Helmcken Alley is everything you look for in a haunted alley.
It’s tucked away, giving it a sense of mystery. Old arching brickwork evokes a feeling of age and claustrophobia.
The alley shoots off Bastion Square in downtown Victoria, B.C., and runs alongside the site of the city’s original jail and gallows, built in the mid-1800s to play host to settlers caught gambling, fighting and/or drinking. Occasionally the jail saw more serious crimes. In total, 11 people were hung int he courtyard.
And then buried there.
Some of the graves were unearthed in the late 1800s during construction of the Provincial Court building (now former Maritime Museum & closed to the public). Some condemned men are still buried there, perhaps at least one not so peacefully.
People who walk down the alley, the same alley in which the condemned walked to the gallows, claim feeling pushed or shoved. Some heard chains rattling. According to legend, one of those dead men walking was beaten to death by the jail guard leading him to his execution.
In the summer, Bastion Square is alive with music and vendors selling produce, artwork and other goods. But we didn’t visit in summer; we went on a dark and stormy night.
It poured rain, obscuring any sound as subtle as rattling chains. I turned on the camera on my cellphone as we walked through the alley. On the way out, video captured a small light dancing in the rain. Look to the lower left of the screen at the 30-second mark.
Is it an orb? A wet bug? Trick of the light in the rain?
Check out the slideshow below for more photos.
