The streets of downtown Victoria may look calm under the glow of the streetlights, but take a few steps down a narrow alley or past an aging brick hotel, and you might just feel a chill that has nothing to do with the ocean breeze.
For Chris Adams, those chills are familiar.
Alongside his father, historian John Adams, he has spent years guiding curious souls through Victoria’s haunted past as part of Discover the Past’s Ghostly Walks tours.
Since 1999, the family-run company has been sharing the city’s darker stories in the very places they happened, blending research, folklore, and a touch of the unexplained.
“My dad was always fascinated by the stories that never made it into the textbooks,” Chris said. “He started collecting ghost stories from people all over the city, workers, families, hotel guests, and realized there was this whole other layer to Victoria’s history that needed to be told.”
That passion has grown into one of Victoria’s most beloved traditions, especially each October, when nightly tours fill with locals and visitors eager to explore the city’s shadowy side.
Over the years, the Adams family and their guides have gathered more than 500 accounts of ghostly encounters, many rooted in the city’s earliest days of boomtown ambition and heartbreak.
One of the most infamous tales takes place on Johnson Street, where the Empire Hotel once stood. On June 3, 1898, a man named Charles Kincaid was murdered by his lover, Belle Adams, in a fit of jealousy.
As Kincaid staggered down the stairs, his throat cut, he was heard gasping, “My God, she’s killed me.” Belle threw herself onto his body, crying.
It’s the kind of story that still stops a tour group in its tracks.
“People approach us all the time,” Chris said. “They’ll stop us on the street or send us an email and say, ‘You won’t believe what happened to me last night.’ Those are my favourite conversations because they always lead to a new story.”
Each new account sparks an investigation.
Chris and his team dig through archives, maps, and news reports to uncover the real history behind the hauntings. Sometimes, the discoveries come with personal memories too.
Chris recalled one of his earliest brushes with the unknown, long before he joined the family business.
“There was this fog rolling in, and we saw this glowing form coming toward us,” he said. “At first we thought it was a security guard with a flashlight, but then we realized it wasn’t. It was a woman, glowing, moving fast along the water’s edge. We screamed and ran.”
That figure may just have been Agnes Bings.
On Sept. 29, 1899, Bings missed the last streetcar home after a day of work at the Pilgrim Bakery – located in what is now Market Square – and decided to walk across the railway bridge to get home. She was found dead in a Jack the Ripper-style murder on the west side of the bridge (where the Johnson Street bridge now stands).
For Chris, that moment marked the beginning of a lifelong curiosity with the unexplained. These days, he spends most nights walking groups through Victoria’s streets, from Bastion Square to Market Square, sharing stories that make the past feel alive again.
“We’re not here to convince anyone that ghosts are real,” he said. “We’re here to tell the stories. People can decide for themselves. But I always say, if you don’t believe in ghosts, you probably just haven’t hung out with us long enough.”
The Ghostly Walks run nightly through Nov. 2, starting outside the Market Square arch, where, if you listen closely, you might just hear history calling back.
– With files from Ben Fenlon, Olivier Laurin and Christine van Reeuwyk
