Haunted Talks
True Crime & Paranormal
About
Haunted Talks is the official podcast of The Haunted Walk. We offer ghost tours and paranormal adventures in Kingston, Ottawa, and Toronto, Ontario. As well as online virtual experiences to everyone in this mortal realm. Each episode explores the paranormal, dark history, tourism, science, or creepy ghost stories. Come along as we ponder the unknown! Hosted by Jim Dean, our Creative Director.
Episodes
- Ep 224 - The Magician Whose Body Was Found Twice
The Great Lafayette, an illusionist famous before Houdini, died in a theatre fire in Edinburgh while trying to save his animals. Investigators found his body, only to discover it again later, raising questions about his final moments.
- Ep 223 - What is a Ghost? The Case for a New Paranormal
In this episode of Haunted Talks, Jim proposes a new framework for understanding the paranormal, suggesting hauntings might involve a complex interplay of memory, consciousness, place, intention, and attention, rather than solely being spi…
- Ep 222 - Poveglia: Italy's Island of the Dead
This episode of Haunted Talks delves into the history of Poveglia, an Italian island near Venice known as the 'Island of the Dead'. Despite being abandoned, its dark past and reputation keep people away, with tales suggesting the forgotten…
- Ep 221 - The Juniper Tree: The Darkest Fairy Tale You've Never Heard
Haunted Talks presents a reading of "The Juniper Tree," a dark Brothers Grimm fairy tale noted for its disturbing themes of domestic crime and revenge, where a bird carries a song revealing the truth.
- Ep 220 – Once Upon a Nightmare: The Horror of Fairy Tales
This episode of Haunted Talks delves into the gruesome origins of fairy tales, revealing their transformation from dark oral traditions to the sanitized stories known today. It examines the brutal elements present in these original tales,…
- Ep 219 - Mystery of the Devil's Footprints 👣
On the morning of February 9th, 1855, the residents of Devon woke to a nightmare pressed into the snow. A single-file line of cloven hoof-prints, stretching over miles of frozen English countryside. Across thirty towns. In six hours. Made…
- Ep 218 - Why Ghost Stories Matter
Jim steps out from behind the microphone to share a talk he gave at the Modern Language Association conference in Toronto, where he was invited to speak on a panel about Gothic scholarship, podcasting, and public humanities. It's a convers…
- Ep 217 - Eerie Whispers: Brian Baker on Canada's Reluctant Ghost Culture
Journalist and researcher Brian Baker, founder of The Superstitious Times , joins Haunted Talks to discuss his new book, Eerie Whispers: Exploring Canada's Reluctant Relationship with Its Ghostly Lore . Why is Canada, a country overflowing…
- Ep 216 - Lizzie Borden: Inside the Murder House 🪓
She was the quiet churchgoer. The dutiful daughter. The last person anyone expected to wield a hatchet. But on an August morning in 1892, the Borden home in Fall River, Massachusetts, became the scene of one of the most savage double murde…
- Ep 215 - Why We Love Halloween 🖤🎃
Happy Halloween to all the ghosts and ghoulies! 🖤🎃👻 Jim's love letter to Halloween. Walk with us through fog-lit childhood streets, pause beside ancient fires for the dead, and feel again the quiet magic of the night when the veil grows…
- Ep 214 - Ghosts on a Plane: The Haunting of Flight 401
December 29, 1972. A routine flight becomes an unspeakable tragedy when Eastern Airlines Flight 401 crashes into the Florida Everglades. Ninety-six souls perish in the dark swampland, their final moments a desperate struggle against fire,…
- Ep 213 – The Conjuring of Ed and Lorraine Warren
They were the most famous ghost hunters in the world. A husband and wife who claimed to battle demons, investigate possessions, and protect families from the darkness beyond. But every haunting has two sides. In this special episode, we pe…
- Ep 212 – A Knock at the Door - The Haunting of the Wizard Clip
In 1794, a stranger died in a farmhouse on the edge of the Virginia frontier. What followed became one of the most chilling, bizarre, and well-documented hauntings in early America. Phantom horses galloped through the night. Objects flew a…
- Ep 211 - The Coffin That Saved Three Men From Drowning
Most shipwrecks leave behind ghosts. This one left behind something stranger. In 1912, the Mayflower , a wooden steamer built for the quiet lakes of eastern Ontario, set out on one final trip before winter . Aboard were a small crew, nine…
- Ep 210 - The Curse That Built a Castle
Deep in the wilderness of northwestern Ontario, where the forest swallows sound and the lakes stretch toward the horizon, stands a log castle. Not the ruin of a forgotten community, or the relic of a wealthy eccentric. This towering mansio…
- Ep 209 - Halifax Explosion: Aftermath
At 9:04 a.m., Halifax was torn apart in an instant. One moment it was a thriving wartime city, the next, it was fire, thunder, and ruin. A fireball as hot as the surface of the sun ignited the harbour. Shockwaves ripped through homes and s…
- Ep 208 - Halifax Explosion: Before the Blast
On a crisp December morning in 1917 , Halifax woke to calm skies and the quiet hum of a wartime city at work. Children hurried to school. Workers streamed into factories. Families went about their routines. Out in the harbour, two ships mo…
- Ep 207 - Two Hoaxes and a Ghost Story: The Reveal
Three chilling mysteries. Two elaborate hoaxes. One truth you didn't see coming. These were strange events that gripped the public's attention and convinced witnesses they had experienced something truly paranormal. In this episode, we unc…
- Ep 206 - Two Hoaxes and a Ghost Story
Can you tell a true ghost story from a convincing hoax? In this special interactive episode of Haunted Talks , we share three eerie tales that once captured the public's imagination. But here's the twist: two of them are hoaxes. When fear,…
- Ep 205 - Investigating the Keyhole House
Can a conversation cause a haunting? After speaking with magicians Ted and Marion Outerbridge about the strange experiences they've had in their historic Smiths Falls home ( Episode 204 ), we conducted a paranormal investigation to see wha…
- Ep 204 - Mysteries of the Keyhole House 🗝️
What secrets is the Keyhole House still holding on to? And what happens when a house decides it wants to be heard? Every old home has its tales. This one refuses to stop sharing them. In this special episode, we travel to Smiths Falls, Ont…
- Ep 203 - Why Are We Afraid of Clowns? 🤡
Clowns are meant to bring joy. So why do they inspire so much fear? In this episode, we peek behind the greasepaint to explore the origins of coulrophobia , the fear of clowns, and how these strange figures evolved from ancient jesters and…
- Ep 202 - What Do They Want With Us? 🛸
When strange lights appear in the sky, we are left wondering what they are. But when those encounters become personal, when people claim they have been taken, studied, or changed, the questions grow darker. In this episode, we continue our…
- Ep 201 - Unidentified: Evidence and the Unknown 🛸
Lights in the sky. Thousands of witnesses. Still no answers. In this episode of Haunted Talks , we explore one of those simple-sounding but incredibly complex questions: What counts as evidence? Using the dramatic December 2024 sightings o…
- Ep 200 - Haunted Talks Turns 200!
Secrets, Surprises & Spooky Celebrations 🎉 10 years of terrifying ghost stories, baffling mysteries, and dark history. To mark this haunted milestone, host Jim Dean is joined by Brittney Bos (researcher and writer) and Michelle Dennis (au…
- Ep 199 - Scary Dreams and the Ghosts of Sleep
Are your nightmares trying to tell you something? Most dreams fade the moment we wake up. But some? They cling to us—leaving behind a sense of dread, mystery, or even a chilling certainty that they meant something more. In this episode of…
- Ep 198 - Haunted Houses of Ontario - 1924
"Do YOU know a haunted house?" That's the question The Toronto Star Weekly asked its readers over 100 years ago, and the answers they received were truly chilling. In this episode, we share these real ghost stories from 1924, as told by th…
- Ep 197 – Spiritualism in Canada, Eh? Part 2 "The Séances That Shaped a Nation"
For decades, séances, spirit communication, and ghostly encounters weren't just tabloid curiosities—they shaped Canada's history. In this final installment of our two-part series, we explore the profound impact of spiritualism on the count…
- Ep 196 - Spiritualism in Canada, Eh? Part 1 "Ghosts, God & The Great Divide"
In the early 20th century, Canada was swept up in a wave of Spiritualism, where séances promised answers, and the line between faith, fraud, and fear blurred. In this two-part series, we explore how Spiritualism became more than a curiosit…
- Ep 195 – A Christmas Nightmare: What Happened to the Sodder Family?
On Christmas Eve 1945, a fire destroyed the Sodder family home, l eaving behind a mystery that has haunted true crime enthusiasts for decades. Five children vanished without a trace—no bodies, no bones, no answers. Was it a tragic accident…
- Ep 194 - The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald - Conclusion
In this conclusion to the story of the Edmund Fitzgerald, we return to the icy waters of Lake Superior to explore the theories and lingering mysteries surrounding its tragic sinking. Without a distress signal or survivors, the ship's disap…
- Ep 193 - The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald
Gordon Lightfoot's haunting ballad, The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald , is more than a song—it's a legend. Through vivid storytelling, Lightfoot immortalizes the tragic sinking of the massive freighter and its crew during a relentless Nov…
- Ep 192 - America's Most Haunted House – The Whaley House 🎃
This Halloween, Haunted Talks invites you inside one of the most haunted houses in America—the Whaley House in San Diego . Built on former execution grounds in 1857, the Whaley House has been the site of chilling tragedies, from the untime…
- Ep 191 - Candy Panic! 🍭 The Truth Behind the Trick 🎃
Every Halloween, a familiar warning resurfaces—beware of tampered treats from strangers. But where did this chilling urban legend come from, and is there any truth behind the tales of poisoned candy, razor blades in apples, or needles in c…
- Ep 190 - The Bell Witch 😱
As Halloween draws near, we turn our attention to one of America's most chilling and enduring supernatural legends: The Bell Witch . Two centuries ago, a quiet farm in Tennessee became the stage for a haunting that captivated the nation. T…
- Ep 189 - Whistle in the Night: Ghost Trains 🚂👻
The piercing scream of a train's whistle in the dead of night feels like a ghost—it slips through the darkness, unseen, yet you can sense its approach, creeping ever closer. In this episode, we explore the spine-chilling world of ghost tra…
- Ep 188 – Something in the Air: What Happen in Mattoon, Illinois?
In the late summer of 1944, the small town of Mattoon, Illinois, became the epicentre of one of the most bizarre mysteries in American history. Residents reported a series of gas attacks—phantom prowlers using strange fumes that caused par…
- Ep 187 - Back from the Shadows: Haunted Talks Returns & Stonehenge Revelations!
After a long hiatus, Haunted Talks returns, diving deeper than ever into the mysterious and unexplained! In this special episode, we unveil exciting new adventures—from spine-tingling nights at the Royal Ontario Museum to eerie ghost tours…
- Ep 186 - Jim Harold - Paranormal Podcast Legend 🎙️👻
We share our conversation with paranormal podcasting legend Jim Harold . With nearly 20 years in the field and over 65 million downloads, he's an important voice for fans of the supernatural. We discuss his journey from radio to full-time…
- Ep 185 - Dark Folklore - Part 2 🫣👹
In part two of our series on Dark Folklore , we descend deeper into the shadows to explore the legendary creatures that haunt our nightmares. This spine-tingling episode examines terrifying entities such as the Jersey Devil , the blood-suc…
- Ep 184 - Dark Folklore - Part 1 🫣
We journey into the shadowy realms of freaky folklore, uncovering the spine-chilling tales of mythical creatures that have haunted human imagination across cultures and continents. We reveal stories of beings that lurk in the dark, from th…
- Ep 183 - Unexpected Eclipse Results Revealed
In our last episode , we invited you to join us in a chilling experiment during the recent total eclipse—and you didn't disappoint. After compiling all the data our team members provided, we are poised to unveil results that are not only u…
- Solar Eclipse Group Experiment Reminder ☀️🌕
Today is the big day and we would love for you to join our eclipse group experiment! To get information on the experiments, and to submit your results, go to: https://hauntedwalk.com/eclipse/
- Ep 182 - Eclipse - Portal to the Unknown
Step into the eerie shadows of a total solar eclipse with us and explore the mysterious connection between this celestial event and the supernatural. As the moon covers the sun, casting a rare darkness across North America, we dive into an…
- Ep 181 - Tales From the Tours - Vol. 4 - Old Ottawa Jail
In a recent episode of the ' Geist ' podcast, we shared chilling experiences that our storytellers encountered while guiding tours through the eerie corridors of the old Ottawa Jail. Notorious as one of North America's most haunted locales…
- Ep 180 - Houska Castle's Gateway to Hell
Step into the shadows with us as we venture into Houska Castle , nestled deep in the Czech Republic's enchanting countryside. This isn't just any old castle—it's built over what's rumoured to be a gateway to hell itself. But that's just th…
- Ep 179 - The Valentine's Day Massacre
We explore the Saint Valentine's Day Massacre, one of America's great unsolved mysteries, unveiling the depths of a brutal power struggle that culminated in a shocking act of gangland violence. Dive into the shadowy world of Jazz Age Chica…
- Ep 178 - The Black Donnellys
On February 4th, 1880, Canada's most notorious family, The Black Donnellys, were massacred in their home by a vigilante group of their neighbours. To mark the 144th anniversary, we take you inside the Donnelly legend. What happened on that…
- Ep 177 - Questions for a Clairvoyant with Kim Dennis
Our guest, Kim Dennis , is a gifted medium from Calgary, whose remarkable abilities have resonated with individuals seeking spiritual guidance and captivated audiences across the nation. Known for her appearances on radio and television, a…
- Ep 176 - 'Twas the Nightmare Before Christmas
We make a holiday classic creepy! 'Twas the Night Before Christmas, originally known as 'A Visit from St. Nicholas,' was first published in 1823 in the Troy, New York, Sentinel. While it is well-known for shaping the modern image of Santa…