Disclaimer: I worked alongside Allen Kilback, the owner of Eden Cannabis Co., and a team of talented professionals, to help launch Eden's online presence. My role was to develop his website, eden.green. This gave me some insight into their business model, and the legislation they must abide by. Although we have a business relationship, this article was not paid for or sponsored by Allen Kilback or Eden Cannabis Co. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

On October 17, 2018, it happened.

Cannabis, in all sense of the word, was legalised across Canada. Nobody knew what to expect, or how it would be handled. Speculations ranged from the population becoming so stoned that the economy would crash, to mass revolts against the government. But, over a month later, society hasn't changed all that much. People who smoked weed still smoke weed, and people who don't, just don't.

One of my friends recently asked me to tell her some "legends" about Regina to share with her friends in Germany. My mind immediately went to the macabre and I began sharing stories of flying canoes full of people during the Regina Cyclone (didn't happen), the story of a family that survived the sinking of the Titanic but died in the cyclone (also didn't happen) and even a bit about how Regina handled the Spanish Influenza (because, of course I mentioned that).

When I was done, she sent those stories to her friends and they came back and said Regina sounded like something out of Creepypasta – a website dedicated to paranormal fiction. I loved the idea of that and decided to do my own research into some "odd" places and things around Regina. Some of these are spooky, some of these are interesting, but all of them are very odd.

Are there any you'd add to the list?

Escape Manor in Regina, Saskatchewan celebrates Halloween a little differently than most places. While some people embrace Halloween, most don't try to actively contact spirits. But, Escape Manor, alongside Jeff Richards of APTN's The Other Side, does just that.

Every October 30th Escape Manor and Jeff Richards host Devil's Night, a night dedicated to solving escape rooms and contacting the deceased.

I wrote a lot about ghosts and ghouls on my blog, but I have never seen a ghost. Like how I've never seen a kangaroo, I believe they exist although I have never verified it personally. Jeff made an excellent point when discussing this during Devil's Night. The human brain will try to piece together the unexplainable with rational thoughts. Why did the bell ring? Where did the voices come from? Why was there a strange shadow? We will try to rationalise any paranormal event until it makes sense, even if it doesn't.

Who doesn't love a good ghost story? Over the past few years I've visited some spooky and unusual places around the world and I've heard my fair share of ghost stories. Every culture has their own stories and it's interesting – and terrifying – to hear them. I don't claim to be an expert in the paranormal, but some people consider me their "go-to guy" for anything spooky.

Because of this, the folks over at invaluable.com sent me their article about 15 Chilling Folktales, Traditions, and Objects from Around the World to take a look at. I absolutely loved it, so I thought I would expand on some of their stories and reprint a handful of them here.  

Some of their stories I've heard before, like the Headless Horseman or the Terracotta Army, but some I have not. I tried to pick some lesser known ones for this article, but you may know some of them anyway. Let me know in the comments how many you knew.

Imagine a town full of zombies, ghouls, ghosts and spooks, all living in harmony. It's tough to wrap your head around (unless your name is Linda Blair) but that's exactly what you'll find in Spookytown – a miniature Halloween village, created by Jessica Nuttall.

Spookytown began in 2004 with the purchase of Castle Blackstone. This towering fortress began a 14+ year passion to build a community for the living, dead and undead to coexist together. After Castle Blackstone came the construction of the cemetery, the business district and then the "spooky" end of town, which holds the magnificent Victorian Mansion. The town includes hotels, cathedrals, restaurants, cafes, museums and a grain elevator. The town is like any other small town during the day – quiet, peaceful and relatively pleasant, but once night falls, Spookytown becomes a creepy village full of flashing lights, blood curdling screams and eerie music.

When asked about the population of Spookytown, Nuttall answered "Dead or alive?", followed by a mischievous smile. A quick headcount found about 75 spooks hidden among the village's dozen buildings, but that might not include the ones living in the buildings or sleeping within their coffins.

I rarely give a bad review of a restaurant. I try my best to always give companies and restaurants the benefit of the doubt. Sometimes things don't happen exactly as they should in the kitchen, and as somebody who is culinary challenged, I totally understand this.

But, a restaurant isn't just about food. It's also about class.

And that's what Jack Keaton's BBQ and Bar doesn't have.

A few years ago, my girlfriend and I travelled to Milestone, Saskatchewan, a small town about an hour south of Regina. Out of all the buildings in Milestone, the largest is the historic Milestone Homestead, which is a former hotel that now operates as a bar. That year the community had come together and transformed the upper levels of the hotel into a spooky haunted house. Although it was a volunteer community project, it was fairly well done – at least from what I saw. Most of my time in the house was spent cowering behind Jessica with my eyes closed as she led the way. But, after we got out, and Jessica told me it was safe to open my eyes, I admitted it wasn't that scary at all.

Then I asked if we could go home and never do it again.

One year later I travelled to Kingston, Ontario to take in one of the scariest Halloween attractions in Canada. Not only is Kingston a lively and beautiful city, it's also plagued by the supernatural. From haunted bars to alleyways, hotels to houses and cemeteries to penitentiaries, there are plenty of creepy stories to go around.

Earlier this year I was featured on Dates In the States, an American-based travel blog. They interview various different bloggers to share their travel stories so I was really excited when they approached me. It was a pleasure to work with Crystal and Shane and I love their work, so I thought I would return the favour and interview them back.

1. Tell us a bit about yourself, your blog and how it all got started.

My name is Crystal and I am the writer and creator of Dates in the States. Shane, my boyfriend, is the brains and helps me come up with the content and ideas. Without him, Dates in the States wouldn't be where it is now! We've recently grown our social media exponentially, created an online course, and a Patreon Membership for our followers.