On a crisp December morning in 1917, Halifax woke to calm skies and the quiet hum of a wartime city at work. Children hurried to school. Workers streamed into factories. Families went about their routines.

Out in the harbour, two ships moved slowly toward one another. One carried deadly cargo, volatile enough to erase a city. When they collided, a fuse was lit. At 9:04 a.m., Halifax was ripped apart in a wave of fire, force, and sound.

In this first part of our two-part series, we walk alongside the people who lived those ordinary minutes before disaster: the harbour pilot steering a ship of fire, the dispatcher tapping out his last warning, and the young girl whose small choice meant survival.

Hear their stories in Before the Blast, now streaming.

If you enjoyed this episode, you might also like:

Episode 193 – The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald
Episode 164 – What Happened to the Mary Celeste?
Episode 152 – Premonitions of the Titanic Disaster

For information or to get tickets for our ghost tours or paranormal adventures, please visit hauntedwalk.com.

Three chilling mysteries. Two elaborate hoaxes. One truth you didn’t see coming.

These were strange events that gripped the public’s attention and convinced witnesses they had experienced something truly paranormal. In this episode, we uncover the truth behind these mysteries. We revisit a BBC broadcast that plunged a nation into hysteria. We follow a “woman in white” whose ghostly appearances hid a political agenda. And we meet a Tennessee family tormented by unearthly moans beneath their floorboards and the disturbing discovery that followed. The real stories are stranger than fiction.

Were your guesses correct? How did the hoaxes fool so many? And did one alleged hoax provide the perfect cover for the real thing?

If you missed our previous episode where we first shared these stories, we recommend starting there for the full experience.

Join us as we blur the line between fact and fiction and reveal why, in the world of the paranormal, the truth can be the most haunting thing of all.

For information or to get tickets for our ghost tours or paranormal adventures, please visit hauntedwalk.com.

Can you tell a true ghost story from a convincing hoax?

In this special interactive episode of Haunted Talks, we share three eerie tales that once captured the public’s imagination. But here’s the twist: two of them are hoaxes.

When fear, belief, and hidden motives collide, strange things can take hold. After you hear all three stories, it’s your turn to decide which one was real.

Think you can separate fact from fiction? Cast your vote now for a chance to win a Haunted Talks t-shirt and a pair of ghost tour tickets.

🎧 Listen to the episode, then vote here: https://hauntedwalk.com/hoaxes/

In two weeks, on Friday, August 8th, 2025, we’ll reveal the truth…and the lies.

If you enjoyed this episode, you might also like:

Episode 154 – Fake Mediums: Putting the “Con” in Conjuring
Episode 127 – Dybbuk Box: Haunted or Hoax?

For information or to purchase tickets for any of our ghost tours or paranormal adventures in Kingston, Ottawa, or Toronto, visit hauntedwalk.com.