Montreal House owner Linda Defour, with a picture of the original building (Photo by Jake Kislinsky)Montreal House owner Linda Defour, with a picture of the original building (Photo by Jake Kislinsky)
Chatham

Haunted Montreal House

Another paranormal enthusiast has spent the night in Chatham's Montreal House, looking for ghosts.

Owner Linda Defour says a ghost hunter by the name of Richard Shaw was at the bar on Grand Ave. W and got "strong readings" from the rooms that were part of the original structure.

Defour says strange occurrences have happened ever since she bought the bar in the 80's. It started with a light turning on and off in the main entrance of the bar.

"I had a local electrician come and check if there were any problems with the wiring, there was not. I bought a new light for the bottom of the stairs, and it continues to go off and on," she says.

Non-believing patrons have been stumped in the past as well. Defour was talking to two customers who said they didn't believe there were spirits inside, when they heard something in the other room.

"The TV went really, really loud," says Defour. "They jumped up to see, and there was absolutely no one over there. I went to turn the TV off, and it shut down by itself. So non-believers all of a sudden became believers that day."

Defour has a plethora of other stories, including pinball machines playing by themselves, and staff seeing a man dressed in a white dress shirt and black tie. After seeing the suspicious man, Defour later found old pictures of the Montreal House, learning former staff uniforms matched the description of the individual seen at the bar.

Defour has yet to hear back from Shaw since his most recent stay last weekend.

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