We received the following report of a benevolent spirit that haunted a private home in St Catharines in September 2010:

"My husband and I lived in a townhouse complex on XXXXX Street in St Catharines.  We lived there for 13 years.  It was two storeys.  The upstairs had two bedrooms and a bathroom.  When we first moved in we placed the bed so that our feet were facing the doorway and stairs.  It made us very uncomfortable and both of us had a hard time sleeping.  Maybe about six months later we moved it so that the stairs couldn't be seen while we were lying in bed.  We started sleeping much better and didn't think any more about it.

A few years later when we had a son we had a terrible time getting him to sleep in his own room.  He never wanted to play in the room by himself.  If we were downstairs he wouldn't go upstairs, even to go to the washroom.  Around the age of 4 or so I had sent him upstairs to get a toy or something and he came back down crying.  "The strange man is in my room."  I went up to investigate just in case...there wasn't anyone in the room. 

We had a shared backyard and would socialize with some of the other occupants in the townhouses.  One night we were all chatting and another mother was complaining that her son wouldn't sleep in his room, but had no problem sleeping in a room by himself at their old apartment.  I asked if he had said why.  She replied that he told her that there was a man that was in his room.  I told her about the incident with my son.

It wasn't the only time that he was seen by my son.  Sometimes he would stand on the stairs as well.  The cats would watch something go across the room and you could tell they were seeing something.  We got telling him in a firm voice that he was scaring our son and he needed to stop.  Things would stop for awhile at that point.

When we had a second son, he hardly ever mentioned the man.  We were hoping that the man was just staying in someone else's unit.  Then we were packing up to move to our current house when our youngest son asked if the man could come with us.  I said no...he needs to stay here.  My son replied that he really wanted to come with us and all he had to do was hold his hand.  I told him that the man had to stay because he belonged in there and stressed to my son that under no conditions was he to take the man with us. 

We've been in our new house for two years now and there have been no sighting of the man or any other ghost.  However we were talking to our youngest son about the apartment the other day and asked if he remember the man.  His reply was "Yes, but I can't remember his name right now."  We dropped the subject quickly.

Where we were living in on XXXXX Street we were told were living quarters for rail road workers and all the individual units were one large building at one time.  We were told the building was approx 100 years old.  We believed the man was a worker that must have died.  He seemed quiet harmless and seemed to like the children"

Our thanks goes out to the witness and her family for sharing these experiences with us. If you have had a similar encounter or feel you may be able to add to this report please contact us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Your privacy will be protected and confidentiality is assured.