Lady in Red

During a lively episode of the podcast Mondo Freako, the host welcomes Canadian guests Todd and Darcy for a deep dive into the paranormal, centered around a trivia quiz about Toronto’s historic Fairmont Royal York Hotel. The discussion highlights the legend of the “Lady in Red,” a residual haunting on the eighth floor known for her crimson evening gown, the scent of old-fashioned perfume, and her habit of walking into non-existent elevators. While the guests jokingly stumble through the quiz, the conversation shifts into personal spectral encounters, including Todd’s eerie story of seeing a “ghostly groom” while his wife saw a “ghostly bride” at the Fairmont Banff Springs.

OSHOPOD.com

https://youtube.com/live/q52idZ8IH6E

Transcript (AI transcription)

So I hear ghosts are warmer-blooded in Canada. Is that true, guys? Well, they certainly are not reptilian. No, we don’t have cold-blooded ghosts. Oh, really? They’re red-blooded Canadian ghosts up here. Darcy, do you agree with that assessment? Yeah, okay. Okay. Great riff. Great riff. Mondo Rico. Hey everybody and welcome to Mondo Rico. Today we’ve got a couple of Canadians with us today. How are you guys doing? Fantastico. And just because I said you’re Canadian, you can identify as other than, I mean, maybe, is there differences in being in Canada? Or you can say, no, I’m an Albertan. Oh, okay. Well, yeah. There’s that now. Yes. Okay. That has connotations that we’d rather not hop into at this point. Okay. It’s a little early in the show for that. A Torontonian? Is that the word? Yes. And an Ottawa? Ottawa? An Ottoman? Yeah. An Ottoman. Yeah. Yeah.
Okay. You guys don’t identify? I’m an East Coaster originally. Yes. Okay. I’m from Nova Scotia. So you’re like Anna Green’s Gables or what? Not quite. That would be Prince Edward Island. But Nova Scotia, which means New Scottsdale, Arizona. A Scotian? Yes. Yes. See, it’s funny because Darcy is a Torontonian who identifies as an East Coaster, and I am an Ottawa who identifies as a Torontonian. Oh, well… You guys need to have graphics or something whenever you come on to introduce all this. We’re going to have arrows going all across the great white wall. It’s nothing but strings and post-it notes and pictures of East Coast Donair and wings from the Wheat Sheaf. Wheat Sheaf wings. Well, this show is about the mysteries of the world. And I have a mystery, but every time we do a quiz and I give the person who’s participating, the people in this case who are participating, the opportunity to either take the quiz cold about our topic today or get the information and then take the quiz. Depends how daring you are here.
Yeah, send me in cold coach. What it’s about here, I can tell you what it’s about. Don’t even care. Bring it. Oh, you just want to go right to the quiz. Hop right in. I’m not looking up nothing. There we go. Let’s do it. Quiz. Quiz. All right. Here you go. I just realized something. If I screw up, if I just screwed myself out of a prize, is… No, yeah, there’s no prize. You guys might not be able to see this totally because it’s probably really small, but this is our quiz here. I’m going to read all the questions and the answers, so don’t worry about it if it’s small on your screen. You’re perfectly fine. All right? Yes. All right, here we go. First question. In which Canadian city is the Fairmont Royal York Hotel located? Is it… A, Ottawa…
B, Bikini Bottom, C, Montreal, or D, Toronto. And I do have a hint if you guys want that. Darcy, do you want to take this one? No, no, go ahead. Are you sure? Bikini bottom, obviously. Bikini bottom! For the win. Oh, no! Oh, my goodness. While residents there might see many ghosts of sunken ships, the Fairmont Royal York is strictly a dry land-based establishment in Toronto. Did you know that the Fairmont Royal York is a historic landmark and a prominent fixture of the Toronto skyline? For sure. It’s tucked in. It’s right across the street from Via Rail, from the Union Station in Toronto. In fact… You’ve been? Oh, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And in fact, the Fairmont chains, like the Fairmont hotels in Canada, until they moved…
the railway stations, they were always across the street from a railway station. People would get off and then go immediately into the hotel. Fairmont Railways. That was their tagline. Fairmont Railways. Alright, next question. Number two. There’s seven questions altogether. They’re supposed to get more difficult as we go along. Who knows, though. What is the most distinctive feature of this spirit’s appearance? According to witnesses at the Fairmont, right? Okay. In Toronto. Okay. A tattered maid’s uniform, a vibrant red evening gown, a shadowy featureless cloak. Right. Or a bright red clown nose. I have a hint if you want it. Yeah, let’s have a hint. Oh, let’s do the hint. Yeah. Her name tells you exactly what color she is wearing. Oh, so it’s obviously a bright red clown nose. Um,
No, I am going to say a vibrant red evening gown. Darcy, are you in on that? That’s the sound of money that we’re winning. Darcy, we’re going to get so rich off of this. Much like just about every major chain establishment, you earn points. Which can be spent on our next visit. Right. Or possibly, unless we change our game. Right. So the vibrant red evening guy, you’re right, the spirit is named after her striking crimson dress, often described as a formal gown from a past era. Okay. All right. You’re doing great. You got one for one. One for one. What more could you want? Well, I’m going to say we actually got two, because we’re screwing around on the first one. Technically, if you’re going to hold us to it, then yes. Much like school, when you screw around, you lose. Okay. All right.
All right, next question, number three. On which specific floor of the hotel is the lady in red most frequently sighted? Oh, that’s her name. Okay. The rooftop? Mm-hmm. The 13th floor? Right. The basement near the laundry? Mm-hmm. Or the eighth floor? I also have a hint if you’d like. I think we got to take hints. You want a hint? Take that hint, yeah. Yeah, yeah, hint, please. Oh, don’t say, okay, thank you. It is an even-numbered floor in the single digits. It is 13. I just used my math degree. Woo-hoo! No, it’s the eighth. It’s the eighth. We’re screwing around here. We’re not screwing around here. Eighth floor? Yeah. All right! There we go. That’s right. The eighth floor is the most cited location for sightings of the lady walking the hallway. That’s amazing.
I think my wife has to stay there next week and I’m going to make sure she’s on the eighth floor. Yeah. I’m going to call her at the end of the hallway. Cause that’s where she probably disappears. I’m guessing. Yeah. All right. Which of the following sensory details is often reported by guests who believe they have just missed an encounter with her. Okay. The smell of wet dog, the smell of burnt toast. Okay. That’s a stroke, right? Okay. The faint sense of old fashioned perfume, which is, male of sulfur, which is what? Okay, well, we’ll see. That’s th...