A paranormal conference took place in the 108 Heritage Site on Saturday, June 14, hosted inside the reportedly haunted Clydesdale Barn.
Paracon 2025, which is the first time the 108 Heritage Site has hosted a paranormal conference of that kind, attracted speakers like storyteller Ian Gibbs, Phil Burn, seasoned 20-year investigator Michael Merle and the hosts of Beyond the Haunting Investigations, who all spoke about the paranormal in the Clydesdale Barn. Around 30 people attended the event throughout the day.
The barn, which had been built by Captain Watson, who died in the First World War in 1915, had been the subject of paranormal interest for several years. In 2017, during a ghost walk which raised $1,060 for the 108 Mile Ranch VFD, someone snapped a photo of a man who had been climbing some stairs in the barn that some believe captured an image of the ghost.
Corine Carey, who is part of the Beyond the Haunting Investigations group, is familiar with such stories - and more.
"There's stories of the man upstairs that haunts the board or the catwalk up top. There's stories of the cowboys that are downstairs, the transient spirits that have come and gone, the witnesses who have seen, the shadows popping out of the sides - the upstairs and downstairs." Carey explained.
Carey, along with her sister Leanne Sallenback and childhood friend Kelly Ireland, made a show two years ago profiling the many accounts of paranormal activity in the Cariboo region. They've since filmed several other TV specials profiling the paranormal in general.
"We were in Texas, at the Alamo, New Orleans, Bell Island, Montreal, Charleston, South Carolina, Newfoundland - we were all over the place for that episode," Carey stated.
She noted that in addition to the Clydesdale Barn in the 108 Heritage Site, other paranormal sites within the Cariboo overall include Hat Creek Ranch, Barkerville's historic site, Wells, and Quesnelle Forks.
Carey added that she was thrilled to hear that the 108 Heritage Site would be hosting Paracon.
"This is where we got our kind of start. Our documentary led us here - is kind of where we started out, it's own own backyard. We're all B.C. girls, so we were excited to come back to see how the Paracon and how we can promote this amazing, first of all, heritage site, and all the paranormal activity that happens here in the ghost tour," Carey stated.
Gibbs, meanwhile, is also familiar with the paranormal and has written three books about the topic. Much like Carey, Gibbs says that there is a lot of spiritual stuff going on in the Cariboo.
"I think there's a lot of history to the land. And I think that's probably why they're wanted to do it here, because there is so much active things going on here, it's pretty interesting," Gibbs said.
When he was asked whether or not the reason why the barn is haunted is due to the death of Watson in 1915, Gibbs did not rule it out.
"When he was killed, he was killed quite young, over in the First World War. As far as he's concerned, maybe just back to where he loved for unfinished business, that kind of thing," Gibbs explained.
During his talk in the barn, he explained there was a humanity behind ghosts.
"Ghosts are merely people who don't have bodies anymore, but they're still people, they still are deserving of respect, of kindness and of understanding, and just treating them like you would any other stranger you would meet," Gibbs clarified.
As for his own experiences dealing with the paranormal at the 108 Heritage Site, he said he has had a few encounters himself.
"I sense something in the museum - the house there - I went upstairs, and there was very much an older women who was okay with me being there, but not thrilled people were walking around her house - and then at the house barn at the very end, where we had the sessions - I had in my own experience a man who's in there. (He) was not happy with me being in there and made it pretty clear."
After walking three stalls into the barn, Gibbs heard two large thumps and bolted.
"That was it. That was good enough for me," Gibbs recalled.
The conference, meanwhile, included people who sold paranormal-themed items - including Deanna MacIntyre, who is the owner of Stardust and Stuff, which sells a few items in the theme of Paracon.
"We have items that we tend to make. We have bugs, bones, we have rocks, gems, minerals, fossils," MacIntyre explained. She had heard about Paracon at a market in 108 Mile Ranch, and someone had told her that Paracon would make a good event for her business.
"This is my first time at a paranormal-themed one. I do oddity markets where we have things like bugs or bats and things, stuff like that, but we haven't done an actual paranormal conference yet," said MacIntyre. She had said that the responses from the attendees had been great.
"Everyone has lots of questions about the stones, and I try to supply the most correct, accurate information that I can about them," MacIntyre said.
There is no word whether or not the conference will be held again in 2026.
