Witches, Ghosts, Loups-Garous: Scary Tales from Canada's Ottawa Valley

Edith Fowke is professor emerita at York University and the author of
Canadian Folklore: Perspectives on Canadian Culture and Legends Told in
Canada.

Joan Finnigan is a prolific writer whose books deal with oral history
and the tales of the Ottawa Valley. This area was settled in the 18th
and 19th centuries by Irish and Scottish immigrants who brought with
them many of the legends of their Celtic homelands. Some of these are
preserved much as they came from the old country; others have been
adapted to the new environment. French and Native Canadians also live
along the Ottawa Valley, and Finnigan has drawn some of her stories from
their lives.

This volume of some 28 stories is divided into three sections: “The
Wolves of Malakoff and Other Haunting Tales,” “The Thronging Ghosts
of Ghost Hill and Other Spooky Stories,” and “The Burial of Bandy
Burke and Other Dark Legends.” Finnigan obtained many of these stories
from old-timers she interviewed. Some are retold from tales published in
Ottawa newspapers of the 1930s, while others Finnigan developed from her
own imagination. They include variations on familiar Native motifs like
“The LoupGarou of Rocher Fendu,” “The Witch Canoe of the Ottawa
River,” and “The Wendigo at Widow Helferrty’s House.” Others are
typical ghost stories, current in local towns and villages, especially
in the Irish settlements. The last section includes tales of the old
shantymen and rivermen; these are the most thoroughly Canadian. Some
stories are about actual persons and, like legends, some contain an
element of fact.

As a folklorist, I would have preferred that the stories be given as
nearly as possible in the words of the informants, and that the sources
be identified. However, the book is interesting and well written, and
should appeal to the general public.