Screaming Tunnel

The Screaming Tunnel is a small limestone tunnel, running underneath what once was the Grand Trunk Railway lines (now the Canadian National Railways), located in the northwest corner of Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada. The actual location of the attraction is just off Warner Road. Often thought to be a railway tunnel, it was actually constructed only as a drainage tunnel so that water can be removed from the farmlands. This water would go underneath the Grand Trunk Railway and down to the valley below. Farmers used this tunnel to transport goods and animals safely underneath the busy railroad above.

The tunnel, constructed in the early 1900s, is 16 feet (4.9 m) in height and 125 feet (38 m) long.

A local legend recounts that the tunnel is haunted by the ghost of a young girl, who after escaping a nearby burning farm building with her clothing ablaze, died within its walls.[1] Several variants of the legend exist locally, one version has the girl set on fire by her enraged father after he loses custody of his children after a nasty divorce. Another tells of a young girl being raped inside the tunnel and her body burned to prevent any evidence from being found. [2] All variants involve a claim that a match struck within the tunnel's recesses will produce the sound of the young girl's dying screams, this purported phenomenon is alleged to be the origin of the tunnel's name.[3]

The tunnel was used as a set during the filming of David Cronenberg's 1983 film adaptation of Stephen King's horror novel The Dead Zone.[4]

An independent film, titled Limestone Burning, used the legend as a basis for the plot, and was filmed at the tunnel and in surrounding Niagara Falls, Ontario and Buffalo, New York, locations. Production was completed in the late summer of 2012. Information about the film can currently be found at the Official Facebook Page and on IMDB.

References

  1. ↑ John Robert Colombo, Mysterious Canada (Doubleday Canada Limited,1988, ISBN 0-385-25150-5), pp. 183–184.
  2. ↑ "Screaming Tunnel". Niagara Falls Ontario Public Library. Retrieved 2009-07-15.
  3. ↑ "Haunted Screaming Tunnel Legend".
  4. ↑ John Robert Colombo, Mysterious Canada (Doubleday Canada Limited,1988, ISBN 0-385-25150-5), pp. 183–184.

External links

Coordinates: 43°08′43″N 79°08′42″W / 43.14518°N 79.14497°W / 43.14518; -79.14497

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Monday, January 11, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.