For most, the big white house on 5th Street in High River is the “Superman house”, used in the third Hollywood Superman film in 1983. But, for Faye Steinberg, a psychic medium, the home built in 1905 is the perfect location for Mystic Manor, an all-year-round haunted house.
While Mystic Manor has yet to have its official grand opening, Steinberg recently hosted a soft opening to allow people to tour the house early.
The 85-minute tour is led by Steinberg herself. It includes a tour of all 10 bedrooms in the house and a mini-seance, giving guests the chance to connect with the spirits of the manor.
Not every guest will have the same experience.
“Your experience in the house is different every single time, even for me,” said Steinberg.
“I’ve been in the house a thousand times, and either something different moves, you see a shadow, you feel a breeze, you hear a whispering, you hear humming, sometimes a whistle, sometimes a bell. So your experience is different depending on who’s moving throughout the house. When I say who, I mean the plethora of spirits that we have here,” added Steinberg.
According to Steinberg, the house’s main haunt is Emma Jane Robertson, the original owner.
“She’s often standing on the stairs. It’s the first floor landing there on the staircase, and that’s when I first saw her. And a lot of people have seen her up there. She’s a very friendly ghost. She loves women and entrepreneurs.”
Steinberg, who says she realized her psychic abilities at a young age, guides guests through the historic home.
To do this, Steinberg designed each room in the house according to her visions and has been collecting the furniture for close to 30 years. Every piece either has a certain “energy” or is “haunted.”
“I want people to immerse themselves in this experience, and we all experience the paranormal differently. I’m very blessed. I hear, feel, see, touch, all the senses. Some people just hear the other side. Some people just smell or feel, you know, sense something. Whereas I actually see, hear, all of it.”
The rooms on the tour include a school room, a medical room, and the basement which Steinberg says was once used as a morgue.
Guests can also experience the house in a more relaxed way, in the cafe open on the first floor.
Steinberg and her husband have restored much of the Queen Anne Revival-style home on their own.
While Steinberg plans for Mystic Manor to grow beyond being only a haunted house, for now, guests have been visiting all throughout the spooky month of October to experience the reported paranormal activity in the residence.