(Joseph Carbonetto has led Stittsville’s Haunted Heritage Tours since 2018 and another haunting season of legends is taking place from September 26 to November 8, 2025. Photo: provided)
Stittsville’s Haunted Heritage Tours are inspired by local history and through the mysterious and unexplained specters of Stittsville’s past. In the past eight years, spooky sightings, secret executions and even reports of ghostly disturbances have been covered during the tours. During the tour, the host, Joseph Carbonetto, does a lot of talking and not a lot of walking and the stories are created by local author and researcher, Alan McCarville.
During McCarville and Caronetto’s research into the legends of Stittsville and area, they heard a lot of barbershop gossip and tall tales concerning ghosts and mysterious happenings in the village. Eventually, 24 stories were compiled based on the legendary tall tales and ghost stories concerning the area. Interviews were conducted with a number of people about particular stories. Back in 2018, the collection of stories enabled the haunted tours to begin. During COVID, the tours became quite popular as they offered one of the few outdoor events that the public could participate in.
Each tour covers approximately seven tales and they are changed frequently enabling each tour to be unique in its own way. Over the years, the tour hosts have heard from participants of their experience with strange occurrences in Stittsville and their information has contributed to the tales.
Joseph Carbonetto shares “that participants should remember that this is entertainment. Welcoming over 7,500 people over the eight years, the tours are a combination of historical events. They are legends with a creepy topping of Stephen King”.
Each tour begins and ends at Brews and Blues Coffee Shop on Stittsville Main Street and is 90 minutes long. The tour dates run from September 26 to November 8, 2025 on both Friday and Saturday evenings with two tours each night at 7:00pm and at 9:00pm. They also welcome businesses and organizations who wish to have groups of people go on the tour and private tours for these groups can be arranged on a different event to accommodate your group. Discounts are also available for large team-building events.
A printed novella of the 24 stories is available for purchase with the sales proceeds being donated to the Stittsville Food Bank with an annual donation.
Stittsville Haunted Heritage Tours look forward to seeing you soon to take a stroll as you track the past through the legends of Stittsville Main Street.
Should you want more information, visit the website at this link. You can purchase tickets on the website or use the convenient QR Code below.
