The Johnston House haunting grew from a real death, later testimony, and investigations that never proved a ghost.

The Story

Dr. Johnston’s death is documented; the footsteps, voices, and apparitions remain reports from people who lived or investigated there.

The paper trail begins with a real early-20th-century home, a prominent local dentist, and an accidental death that became central to the house’s identity. The haunting account appears later through residents’ experiences and media coverage. Investigators recorded reported activity and pursued electronic voice phenomena, but the available record does not demonstrate that Dr. Johnston, or anyone else, haunts the property.

• Documented historyThe strongest evidence concerns the building, its owner, and the circumstances of Johnston’s death.
• Evidence boundaryParanormal investigations document that claims were investigated, not that spirits were proven.

• The home was built in 1911 by Dr. Robert James Johnston Sr., who operated a dental clinic and pharmacy and was prominent in Drumheller civic life.drumhellermail
• Johnston died at age 45 on October 10, 1936, when a 16-gauge shotgun discharged into his lower jaw while he prepared for a hunting trip; a coroner ruled the death accidental.drumhellermail
• Later owners and visitors reported footsteps, apparitions, voices, objects shifting, and a feeling of someone’s presence, while paranormal groups conducted investigations and séances.cbc +3