'People died here': The surprising haunted history of Camosun College

Victoria -

These days, the Young Building at Camosun College's Lansdowne Campus is full of students. But there may be others lurking in the halls late at night.

"Lots of unexplained noises," said Nicole Kilburn, an instructor of anthropology at Camosun College.

"People suffered here," said John Adams of Ghostly Tours. "People died here."

"Just unexplained things going on in the building," added Chris Morier, an instructor of history and global studies at Camosun.

Built as a teacher's college in 1915, the Young Building was repurposed as a veterans hospital during the Second World War. The basement now holds a gym, but it looked a lot different during that time.

"It used to be the morgue," said Kilburn.

Ever since then, people have reported unsettling sounds coming from the lower depths of the building while the rest of the city sleeps.

"There are stories of disembodied screams coming from what used to be the morgue," said Adams. "Anguished screams of people in agony from wounds, from mental anguish."

That’s not all. People have witnessed doors and windows being flung open with absolutely no explanation as to why.

Others have seen things they wish they could un-see.

"One of our cleaners had come face to face with something, and essentially just ordered that something to just leave her alone and go away," said Morier. "And it vanished."

Kilburn’s office is on the second floor of the Young Building. She’s never witnessed any paranormal activity herself, but does teach an anthropology of death class at the college. She says the building's past life as a hospital may be the reason why some who came before us, may still be here.

"An individual that does not have a good death may linger in this limbo and have some unfinished business amongst the world of the living," said Kilburn.

John Adams is Victoria’s leading expert in all things spooky. He says it's the building's location, on the slopes of Mount Tolmie, that has those people of the past still calling the halls of the building home to this day.

"(Mount Tolmie) in itself is an old volcanic cone," said Adams. "Those large outcroppings of rock hold energy really well and ghosts are all about places of strong energy."

He says the clocktower works as a beacon for the energy, bringing that energy into the building.

"The clocktower is almost like an antenna," said Adams. "Beaming the energy down to that building."

Whatever spirits do wander the halls in the ominous hours of the night, there’s no evidence that they are evil spirits. In fact, there’s a story that they are actually looking out for the living.

"Someone (was) in this building late at night and for some reason leaning out a window," said Kilburn. "They started to fall and there was a hand that came and pulled them back to safety. But there was nobody there."