How about giving yourself a little tingling sensation tonight! Time to curl up in your cozy blanket with some pumpkin spice latte or your regular coffee. After all, it’s Halloween! Everyone deserves a good scare. A life without adventure has always seemed to be a bit unsatisfying to me. A little bit of curiosity, adrenaline rush, and anxiety makes up for a Halloween night. Even if you are not a horror fan, I believe this virtual tour would give you a little bit of adrenaline rush! I am now going to share my past visits to some of the most haunted locations in Edinburgh, Scotland. My obsession with the paranormal and curiosity to know about the history of haunted locations led me to these ghost tours. Ghost walks are run by tour guides in groups. Let me tell you this, one of my ghost tour guides was a professional paranormal investigator and not just a regular tourist guide. His name was David who was carrying a device that is used to communicate with the spirit world. The device was similar to an EVP (Electronic voice phenomenon) used mostly by paranormal investigators across the globe.
Not going deep into Halloween history, let us just touch base with this amazing festival. Celebrated on 31st October every year, now in modern times, Halloween is the night when people across the globe get dressed up in ghostly costumes, light bonfires, play pranks, have costume parties and kids go around door-to-door to carry out the activity of trick-or-treating.
Why is Halloween celebrated?
It is said that Halloween is derived from ancient religious beliefs and rituals. Halloween is also known as All-Hallows eve which means ‘hallowed evening’. Celebrated to ward off evil spirits and ghosts from entering the house on the 31st night. This is one of the reasons why Jack-O-lanterns (pumpkins🎃) are being carved and lit up outside doors and windows. It is said that Halloween is one night when the veil between our world and spirit world grows thinner! It is also celebrated to mark the start of the winter season.
Ghost tours around real haunted locations across Edinburgh, Scotland
Edinburgh – Scotland
Edinburgh is known for its beautiful high lands and lovely architecture across the city. Anyone who has a thing for castles, church, old architectural structure, and history would definitely love this city. Besides all its beauty, Edinburgh is also known for its dark history, haunted graveyards, grave robbers, body snatchers, history of serial killers, and ancient ways of torturing during the 18th century.
On a short visit to Edinburgh, I decided to explore a bit of the darker side of this city by signing up for a ghost walk one evening starting at 6 PM. These tours run in small batches and the tour guide takes you to some of the most haunted locations narrating the historic reasons as to why and how these locations earn the reputation of being haunted. Now let me make myself clear, these tours sound like touristy stuff but they are definitely more than that! Obviously, you don’t get to see any ghosts on these tours but at the end of the tour, you are compelled to believe in the paranormal to an extent. My ghost tour guide ( a female) was a historian by the day and the tour guide by night who, with her lots of research on the history of the graveyard, vaults, and murders that happened in the 18th century, caught our attention until the end.
Haunted Locations:
Greyfriars Kirkyard in Edinburgh, Scotland – Considered the most haunted graveyard in the world
Greyfriars kirkyard is a graveyard, located at the southern edge of the old town where burials have been taking place since the late 16th century, known for its history of grave robbing (stolen dead bodies) by the body snatchers. It is the graveyard where mass burial took place. I am not able to recall the exact number of graves but the cemetery became so over-saturated during a plague outbreak in the 18th century, that the bodies of the deceased had to be buried one over the other. A lot of grave robbing (body snatching) took place during the ’80s, who were believed to disturb the unprotected graves at night, steal the dead bodies and sell it to medical professionals for the dissection purpose just to earn a little amount of money say 10 pounds (which was considered a huge amount back then). Some of the graves are now being protected by a metal grill. This is one of the events which made this particular graveyard earn its reputation of being the most haunted. If you disturb the souls of the deceased, do you think it will let you live in peace?
The spirit of George Mackenzie – A merciless judge of his time, who has been long dead but his ghost is said to be very much alive. This is one of the main reasons why Greyfriars Kirkyard is believed to be haunted. A lot of tourists have reported a feeling of unease and dizziness when wandering near the black mausoleum – the place where he is now buried. Some of the tourists have noticed scratch marks on their bodies on leaving the graveyard. Some of the tourists have been known to pass out on the spot. His spirit doesn’t seem to rest in peace at all and it is believed that it is growing stronger with each passing day. His ways of torture were too brutal when he was alive. Confining his prisoners in a limited space with no shelter and little food. Most of the prisoners died even before execution (due to unhygienic living conditions- a place full of rats and whatnot). Many of the prisoners were executed just outside the graveyard wall and then were buried inside. It is also believed that attempts have been made for exorcism but weren’t successful. Greyfriars Kirkyard remains haunted to date! It remains open to the public. To all the horror fans out there, never miss a ghost walk tour when in Edinburgh. I am glad I opted for an evening 6 PM tour and not the one after that which starts at 9 PM. It was scary enough to visit a haunted cemetery even in daylight.
Legend says a homeless man on a stormy night during the ’90s took shelter in the graveyard at the black mausoleum, unaware of the fact that the tomb belonged to George Mackenzie. Black Mausoleum (inside Greyfriars Kirkyard) is covered with walls from all three sides and locked from outside now, but the door was never locked during early times. The man who sought shelter inside somehow fell into the pit of rotten remains of plague victims but managed to escape the graveyard unharmed. It is said that he ran away screaming and that is when the hauntings started to happen.
Hauntings are also linked to the murder series carried out by two serial killers known as Burke and Hare during the ’80s, who used to murder their victims and sell corpses to earn living as I have mentioned before. 16 murders are said to have been reported by these two. Not going deeper into the history of grave robbers, I will now tell you about haunted vaults beneath southbridge, southbridge is a road bridge in Edinburgh.
Close your eyes and imagine for a few seconds that you are stuck in an underground vault (tunnel-which is like two floors down) in total darkness with absolutely no source of light and fresh air. The place is filled with the damp smell of walls. You suddenly notice a shadow in the corner as if someone is all set to approach you, you want to escape but there is absolutely no way out. Somehow you manage to run and in a struggle to find your way out, you end up entering into a room that has many dolls scattered across the floor, and that room turns to be an epicenter of very strong paranormal activities! Yes, this was the last location of the tour which really spooked me out. These vaults were previously used by homeless poor people and also used for small businesses during the 18th century. However, due to a lack of proper living conditions, the vaults were vacated and later used by body snatchers and grave robbers to hide corpses. A lot of illegal activities had also known to have taken place during early times. It has been reported many times by tour guides that, every time they visit the doll room with a group of tourists, the dolls don’t seem to be at the same place as before. Nobody is allowed to enter vaults alone, not even tour guides when they are alone. The spirits that haunt the doll room are of two little children who died in there out of fear when tortured. Fortunately, the spirits of these children ( a boy and a girl) in-there are harmless, unlike the remaining parts of the chamber. The Edinburgh vaults are believed to be one of the most haunted places in the world and said to be haunted by a poltergeist that scratches its victims.
I now put an end to this short virtual tour. I will be sharing another ghost tour experience (at Newcastle city, UK) soon in my next blog. Hit the like button below if you have enjoyed the read tonight. Also, you are most welcome to share your experiences (in the comment section) with the paranormal in case you have had any in the past! I witch you all a very happy Halloween 2020!🎃🎃
Stay connected,
Nikita Kohli