The Tab Explores Haunted Edinburgh: The Shortlist

Edinburgh has consistently been dubbed Europe’s most haunted city, and really all it takes is a walk through Old Town on a misty night to get those hairs rising. But in this city of the undead, there are a number of places considered more haunted than others and, as such, the tab has decided to explore haunted Edinburgh in an effort to determine which location is the spookiest. First step: create a shortlist from an afternoon of internet research.

Just FYI, this shortlist makes for a very useful tool in the off chance that anyone’s in the mood for some pre-exam ghost hunting. In which case, happy returns!

 

 

The Location:

Just off of, and underneath, the Royal Mile.

 

The Story:

Consisting of a number of closes that were once a thriving center of Edinburgh life, Mary King’s Close was abandoned in 1645 following the outbreak of the plague. The catch? With 7 floor tenements lining each side of the close, many people refused to leave and subsequently suffered a horrible fate. Drawing from this, there are a multitude of myths and stories about the close, ranging from claims that some walls consist of human ashes to rumors about human bones being used in their construction.

 

Paranormal Encounters:

While many have reported seeing apparitions of those who lived and died in the close, perhaps the most notorious ghost is one that a Japanese medium came into contact with in 2003: that of a little girl crying because she had lost her doll after dying in the plague.

The Location:

The 19 arches of South Bridge

 

The Story:

For around 30 years after the construction of South Bridge in 1788, the vaults in the bridge’s arches were widely used, first as storage spaces for South Bridge businesses, and then, after the vaults began to flood and businesses were replaced by the city’s poorest inhabitants, they were turned into taverns, brothels and slum housing before finally being abandoned in the late 19th century. Contributing to the vaults’ mystification is the fact that crime was widespread, with robbery and murder being regular occurrences. In fact, it’s been rumored that Burke and Hare both hunted for victims, and stored their bodies in the vaults. How pleasant.

 

Paranormal Encounters:

While ghost sightings are rampant, the most common sighting is that of a man with no face supposedly giving off a distinctively evil presence.

 

The Location:

29-35 Niddry Street

 

The Story:

The building now housing the self-proclaimed “most haunted club in Edinburgh” was once part of Edinburgh’s infamous vaults. Given the history of the vaults explained above, I think we would all be more surprised if it wasn’t haunted.

 

 

Paranormal Encounters:

While claimed incidents of drinks being flung off tables are relatively common, it is the stories of the club’s resident banshee that really gets the blood curdling. According to rumor, the club’s spookiest moment occurred when workers renovating the venue heard a piercing scream come from one of the building’s vaults. Only moments later, a worker who heard the scream received a call informing him a family member had just passed away.

Luckily they cover up the banshee screams with music these days. I guess that’s one solution.

The Location:

Southern edge of Old Town, surrounding Greyfriars Church.

 

The Story:

Know to many as the most haunted graveyard in the world, Greyfriars was the focal point of the persecution of the so-called Covananters in the 17th century. Not only were Covananters from around Scotland rounded up and imprisoned in a section of the graveyard known as Covenanters prison, but the man known as Bloody McKenzie, the Lord Advocate of the sentencing at the time, would subject the Covananters to inhumane treatment, with many starving or freezing to death and the rest either being executed or sold to slavery. When you consider that many of these prisoners are still buried in the graveyard, only meters from the tomb of McKenzie himself, it’s perhaps not very strange that spiritual unease plagues the area.

 

Paranormal Encounters:

The spirit known as “McKenzie’s poltergeist” has been haunting the graveyard for years, allegedly causing a schoolboy from the neighboring George Heriot’s School to go mad after he hid from his masters in McKenzie’s mausoleum. There is said to have been an intensification of paranormal activity since a homeless man, seeking shelter one stormy night in 1999, entered the mausoleum and subsequently desecrated the tomb. The notion that this event awoke McKenzie’s malevolent spirit from its guilty sleep draws evidence from the hundreds of visitors that have since reported physical attacks at Covananters prison, with bruises, scratches and cuts being common occurrences and the occasional even visitor being knocked unconscious. I guess you visit at our own risk.

 

The Location:

That imposing structure on the mound overlooking the city.

 

The Story:

With a history dating back to 850 B.C. and having hosted numerous battles and countless examples of gruesome torture over the centuries, the fact that Edinburgh castle is haunted does not come as much of a surprise. Perhaps more surprising is that even scientists who have performed studies in the castle vaults have admitted that something strange is going on.

 

Paranormal Encounters:

While there have been hundreds of claims of people experiencing paranormal activity, the most common and consistent experience is the sighting of apparitions. The characters spotted the most are an old man in a leather apron, a wandering piper and a headless drummer boy who was first seen in 1650.

The Location:

34 Grassmarket

 

The Story:

Central Edinburgh’s oldest pub, parts of the White Hart Inn still date back to 1516 and while it can proudly claim to have hosted Robert Burns for a week in 1771, during his last visit to Edinburgh, somewhat less illustrious is that back in 1828 its regulars included the infamous Burke and Hare, who when they weren’t busy scouring the vaults for possible victims, would lure fellow pub patrons to their nearby dwellings, murdering them upon arrival.

 

Paranormal Encounters:

The pub has been witness to many strange happenings over the years, most of which emanate form the cellar area. According to owners and staff, common occurrences have included the spotting of a shadowy figure at the doorway heading to the cellar, the slamming of doors, movement of barrels and a recurring issue whereby the gas cylinders come undone, preventing the beer taps from working. Perhaps the creepiest sighting of all, however, was the spotting of a pair of detached legs followed by a full figure by the fridges in the cellar. Not strange it was named Edinburgh’s most haunted pub in 2005!

 

 

 

 

Not spooked yet? I can recommend checking out this website keeping track of famous ghost encounters throughout the city: http://www.paranormaldatabase.com/hotspots/edinburgh.php?pageNum_paradata=0&totalRows_paradata=89