Haunted Mall???

April 7th, 2026 - 9:16 PM NST

I experienced something odd the other day and thought you guys might get a kick out of it. So, those of you who are horror connosieurs (I'm sure many of you are if you're hanging out here) know that the weekend before last was the Canadian premiere of the Architeuthis remake. I was really excited to finally see it, since I had a neighbour whose wharf actually got used in one of the shoots, and it's been two years in development - but I guess I wasn't the only one who knew someone involved, because when I looked at tickets night of, they were already sold out. I was stuck working nights through most of the week, and didn't really want to spend my one night off on Wednesday stuck in a stuffy theatre, and thought I was going to be stuck waiting another whole week, when a coworker of mine told me that apparently even though the mall shuts down for Good Friday and Easter Sunday, the movie theatre actually stays open. 

I figured she just meant the doors closest to the theatre and that they'd close off access to the rest of the mall since nothing else was open, but after I got out of the movie, I saw people walking out towards the food court. Having nothing else to do, and admittedly not feeling entirely satisfied with the movie (though still mad to see something local before you jump to the comments!), I followed, just to see how much actually was open. 

I was shocked to find the entire mall still accessible - security guards were patrolling, and all of the stores were locked up, but there was nothing and no one to actually stop you from walking through the whole empty building!

I know this is probably old news to some of you, but as a kid I was obssessed with urban exploration, so this was kind of a big deal to me, to be able to explore this space through a whole nother light. I wandered at a leisurely pace for ages, figuring someone would come and kick me out when the mall was ready to lock it's doors for the night, and fell into a bit of a meditative state I guess, because before I knew it, it was already past 10 o'clock, and I was starting to get a bit sluggish, so I started the trek back to my car - only to discover that the doors were already locked, and I was on the wrong side of them. I know you're probably thinking I should have noticed the lights turning off - but they'd been in power saving mode the whole time I'd been there. My guess is that when I ran into the bathroom down by the lower entrance I ended up off camera just long enough to get missed. 

Not entirely sure what to do, or who to call in this situation and suddenly very nervous about accusations of trespassing, I began to try the rest of the doors - the parking garage, the lower level, back up to the food court, and then somewhat desperately back down to where mall administration was according to the map. It was in the bizarre little stretch approaching mall admin that it happened - you know, that solid wall of ATMs - useful, but boring enough to send most mall walkers like myself back the way they came, to more open areas and loops. It seems like a dead end - but if you keep going that way, the hallway actually wraps around and there's a little spa - and most importantly, another, smaller exit. 

I passed the last few dark store fronts, which were becoming a lot less intriguing and a lot more unsettling as I began to grapple with the possibility of having to wait the night out. In the daytime, the mall markets itself as a place full of possibilities and luxuries - there are a dozen stores with homewares and furniture. As an odd child, I frequently thought about what it might be like to live in a home display when wandering through a mattress or furniture store. But at night, all the comforts of the mall are kept behind lock and key, and the building actually becomes quite sterile and cold in a way I had not considered, and I was getting jumpy. 

For that reason, I can't be sure whether the voice was a trick played by my nerves, or a real presence - but either way, I know I heard it. It was soft - that's how I know it wasn't some mall employee wandering through  - a woman's voice, speaking softly as if talking to a child. I couldn't make out all of what she said since she was up around the corner, but I did hear clearly, "Are you ready to go home?" She didn't sound distressed, didn't sound like a woman trapped in the mall after dark, and I knew that something was off. She sounded muffled too, in a way that I still can't really explain - like she was speaking through glass - maybe inside one of the stores? 

I tried to back away, as cowardly as that sounds. It's odd. You think you'd be relieved to find someone else, alone somewhere like that. But in the moment, at least for me, I knew that I would take being alone in that situation a million times over being trapped with a stranger. So yeah, I tried to leave as quietly as I could. The voice didn't come again, but then there was an ungodly burst of noise - this cheap carnival music, that I swear - I could never hear again and it would be too soon. Turns out there is a machine down that end of the mall that I never noticed before - one of those claw machines for kids toys, and I don't know how old the thing was - maybe it's motion activated, but it went completely haywire, blasting it's music as loud as it could, and I yelped, which was enough to attract a night cleaner to the area. 

She was... not impressed, with my story about the voice or the malicious duck machine that had startled me, and was even less impressed with my claim to have accidentally gotten locked in, but was willing to let me out to go back to my car. She was braver than I was, and so actually looked down the hallway to the entrance, but said there was no one there. No way into any of the stores either, and they had motion sensors so... unless I completely imagined it, I think there might be some sort of night walking specter haunting mall administration. It sounds a bit farfetched, but what do you guys think? Have you heard any stories about ghosts in the mall before, or grisly accidents? My friend thinks I must have just heard someone talking outside the exit at the end of the hall, and I'm determined to prove her wrong. Let me know what you think!