The University of Toronto building at 1 Spadina Cres. as seen in January 2001, when 50-year-old artist and lecturer David Buller was found stabbed to death in his studio in the building. The unsolved murder has fed speculation that the University of Toronto building is haunted. Globe and Mail

My sister-in-law just emailed my the following article, because she knew I would be interested and most likely post it on here.  I think the main lesson is to always be very careful when going on paranormal investigations, whether they be for fun, or not. You never know what forces are at play when you open doors!  Also, it’s not wise to mix alcohol and dark places so keep a clear head if you do wish to take a chance and explore the unknown.  Ghost Hunting and investigating haunted places is no joke.  I wish more people would take it more seriously.  I know that accidents happen too, but I believe that we can prevent a majority of them.

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 Police were treating the incident as an alcohol-fueled death by misadventure, and not as a ghost-hunting expedition gone wrong as it had been reported earlier

by: Timothy Appleby

TORONTO — The Canadian Press Last updated on Thursday, Sep. 10, 2009 04:20PM EDT

In a mishap that ignited a frenzy of speculation about ghost-hunting and the paranormal because it occurred at a 19th-century downtown university building rumored to be haunted, a 29-year-old Toronto woman plunged four storeys to her death in a small courtyard early Thursday when a chicken-wire screen she was crawling across gave way.

The unidentified woman and a 34-year-old male companion appeared drunk and said they had gained entry to 1 Spadina Cres. through a downstairs bathroom window, according to a witness who briefly spoke to the intruders and called campus police after a scream was heard.

Pitched at a 45-degree angle, the chicken-wire screen connects the third and fourth floors of the building, constructed in 1875 as an annex to the Knox College Presbyterian divinity school.

The man apparently made his way across the divide successfully but the woman fell through, said the witness, who was on a late-night visit to the office of a student newspaper when he encountered the pair.

The woman was carrying some small tea candles and a pink parasol, he recounted, requesting anonymity.

“She had an assemblage of stuff, I thought she was an arty type.”

But there was nothing unusual about the couple’s appearance, he said, and nothing to indicate they were on a “ghost-hunting” mission, as has been widely suggested.

Shortly before, he had spied the pair scaling a wrought-iron fence surrounding part of the building – a pointless exercise, he said, because they could have walked around it.

“From what they told me, it was just urban exploration,” he said. “What they indicated to me, drunkenly, was that they had just happened upon the building.”

Neither of the two are believed to be university students.

Police were treating the incident as an alcohol-fueled death by misadventure.

The intricately structured Gothic-style building has a rich history. At one point it served as a medical research lab, and eight years ago a university professor was murdered there.

But police rebutted a tide of suggestions that the couple were “ghost-hunting” when the accident took place.

“I don’t know where the expression ghost-hunting came from,” said Staff Sergeant Dave Vickers, fielding a mid-morning blizzard of media inquiries.

“I think the reason [the couple] went up there was because they were trying to access a building that was rumoured to be haunted. But ghost-hunting? Somebody’s taken that to a whole new level.”

First of all let me say how much I enjoy listening to Coast To Coast, George Noory is an amazing person and he does such a terrific job. ” Tuesday Recap – John Zaffis and his guest, Carmen Reed told her story about living in a haunted former funeral parlor. ” I was so pleased to hear A Haunting Connecticut featured on the show last night!  Carmen Reed, the mother in the story, was interviewed.  Along with John Zaffis, who actually worked on the case.  His character in the movie was the priest, but he is not.  The classic Hollywood Horror distortion lol!  I am going to download the podcast because I was working and missed it.  For a copy of the show, please sign up and download hour 3 of the show.

I knew this story was based on TRUE events!  So many non believers have to spread their ignorance because they are so naive and can’t even fathom that there is something more than this world.  George Noory said that it’s energy, and let me add to that ENERGY NEVER DIES!  Both Carmen Reed and John Zaffis said that both the movie and the documentary was very accurate; however, due to time restraints neither was able to provide all the facts.  The same goes for the book In A Dark Place by Ray Garton. Carmon stated that she paid $750 a month for the 5 bedroom home back in the 80s and she gained more than lodging… she stated that she now knows that there is something else and would never live in another funeral home again.

ARCHIVE OF A HAUNTING INFO LINKS

Coast To Coast A Haunting Recap

Haunting in Connecticut

Paranormal investigator & demonologist John Zaffis and his guest, Carmen Reed (third hour) told her story about living in a haunted former funeral parlor, and the disturbing details of what her family endured. The events, which took place over a two-year period beginning in the late 1980s were depicted in the TV documentary A Haunting in Connecticut (2002), and the just released Hollywood film The Haunting in Connecticut.

The documentary was very accurate, though the new film hits on things that weren’t in the earlier project said Zaffis. Though Reed didn’t accept the idea that the house was haunted initially, her son (who was undergoing cancer treatments) immediately started seeing entities, including one that had completely blackened eyes. Zaffis said he spent over 9 weeks staying at the Reed’s home, and one night saw Carmen slammed into the floor. In his own terrifying incident, which took place on the staircase, he watched a transparent form taking shape that was accompanied by a foul odor. Zaffis heard a sound like “the fluttering of wings” and a voice that said “Do you know what they did to us?”

Reed said the entities used different effects to frighten them, including growling sounds and making the mattresses appear to breathe. While in a trance-like state that lasted 8 hours, she had a wrenching encounter with tormented spirits, where she felt their extreme negative emotions as they moved through her. For more on the case, including photos, see this recap from 6/7/06. Zaffis also talked about his work with well known exorcists such as the late Malachi Martin, Bishop McKenna, and Father Fortea of Spain.

Related Articles

‘Haunting’ Movie Site

Check out the official website for the new film The Haunting in Connecticut, which is based on events Carmen Reed and her family experienced while living in a former funeral home. The site features trailers, ‘haunted e-cards,’ and a special blog called Questions for the Dead.

CARMON REED -

“A HAUNTING IN CONNECTICUT” You may have seen the documentary, but you haven’t heard the whole story.

My name is Carmen Reed; I am the mom that lived in that haunted funeral home. I have tried for many years to walk away from this story and return to a “Normal” life. Over the years I was found several times and the story took on new life.It took New Dominion many months to talk me into doing the story. They told me that they would treat it with respect and they wouldn’t make it hokey or unbelievable. I have to admit, I was pleased with the way they handled it. Time constraints made it impossible to put everything in the documentary.

There is a movie, “The Haunting in Connecticut”, in development now with, “Gold Circle Films and Lionsgate”. I believe it will bring a new understanding of what went on in the house.I am now writing a book, “Demons in the Dark” with John Zaffis, the chief researcher in my home, and the always honorable Chip Coffey. The book will deal with the subject in its entirety, however, I still needed a venue where others could come to ask questions and get spiritual advice. I never want anyone to feel alone in their journey with the supernatural or other trials in their life, when I can help because of my intuition and by what I have learned.When someone contacted me, I would agonize over doing the right thing for my children. I also felt a responsibility to the story, and I felt it needed to be told.When my family moved into that house, I had no knowledge or even a vocabulary to describe what was happening. Which made the responsibility direr in my opinion?I know when the story broke in Connecticut, my children were hurt and insulted by others. I had this naive belief that the media was there to help people. I never for a minute, thought they would do anything to jeopardize my children’s safety. If I had it to do over again, I would never have gone public. I work with others now, I never recommend it. I have decided that since the story would not leave me alone, it must be kismet. I now tell the story to anyone that will sit still long enough to hear it.

Click Here for Additional Photos Click Here for Recent Questions & Answers

The Haunting Connecticut opens this weekend and right here in Toronto there are several movie houses premiering this very scary movie based on a true story.  There is also A Haunting Discovery Pilot based on the same Connecticut story and let me just assure you all that it is frightening.  It involves a former funeral home with a history and many experienced paranormal activity.  For Location & Times in Toronto and surrounding areas, please click HERE. For everywhere else I have the Haunting Connecticut Official Website that should surely offer you this information

Hollywood’s most terrifying houses

“The Haunting in Connecticut”

Everyone knows that the housing market is in terrible shape these days, but what do you think your place would be worth if it were infested by ghosts or demons? The new movie “The Haunting in Connecticut,” based on an allegedly true story, might not get into the financial aspects of buying a haunted house, but it certainly does offer a warning to prospective buyers that they should always do thorough research.
Was your new home previously used as a funeral parlor, like the one in “The Haunting in Connecticut”? Is your deluxe suburban ranch built over an Indian burial ground, as it was in “Poltergeist”? Do the neighbors appear and disappear from your Brooklyn brownstone faster than cockroaches, as in “The Sentinel” (1977)? These are all signs that one should take a good, hard second look before signing on the dotted line. A history of scandal, murder and insanity (like those found in “The Haunting” or “The Shining”) is probably a red flag as well.
Stephen King himself wrote in “Danse Macabre,” his 1981 study of the horror genre, that the movie “The Amityville Horror” was a tale of “economic unease” dressed up as a ghost story, adding that he wondered not so much if the tortured Lutz family would get out alive, but whether they had “adequate homeowner’s insurance.” With the market in the dumps these days, it might be prudent to know that not every cheap property is available because of a desperate developer or a grim foreclosure. Click on the first thumbnail below for some deals that the occupants should have avoided.