Scary Ghost Stories: A Victorian Tradition

DETAILS:

Telling ghost stories at Christmas began in England in the 1700s. Roedde House has revived this tradition in recent years at the hands of Mr. and Mrs. Winchester, aided last year by their faithful butler Mr. Tomes as portrayed by Vancouver favourite, Bernard Cuffling.

This year, 1911, the Winchesters, and Tomes, are off travelling Europe and destined to return next April aboard a brand-new luxury ocean liner!

Adele, the maid, forgot to send out notices cancelling the annual party and so, the Winchesters’ guests (you) have shown up! Cornered, but unafraid, the ghostly tales will be delivered by the “help” of Roedde House, Adele the maid and Tom the stable boy (it’s 1911, there are still stables).

Left to their own devices, these two will pillage the Winchesters’ liquor cabinet and high end bon-bon boxes (and share the bon-bons) and then entertain the guests with the most chilling of the Winchester’s collection of Victorian ghost stories and a few Christmas carols.

Daniel Merlo, from Cap University, recently starred in “The Woman in Black” at the Metro Theatre. His sense for the macabre is top drawer and his partner in this crime will be actor and theatrical stalwart, Angeles Paz-Latapi as Adele the maid. Tea and treats will be served at the interval and visitors can expect the same candle-lit aura of spookiness that always accompanies a Christmas ghost story-telling at Roedde House.

“It’s crucial these stories be read aloud before the listener takes their bleak, shadow-filled walk from the parlour space to their cart, or home. To capture the Victorian ghost story experience is to whisper it by candlelight, to feel the tendrils of the winter’s chill reaching from the darkness outside the hearth’s glow.” – George Winchester 

So welcome to Roedde House for a Christmas experience like no other!

Tea and sweets will be then be served during a short intermission before audience members are invited back into the parlour for one last tale before the Winchesters send everyone off into the shadow-filled night.

FURTHER DETAILS:

• Please ring the turn-key doorbell on the front door for entry.
• Give yourself plenty of time to find parking. There is paid parking at Broughton. Limited street parking is available on Robson and in the West End. If arriving by public transportation, the nearest skytrain station is Burrard, and we are on the #5 Robson bus route.
• There are two washrooms in the house, and one is wheelchair accessible.
• Entry through the side of the house without stairs can be arranged for those wishing to avoid the front steps of the main entrance. Please call or email in advance and we will be happy to accommodate.  

Roedde House Museum is the restored home of Vancouver’s first bookbinder, Gustav Roedde. It was built in 1893 and its design is attributed to famed architect Francis Rattenbury. The interior has been restored and authentically furnished to look as it did in the late 1800s. 

Income from events goes directly towards the continued preservation, restoration, and maintenance of the house, as well as the continuation of its programs.