New CBC series ‘Ghosting’ opens at historic Merrill House in Picton

Matthew, Bukola and Luke at the Merrill Inn. – Photo courtesy CBC

Thrills and chills of past lives at Picton’s historic Merrill House will unfold in a new CBC series “Ghosting”, premiering this Friday.

The new unscripted comedy is an eight-part series starring Luke Hutchie and Matthew Finlan and will feature on the CBC Gem streaming service. Hutchie is well known for starring opposite Priyanka (Glamerous) and Zoe De Grand Maison (Riverdale) in the hit OUTtv series Ezra. He’s created the Ghosting series with Finlan, who also starred in Ezra, and in Orphan: First Kill, as well as alongside Alyssa Milano in Netflix’s Brazen.

The Ghosting series follows the two actors as they step into their own fun real-life thriller on their quest to discover if eight haunted places in Ontario are truly haunted.

Ghosting brings a comedic spin to the paranormal genre and supercharges it with star power as Hutchie and Finlan invite their famous best friends to notoriously spooky locales to reach a verdict of “haunted” or “not.”

Robyn Hood’s Bukola Ayoka joins the amateur ghostbusters as their journey begins at The Merrill House in Picton to investigate an eerie Victorian mansion supposedly riddled with chaos and death. The cast and crew filmed here in mid-July.

The story begins in 1877 when Edwards Merrill purchased a one-acre lot from the Washburn family and built a Gothic Revival style house for his family. However, Judge Merrill sold the house the next year to Peter and George McKenzie and moved into a miniature version of the home he commissioned at 2 Hill St., where he remained until his death.

Over the years, rumours of spirits began to circulate.

The house was sold to numerous people and their families including: Charles Hoover (1884), James Clapp (1893), Frederick and Kate Slaven (1898), Merton Ostrander (1921), Barbara Vandusen (1968), H.T. and Nellie Lake (1968), Cornelius Slik Jr and his wife (1975), Edmond Devenish and his wife (1976), and then finally Fred Weeks (1981) who was the one to convert it into an Inn. Ed and Amy Schubert were the next owners of the Inn.

They sold it the current owner, Jordan Martin de Rosales, in 2018, who is convinced his boutique hotel is haunted.

“The Merrill House is a 100 per cent haunted… There’s definitely some spirits a foot. Perhaps there was some unfinished business here,” he shares in the episode. “Merrill House has lived many lives… I really consider myself a custodian of this house. Merrill is that sort of typical, iconic, haunted house.”

Bukola, Matthew and Luke at the Merrill Inn hotel room. – Photo courtesy CBC

The series also takes viewers to the Olde Angel Inn at Niagara on the Lake; the Castle Kilbride, Baden, the SDJ Jail at Cornwall, the McDonald Log Cabin at Alliston, the Auchmar Manor at Hamilton, the Wellington County Poorhouse at Fergus and The Orillia Opera House.

Guest stars include: Katie Douglas (Ginny & Georgia, Level 16), Devyn Nekoda (Scream IV), Kevin Alves (Yellowjackets, Locke & Key), Bukola Ayoka (Robyn Hood), Frankie Grande (Big Brother), Jade Hassouné (Shadow Hunters), Zoe De Grand Maison (Riverdale, Orphan Black), Synthia Kiss (Canada’s Drag Race) and Hale Grande are set to appear this season. Plus, Romi Shraiter (Ginny & Georgia) also appears as a surprise guest star.

Ghosting premieres Friday, Jan. 26, on CBC Gem (click here) with all episodes dropping. It will also air in the spring, beginning April 28 at 9 p.m.  on CBC TV, with back-to-back weekly episodes.