Halloween brings haunted happenings to Jasper with ghost tours, spooky celebrations

Bears and elk won’t be the only creatures roaming Jasper National Park this Hallo-weekend.

Creatures Return is a first-of-its-kind Halloween experience in Jasper, offering guests a taste of the supernatural Oct. 31 to Nov. 2 with everything from late-night functions to a one-of-a-kind local ghost tour.

Halloween night offers costume parties — complete with prizes for best-dressed — at the De’d Dog, featuring DJoey & CHILDSIZEMEDIUM, and the Athabasca Hotel’s Atha-B Halloween Howler with DJ Tommy K, with free entry and spooky vibes at both.

The following day, Commemoration Park will be taken over by a silent disco under Jasper’s starry night sky, with a 7-8 p.m. session for families followed by 8-10 p.m. for adults.

November 2 offers yet another late-night extravaganza with SIN Sunday at Atha-B, where DJ Poaps’s spooky soundtrack will be behind another nightmarish night from 10 p.m. onward.

For all three days of Creatures Return, the alpine town’s very own Jasper Theater Productions will bring another side of Jasper’s history to life through their first-ever ghost tours.

Co-owner and artistic director Pieter van Loon says it’s an opportunity to show people a different side of Jasper.

“Normally, Jasper’s all about the mountains and the lakes, but Jasper has definitely a different side as well,” he said.

“A little bit of a darker side.”

Through the hour-long ghost tour, the troupe will take attendees through Jasper’s spookiest stories, covering everything from its most well-known hauntings to more obscure supernatural tales.

“The Athabasca Hotel, the manager came back after the fire, and he was there all by himself and things were happening there… I don’t wanna spoil it,” he says.

Other iconic locations in the spotlight include the Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge — where the hotel’s infamous Point Cabin maid is arguably the town’s most famous supernatural resident — and the now-closed Villa Caruso Restaurant, where staff reported paranormal encounters.

“We have the famous ones, but we heard some very not so famous ones as well,” says van Loon. “It’s going to be fun, with all different kinds of stories.”

With safety from supernatural forces top of mind, the tour starts off with a cleansing ritual, so as not to endanger any attendees in the presence of the paranormal.

“It’s gonna be a little bit more theatrical,” van Loon said. “Everyone gets a headset, we have a little microphone, and even when we’re walking, we can tell stories and we can play music, so it’s more of a theatrical storytelling.”

The Friday and Saturday shows take place at 7 p.m., while Sunday’s is a 1 p.m. matinee. Tickets are available at jaspertheater.ca.

Amir Said // info@thejasperlocal.com