Visitors to the Kilby Historic Site might get more than the usual wares a pioneer general store would offer this October.
For the seventh year, Cornerstone Supernatural has teamed up with Kilby to co-host a paranormal investigation fundraiser. The group’s founders, Paul Busch and his wife of 30 years, Janine McCaw, call the property the second most active location they’ve investigated.
During a recent Zoom call, the couple shared stories and theories about why this pocket of Harrison Mills seems so haunted. They suspect the geography along the Harrison River, the presence of ley lines and the water itself may all play a part.
“You’ve got a good mix of different things,” Busch said. “Water definitely has got to be a part of it.”
The Kilby Historic Site sits on five acres and has lived many lives. The general store was once an inn for railway travellers, a post office and a working dairy farm. It served a sawmill community so busy that the area became known as Harrison Mills.
Busch and McCaw see their investigations as a way to give back to places that preserve local history. In 2024, Cornerstone Supernatural raised $15,500 for the Haney House Museum and they’re hoping to do the same for Kilby this year.
They first partnered with the site seven years ago for a single-night fundraiser. By 2022, it had grown to two nights, and in 2023, tickets sold out in just three days. Every dollar raised goes directly to the museum to help maintain and enhance its exhibits.
A haunting connection
The partnership came through investigator Gary Kroes, who introduced Cornerstone Supernatural to Executive Director Jo-Anne Leon a year before Chris Linton joined as Kilby’s Program Director.
After a short pandemic pause, the event returned.
“The whole grounds that we invite our guests into is actually the backyard of the Kilbys,” Linton said during an October phone call. “Because it’s on the Harrison River, and it’s a sawmill community, it was built to serve those people.”
When the sawmill closed, the general store continued to serve the Indigenous community and nearby farms. Linton believes its steady stream of visitors — stretching back more than a century — may explain the lingering energy within its walls.
Thomas and Eliza Kilby opened the store in 1906, and their son Acton later took it over with his wife, Jessie. The property was sold to the province in 1972.
“I think some of those spirits are still connected to the building,” Linton said.
The bumps in the night
Built in 1906, Kilby’s general store holds the same historical significance as pioneer villages like Manitoba’s Mennonite Heritage Village, Ontario’s Black Creek Pioneer Village and the Village Québécois d’Antan in Drummondville, Que.
It’s equally active, too. McCaw recalls a daytime encounter in the basement that defied expectations of when ghosts are supposed to appear.
“You know how you get the myths on all the ghost shows where you have to sit in the dark for 18 hours and at 4:02 a.m. something finally happens?” she said, laughing. “No, the first time we were out there, it was a beautiful summer day, about 3:30 in the afternoon during the week.”
The Cornerstone team had set up their REM pods and K2 metres, and everything suddenly came to life.
“Anything that made a noise was going off,” McCaw said. “And I’m like, ‘Oh, what’s going on?’”
She believes the spirit of a child might be responsible for some of the activity.
“What I like to do now is sit in the dark and read Peter Pan to nobody, with the SLS camera going,” she said. “You’d be amazed at who comes to listen to children’s stories when you do that.”
The team shared their findings — including a brief September investigation in the restaurant — on their website.
“There’s no electrical around there or anything like that — no Wi-Fi,” Busch said. “Our K2s were just going insane when we were asking specific questions.”
The basement is now used as a teaching centre, but Linton can’t explain what happens there.
“I don’t know why that little girl would be down there, and I don’t think there’s any rationale as to why spirits appear in certain spots.”
Linton also praised Cornerstone’s discretion, noting that a Kilby descendant still sits on the museum’s board of directors.
“Cornerstone’s really great at being honest with their messaging and explaining how it works,” she said. “They don’t make it like a jack-in-the-box show at all.”
A night to remember
Guests at the fundraiser rotate through five parts of the investigation. Busch starts the evening by sharing evidence and demonstrating the tools of the trade. In the basement’s children’s area, McCaw presents SLS footage, while investigator Gary Kroes from the Seabird Indian Band leads a session in the general store.
Upstairs, medium Cindy Mah offers tarot readings, and on the top floor, medium Vanessa Zappala connects with the spirits said to linger there.
“Last year was interesting,” Busch said. “We had some people come through with their own equipment — K2 metres, digital voice recorders — and they were actually getting some hits, which is cool.”
Participants and investigators alike have reported eerie mimicry — disembodied voices calling out in familiar tones.
“Gary’s telling us he hears Vanessa’s voice, and he heard Paul’s voice literally calling his name in the store,” McCaw said.
There have also been sightings of a man in a wide-brimmed hat, strange apparitions and the occasional burst of poltergeist activity — including a glass jar flying off a countertop.
“We were going to investigate the whole place again, but we just never got out of the restaurant,” Busch said with a laugh.
Perhaps this Halloween season, Cornerstone Supernatural and its guests will uncover even more about Kilby’s resident spirits — and the stories they still want to tell.
Bumps in the Night at the Kilby Historic Site runs October 24 and 25, with investigations at 6 and 8 p.m. Tickets are available through the museum’s website.