My buddy Michael Zavacky goes by the name “Zeke” when creating graffiti-inspired paintings and graphics. He has a tag-team show going on right now at the Mercury Lounge with fellow graffiti devotee, Juan Carlos Noria. There’s a World Beats and Eats reception taking place there in conjunction on Friday, November 3.

But Zavacky is into much more than graffiti. He loves to muck about with local legends and ghost stories, especially the mysterious and controversial case of Patrick Whelan, the hanged killer of D’Arcy McGee, one of the Fathers of Confederation of this great nation.

As part of an overnight tour package, Zavacky spent the night in the Carleton County Jail on Saturday night “trying to contact the ghost of Patrick Whelan.” Back in the day, Whelan was detained in the jail while awaiting trial and then execution. The jail now serves as a youth hostel.

Zavacky reports: “Anyone with a taste for local history and the occult will relish a tour of that old creepy jail, trust me. Fricking awesome!

“I honestly was overcome with a feeling of nausea as I stood before the gallows. Was really weird. Thought I was going to faint and had to leave the area quickly."