Although I’m very optimistic that the new fortune telling business I’ve set up in the local Laundromat is going to blossom, it has been a kind of rocky start. As such, I’ve decided to diversify my business interests and am starting up an Animal Ghost Tour in the Riverside District of Toronto where I live.
I want to now provide you with a partial list of some of the ghosts that my tour will be visiting.
1. Ginger the cat
The Broadview Hotel– famous for housing Jilley’s strip club– has long had a cast of colourful characters living within its’ walls. One of these people was Busty Goldmine, who at 68, was the oldest stripper in the country. In 1976 she died on stage, and her cat Ginger, who was a constant companion and sometimes stage partner, was so distraught that she threw herself out their fourth floor bedroom window. Witnesses described Ginger taking a deliberate leap, and twisting as she fell to her death to ensure that she landed on her back, and not her feet as cats typically do. They say that on full moons you can still hear Ginger’s horrible death mewl cutting through the night, and feel a chilling rush of air past your face.
2. Screaming Joe the rooster.
Back in the 1930’s cock fighting was a thriving business in the East side of Toronto. Screaming Joe, a sensitive bird by all accounts, was brutalized by his owner and forced to fight night after night in the dark alleys of the city. One night, just as Screaming Joe was released to fight a rabid dog, he let out a chilling cock-a-doodle-do and attacked his owner, managing to blind him in one eye before being killed by the dog and several opportunistic rats. On certain nights, if you pass by this alley, it is said that you can hear Screaming Joe’s warrior cry and see his red rooster eyes glowing in the dark.
3. Kong the dog.
In the 1950’s, Kong– a German Shepherd–used to wait at the corner of Queen and Jones for his master to get off the streetcar after work. A notorious drinker and trouble-maker, Kong’s master got in a fight with a group of men, one of whom accidentally flicked some cigarette ash on him as he got off the streetcar. In the ensuing mayhem, both Kong and his master were killed. Ever since, people getting off the streetcar at this stop have complained about hearing growling and feeling violent yanking on their pant legs, as if being attacked by a dog. People have said that this was the ghost of Kong, who even in the afterlife, was still trying to save his master from his attackers. Back in 1964 the stop was moved because many of the city drivers refused to stop there, and passengers refused to disembark, fearful of the ghost of Kong.
4. Colonel Beckett the pigeon.
In the late 19th century Colonel Beckett, a belligerent pigeon, presided over the primary water source beneath the Queen Street overpass with uncompromising brutality. If a pigeon happened to drink from his drainpipe, he would stab them in the eye with a sharpened feather quill he clenched in his beak. Pigeons stopped inhabiting this area altogether for years, and it’s believed that Colonel Beckett died a sad and lonely pigeon. However, his ghost is said to still haunt the area, with pedestrians making frequent reports of being suddenly overwhelmed by the sensation of beating wings, the scent of brandy and a mysterious stinging in their eyes.