On Dundas West in the Junction, there is what appears to be an old funeral home with the sign Rue Morgue House of Horror on the front. What kind of evil lurks inside? —Louise Montgomery, Bloor West Village

That’s the W.M. Speers Funeral Home, dating back to 1898, when hearses were still horse drawn. Old William Speers was a noted local philanthropist, putting as much effort into helping the living as into the disposal of the dead. He personally funded the construction of local churches and hospitals (as well as a camp for disabled children on Georgian Bay), and is credited with creating Toronto’s first mechanized ambulance service—consisting of one 1916 McLaughlin-Buick. Although Speers died in 1941, subsequent building owners kept the funeral business alive until 2003; a year later, Rue Morgue, a trendy horror magazine with a North American circulation of 50,000, came knocking. The mag’s staff saw the sprawling home as an ideal base for expanding the company, and it has since become a haven for all things gory—souvenirs, movie nights, even spooky weddings in the old chapel. Poor Bill Speers must be rolling over in his grave.

• Categories: Architecture