Parkridge Haunts

Spooked - a monthly newsletter with a whole lot of spirit and some haunted tales from a house in Saskatoon - An extension of Mishaps and Milestones

Aug 30, 2024

gray wooden house covered by fog — Photo by m wrona on Unsplash

Last Sunday I went and watched a play at Shakespeare on the Saskatchewan. For those of you that aren’t familiar, Shakespeare on the Sask is live theatre, with different spins on Shakespearean plays. The performances run all summer long in a big tent, located along side the scenic South Saskatchewan River, that runs through the heart of downtown Saskatoon.

The particular matinee I went to was Hamlet, staged in the roaring 20’s. Shamed to say, it was my first time attending this local seasonal event, but I loved it. It amazes me how actors for centuries manage to memorize all those lines in Shakespearean language.

The play was full of emotion, deceit, murder, mayhem, and a ghost. Oh that Billy, he sure knew how to write a play.

Sadly Shakespeare on the Saskatchewan will be wrapping up soon for the end of the summer season. I’m looking forward to seeing what they have in store for next year, I will definitely be attending.

Do you believe in ghosts?

Well I do. But, I have a few circumstances that have convinced me that the spectral realm is indeed a real thing.

Once a month I’ll be retelling some ghost stories for you. Some personal experiences, your (reader) stories, and whatever stories of haunted tales and locations I can dig up. Because, who doesn’t love a good ghost story? I sure as hell do. And if you don’t, thats ok. You can just read somewhere else for that week. I’m not real sure I have that many faithful readers to offend- But I’d love for you too stay, curl up with your favourite liquid, and get spooked.

Here it goes.

True stories and some weird shit - Tam xx

Frank

In the summer of 1994 we moved into our first home in the Parkridge area of Saskatoon’s west side. The house was a bilevel split, and built sometime in the early 80’s. My husband, now ex, and I were newly married. In fact the day after the gift opening, we began the move into our new home.

Along with our families, Frank, a close friend on my husbands side, was helping us move that hot and humid summer day. Everyone was busy hauling in boxes and furniture, cleaning and sorting, when I heard someone yell,

Help help some body help!

I ran inside the front door and Frank was laying on the living room. Eyes wide open, with a haunting blank stare. He was making sickening guttural noises, that terrified me. I have never heard anything like it to this day, and hope I never will. My sister in law who was a nurse, was kneeling down beside him assessing the situation, and then, she began doing CPR.

I called 911.

The ambulance arrived and the Paramedics did their thing. There was a defibrillator, wrappers and vials, needles, and chest compressions. In the end, none of it mattered. Frank had passed, right there, on the living room floor, of our ‘new’ home.

The next couple of days were a blur. But life goes on, and eventually, with the help of family and friends, we somehow managed to get all moved in. I can’t remember when all the activity started. But the things that did happen, occurred often enough, that they became our normal.

The TV

A day of mundane tasks around the house. Most days, when the TV would do this thing, the kids would be outside playing, or at school, and this is how I first realized exactly what was happening, because there was no one else home.

an old fashioned telephone sitting on top of a glass table — Photo by Muhammed ÖÇAL on Unsplash

The TV would suddenly turn on, blasting what ever show or commercial was on at the time. Knowing the house was silent only moments before, I would second guess myself, wondering if it had been on the whole time? I mean, TV’s don’t just turn on by themselves, right?

There was the routine of going downstairs and turning if off, only to have it blaring again, once I was back upstairs.

I tried debunking this pesky electronic glitch. Having little boys, I thought maybe they had been playing around with the remote. I did check to see if there was some kind of on/off timer in settings, and there was, but it was switched to off. Here’s the thing, there was only an off option. No scheduler for turning it on. And even if it was a timer of some kind, one would think it would be happening at the same time everyday or night.

This creepy malfunction played out often enough that it became a common occurrence. Our TV just turned on by itself, and that’s the way it was. We had that television for many more years, but when we moved away from that house, it stopped turning on by itself.

Light bulb moment

This house was a bilevel split so when you walked in the front door, the stairs going to lower level were straight ahead.

The light bulb at the bottom of the stairs would flicker and then with a loud pop, the inner filament would shatter. It always scared the shit out of me. On two occasions that whole entire light bulb exploded. Glass everywhere. Thank god no one was hurt.

It wasn’t long before we just stopped replacing the bulb, because if it wasn’t bursting, it was burnt out. So it never worked anyway.

The Front door

My husband and I had our bedroom upstairs. The boys slept downstairs. If you’re a parent, you just know the sound of your children. Little boys sneaking out of bed to go into each others rooms to play after bedtime, or little feet pattering to the bathroom for a late night pee. You also know all the sounds your house makes, especially one as active as ours.

There were occasions, I would hear the front door open.

The first time it happened, I was convinced someone was breaking in. Logically what else could it be. I eventually worked up the courage to leave the false security of my bed, and check the front door.

It indeed, was open.

My husband at the time worked shift work out of town, so I was often alone with two little ones, and always made sure the front door was locked and the house secure, before we all tucked in to bed. Diligently making sure all doors, were properly latched and locked was a nightly routine.

I’d hear the sound, get up, and to find the front door ajar as if it had just popped open, other times I’d hear it click as it unlatched, and listen to the sounds of it creaking wide open in the dead of night. Extremely unnerving.

It could happen a couple of times a night, and then not happen again for weeks at a time. I have no explanation for this disturbing occurrence, but it never failed to leave me spooked.

Man in the window

One day, while working in the kitchen, the boys were both outside playing. My oldest boy, who was 8 at the time, and his friend, came to the front door.

Son - mom who’s here?

Me - no one, why?

Son - I saw a man in the window.

Me - that’s impossible, there is no one here but me. Which window?

The window he was pointing at was up stairs facing the street. It was a large open room, we used as a computer room. I had full view from where I was now standing in the entry, as there was a bannister separating the room from the main entry level.

There was obviously no one there.

So I asked him what the man looked like. He and his friend went on to describe an older man with dark hair and a beard, with a big hat, dressed in what sounded to me like a colonial soldier or civil war like-officer uniform. Complete with a gun. A big gun, with a knife at the end. Needless to say they were pretty shaken, and concerned for my safety after seeing a strange man with a gun staring out the window..

My son is 37 today and still swears to what he saw.

I have lived in 5 houses since that first home in Parkridge, but I have never experienced any odd happenings like I did in that first home.

Was it the tragic beginnings of our move in day that triggered some kind of weird energy? Was the house itself located on a ley line? Perhaps situated on some kind of anomalous zone, or vortex?

Till next week

TD - xx