INTRODUCTION This time around, faithful readers, I thought we''d do something different. Instead of exploring one city in depth, I am going to escort you on a haunted cross-Canada road trip, touring the country I''ve called home since early childhood. Here''s a quick itinerary. We will start at the westernmost site of our trip, a heritage building in Victoria, British Columbia, on the southern tip of Vancouver Island. Then we''ll navigate the Strait of Georgia, Burrard Inlet, English Bay, and False Creek to visit Vancouver''s Granville Island. From Vancouver, we''ll take the Sea to Sky Highway across the Coast Mountains and head north up into the South Cariboo, where we''ll stop at 108 Mile House, which, while small, is probably one of the most haunted locations I have ever visited. From there, we will head north to a haunted hotel along the Klondike Highway in the Yukon community of Carcross. A short jump north from there, and we''ll find ourselves in the territorial capital of Whitehorse, at a haunted cadet camp.

The North Klondike Highway will then takes us to the northernmost site on our itinerary, the Palace Grand in Dawson City. Next up is a site in the rugged, unforgiving landscape of the Northwest Territories'' Nahanni National Park known as the Valley of the Headless Men. Getting there won''t be easy: we will have to fly in and stay a mandatory seventy-two hours before getting picked up again. If we survive that journey, we will depart to relax in the relative comfort of the territorial capital of Yellowknife and pay a visit to a private home on Franklin Avenue, where a solicitous spirit dwells alongside the current owner and her cat. \Then we will fly south to Edmonton and take in the Gibbard Block on 112 Avenue in the residential neighbourhood of Highlands. After we''re done there, we''ll grab the Queen Elizabeth II Highway south to Calgary where we''ll call on a 150-year-old private home in Inglewood before continuing south to Crowsnest Pass and the site of a terrible disaster in the shadow of "the mountain that moves." Then onward to Saskatchewan where we visit Saskatoon''s Western Development Museum and the University of Saskatchewan itself, two sites where ghosts of the past are still very much present. From there, we will take the Louis Riel Trail south to the provincial capital of Regina and a haunted house on Retallack Street.

The Trans-Canada Highway will then take us to the small town of Elkhorn, Manitoba, a stone''s throw from the provincial border where a haunted former hospital awaits. Then we''ll hop right back on the highway and take it all the way to the Holy Trinity Parish Church in Winnipeg before we set our sights northward to The Pas, Manitoba, the so-called Gateway to the North, and a former courthouse turned museum. Necessity then demands we charter a plane from The Pas to Rankin Inlet, an Inuit hamlet on Hudson Bay and the second largest settlement in Canada''s newest territory of Nunavut, where haunted fire hall awaits us. From Rankin Inlet, we''ll embark on the longest leg of our trip (don''t worry, I packed snacks), flying over Hudson Bay, Northern Ontario, and cottage country en route to the shores of Lake Ontario and southernmost site of our road trip, Toronto, where we''ll pay a visit to a private home on Brunswick Avenue. From Hogtown, we''ll take the Macdonald-Cartier Freeway east to Kingston for quick stop at Old Fort Henry. Hopping back on the 401, we''ll head to the 416 exchange and turn north along the Veteran''s Memorial Highway to the nation''s capital, where we''ll check into a former jail turned hostel. Having made our way back to the Trans-Canada Highway, we''ll head toward our first stop in La Belle Province, the city of Montreal, where we can, perhaps, enjoy some poutine in a former cholera cemetery turned public park. After we have digested that, it is a three-hour drive to Quebec City, where we will first pay our respects at the Plains of Abraham before rewarding ourselves with a stay at the historic Ch'teau Frontenac.

Following the Trans-Canada Highway along the southern shore of the St. Lawrence River as far as Rivière-du-Loup, we''ll then turn southeast for New Brunswick and the provincial capital of Fredericton, where a heritage mansion with a tragic past serves as a University of New Brunswick dormitory. Then we''ll make a quick detour to St. Andrews by-the-Sea and, steeling our nerves, book a night at the Algonquin Hotel. The next morning, we''ll cross the Bay of Fundy at Saint John via the MV Fundy Rose , arriving in Nova Scotia two and a half hours later, at which point we will make our way to the historic Lunenburg Academy. Then it''s on to Halifax, where we can dine at the Five Fishermen Restaurant, in a building that briefly housed dead from both the Titanic and the Halifax Explosion of 1917. From Halifax, we''ll drive to North Shore and then briefly back into New Brunswick to grab the Confederation Bridge to Prince Edward Island. Heading north to Prince County, we will make our way to Tignish, near Summerside, and take in Handrahan''s Cutting the site of a terrible rail disaster.

Then it''s off to Georgetown at the far end of the island in King''s County to take in a show at the historic King''s Playhouse. At this point, we can either catch a plane from Charlottetown or a ferry from Cape Breton (if we want to backtrack to Nova Scotia) on our way to Newfoundland and St. John''s, the easternmost point on our haunted Canadian adventure. How far east is it? Well, it''s closer to England than it is to Vancouver Island, which also says a great deal about the sheer size of this country. On our first stop in St. John''s we will explore the Four Sisters on TemperanceStreet, four derelict stone rowhouses built for the daughters of a prominent stone mason over a 120 years ago. These houses share both a sad history and an uncertain future. Finally, we will unwind at the Murray Premises Hotel in a building which has certainly attracted its share of spirits in its 180 years.

For the last night of our road trip, we will treat ourselves to dinner in the Crystal Dining Room, and when we''re done, perhaps we can book Room 216 for a well-earned, if not entirely restful, sleep. --Excerpted from Canada''s Most Haunted.