owner would re-shelf the stacks and then open the store for business. There never
seemed to be any malevolence motivating the mischievous spirit, but
he or she certainly was long suffering. Like the shoemaker's elves,
the spirit worked on, unseen every night Donna Tremblay owned the business.
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The
terrible legacy of the 1903 Frank Slide near Turtle Mountain: at least
76 people were buried by the rocky avalanche; their moaning ghosts still
flit about the mountain. The pathetic little ghost of Star, a Chinese
girl who was beaten by a teacher and still sobs in the washroom. Mostly
contemporary, true tales contributed by local residents.