When you chat with Grand Falls Windsor filmmaker Mike Hickey about horror films or local paranormal lore, his excitement is almost tangible.
As an actor, now an award-winning author and filmmaker, his work is well known in the horror genre. He created and hosts Fright Hype, a popular weekly news series on Crypt TV, where he covers the latest in horror films, events, and news. His passion for the genre has led him to host press coverage for major horror films such as Halloween and IT. Hickey has also directed several award-winning horror shorts.
Hickey, who also hosts Terra Nova on NTV, said his newfound love of ghost hunting has given him a new perspective.
“I didn't have a vast history of ghost hunting before we got into this. I had a couple of little hobbies, such as going out with friends and just looking around, but for the most part, it's just been an extension of my love for horror, Halloween, and spooky stuff.
Hickey said the show wrapped its inaugural season, involving eight ghost hunt locations in Newfoundland over six episodes. It included hunts in Grand Falls Windsor for two nights, two in Harbour Grace, a house in Trinity he used to live in, New Harbour, and locations in and around St. John’s.
In Grand Falls Windsor, Hickey took his Terra Nova crew to three locations. They checked out Grand Falls House, a place few people in town could visit. It was by invitation only that people saw the inside of the manor. They also investigated a haunted elevator at Hill Road Manor; another was a Catholic Kindergarten to Grade 7 School that Hickey attended.
“The school has now been stripped down to the studs. Inside were a couple of stories of firefighters using that place as a training facility and picking up some weird stuff while they were there. So we managed to get into that building and hunt there too.”
One thing that Hickey has noticed is that one's experience with a paranormal entity is not always the same as what someone else will encounter.
“When you talk to people, some are convinced they know who the spirit is or are encountering. Other times, it's much more vague. In the case of these firefighters, one of them saw a shadow person.”
He said Newfoundland's geographical uniqueness and history add significantly to its ghost stories.
“Newfoundland is an isolated spot, and people must entertain themselves. It is the same reason why we have a lot of hilarious and musically talented people living here. You have a lot of people who are just great storytellers, and scary stories are some of the best ones to tell. The combination of folklore from our places and storytelling history plays into it somewhat.”
One of Hickey’s favourite ghost-hunting experiences was a house in Goose Cove near the Town of St. Anthony. No one lived in the house, which was getting ready to be demolished by its owner because it was falling into disrepair. Hickey said he spent a summer living there while working for Rising Tide Theatre. Over the years, he suspected the house might be haunted, and his show helped to validate his experience.
“When we were out there a couple of months ago, they let us go in and do a ghost hunt, so for me, having just spent a summer there, having some weird experiences and hearing rumours of things happening there. It was a heavy feeling, more so than the sounds I heard at night. It was bizarre. But bringing the crew out there, having four friends with me. We had some wild stuff happen, and it was exciting.”
Hickey said his aim for next season is to travel to Corner Brook, the Port aux Port Peninsula, and Stephenville to tell more ghost stories about Western Newfoundland.
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