Have you ever felt a chill on the back of your neck while walking around downtown Fredericton that wasn’t caused by the cold Canadian air? Perhaps you’ve heard unexplainable whispers, footsteps or whistles when nobody is around. Maybe you’ve walked past a historic building and got the shivers.
Well, you wouldn’t be the only one. Fredericton has a vast haunted history — a history that local paranormal researcher and psychic-medium Cathy Cusack-Pierce is on a mission to uncover.
“Our team’s mandate is to listen to the voice of spirit, to honour that,” said Cusack-Pierce. “So we listen to the stories that they tell us.”
Cusack-Pierce is a founder of Souls Compass Paranormal, a paranormal investigation group based in Fredericton. The group and its nine members have investigated local historical sites such as Kings Landing, Waterloo Row, the Garrison District and the Belmont House.
The Belmont House, which she visited last spring, has a long history dating back to the 1820s, when it was associated with Robert Duncan Wilmot, a father of Canadian Confederation. Now, it’s known by paranormal researchers as one of the most haunted houses in Fredericton.
“The history in that home is absolutely incredible. Is it haunted? Absolutely. There’s no doubt in my mind,” she said.
Cusack-Pierce, who also owns her own psychic-medium business, explains that throughout the investigation, she connected with spirits of all kinds: male soldiers, women and children, but most impactful was the spirit of a little boy.
“All of a sudden, I felt this little boy’s hand grab me,” said Cusack-Pierce. “He took me over to an apple tree, and I could hear him in my head telling me ‘this is where I died.’”
Cusack-Pierce’s daughter and co-founder of Souls Compass Paranormal, Caitlyn Cull, describes the energy of the Belmont House as “sad and confused.” Cull films for the group’s YouTube page, which is how she found herself alone in the Belmont House.
“I went to grab a key. It was in the middle of the room, [laying in] a hole in the wall,” she said. “I went to pick it up, and I saw a hand come out of the hole to grab my hand and I ran. I ran out of there.”
Like her mother, Cull can also feel spirits’ energies. She grew up in a 130-year-old former church in Fredericton. Cull said her childhood home was haunted by the ghost of a past resident — a mother, who she describes as “very kind” and protective.
Her paranormal experiences were not all positive. Cull recounts disturbing recurring dreams that plagued her for months.
“I’d wake up at 3 a.m. and I would always want to look towards my closet. I don’t know why, I always felt like there was someone standing there,” she said.
Like her daughter, Cusack-Pierce’s ability to connect with spirits also dates back to her childhood. She recounts sleeping with the light on, because at night it sounded like people were chattering in her room.
Cusack-Pierce realized she had inherited her grandmother’s psychic gifts as a teenager.
“I was really scared a lot. Into my teens, I got really scared because I started to see dead people in my dreams.” she said.
In her 30s, Cusack-Pierce attended The Arthur Findlay College in Stansted, U.K., to train her psychic abilities. Described on its website as “The world’s foremost college for the advancement of spiritualism and psychic sciences,” Cusack-Pierce has visited six times since 2018.
Her work to understand her gifts led her back to New Brunswick, which she describes as “a hotbed” of paranormal activity. One spot she found particularly interesting was Kings Landing.
“All of a sudden, one of [our investigators] said something along the lines of ‘there’s children here.’ Well, he started to sob,” said Cusack-Pierce. “These children were sad. They were missing their parents and they couldn’t find them. And the equipment was just going wild.”
It is not just the obvious historical landmarks that conjure ghostly activity, it’s all of Fredericton — especially downtown.
“To me when I walk around downtown, there’s such a strong feeling of history, like when I go over by the Garrison,” said Cusack-Pierce. “It’s like I can see them in my mind walking around — the soldiers, and you can hear the clip-clop of the horses as they’re going down Queen Street.”
Feeling frightened? Cusack-Piece says there is no need to worry. Your chances of meeting an angry ghost during your 2 a.m. walk home from the bars on a Friday night are pretty slim.
“You can definitely just live in harmony with them,” said Cusack-Pierce, “there’s spirits everywhere.”
