Writer and paranormal aficionado K.G. Miceli wants to hear Ontarians’ stories about the Screaming Tunnel.
The Essex County resident shared her fascination with Niagara’s spooky landmark, a 38-metre-long, 4.8-metre-tall tunnel built of rough-cut limestone. Originally constructed as a drainage passage for nearby farms, it sits near the end of Warner Road, shrouded by a canopy of trees that blocks it from view from the Queen Elizabeth Way.
“It just stuck in my mind,” Miceli said during a January phone conversation. “When I finished the other two books, I thought, ‘Okay, that’s the next seriously haunted place where I know people are still having experiences.’”
The lore of the Screaming Tunnel is what drew her in. She remembered hearing about it when she was younger. Thus, her writing Tales of the Screaming Tunnel: Niagara Falls, Ontario
Canada’s master gatherer, John Robert Colombo, recounts the story of a young woman in his chronicle Ghost Stories of Canada. According to legend, she fled a house fire and later died of her injuries inside the tunnel. The Niagara Falls Public Library also documents several variations of the tale on its website, including one involving an enraged father who set her on fire and another with a darker true-crime angle in which she was assaulted and her body burned to destroy evidence.
“There are a lot of different versions of the same story, mostly about how she ended up in the tunnel and whether it was her father who did it,” Miceli said.
Regardless of the details, these stories serve as the backdrop for the phenomenon witnesses claim to experience: stand in the middle of the dark tunnel at midnight, light a match and it will be extinguished, followed by the sound of a woman screaming.
Is there a paper trail proving that a nearby house once burned to the ground? No. But Miceli said the anecdotal evidence is compelling.
“When you’re looking it up online, I can’t find any proof that there was actually a fire nearby. It’s a lot of hearsay,” she said, adding it mirrors the research she conducted for her first book, Tales of Texas Road, published in December 2024.
That book explored the uncanny reputation of a rural road outside the town founded in 1796. Texas Road, east of the old footbridge, is said to be home to several apparitions, including a shrouded figure that walks along the road and tales of a headless horseman in the surrounding woods. A TV show was also filmed for Tales of Texas Road. It’s available on Bell Fibe TV One.
Her second book, Tales of Sandwich Town, published in October 2025, delves into War of 1812 lore in a small pocket of Windsor, Ont. St. John’s Cemetery is said to be home to a small creature that inhabits its grounds. Both titles are available through local bookstores.
People interested in sharing their Screaming Tunnel experiences can connect with the International Impact Book Awards Author of the Year nominee through Facebook, TikTok, Instagram, Threads or by email at authorkgmiceli@outlook.com.
Tales of the Screaming Tunnel is set for release this spring.