Stuff We’ve Done
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McGonagall Night
McGonagall Night is a unique IGS event run in celebration of the famous (or, perhaps, infamous) Scottish poet and tragedian William “Topaz” McGonagall – a man sometimes known as the worst poet in history. McGonagall is famous for composing laughably awkward and unrhythmic poems, and for performing them to audiences who were as interested in…
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Experience The Ganzfeld Effect
Experience the Ganzfeld Effect is an interactive lecture about the history and science of the unique hallucinatory phenomena known as the Ganzfeld Effect… followed by a demonstration session during which attendees can try out the Effect for themselves. The Ganzfeld Effect is the name given to the phenomena whereby almost anyone will experience visual and…
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Best Bad Poetry Competition
In honour of famed Scottish poet William McGonagall, the International Ghost Society ran a Best Bad Poetry Competition. We put up a £100 bounty for the most artfully terrible poem we could find. The brief: a piece that is technically awful but nonetheless remains entertaining – cringe-inducing, awkward, rhythm-less… and yet profound. In other words,…
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Ghosted: A Valentine Gameshow
Ghosted is a fully interactive Valentine’s Day gameshow, where teams compete to win the heart of our beloved mascot Spooky Steve. Rounds involve arts and crafts, picnic arranging, a button-smashing go at Ghost Tinder, a driving test and several other ridiculous battles of skill, lyricism and dedication. It’s a chaotic, team-based show which relies on…
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Murder Mystery in a (Totally Non-Haunted) Coffee Shop
On the 14th of November, 2024, we ran a murder mystery that we wrote ourselves in a coffee shop in Dalry. There’s been a murder. In a coffee shop (which definitely isn’t haunted in any way). Due to extensive budget cuts, there are no detectives available to investigate this particular crime, and so instead we’re…
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Post Apocalyptic Christmas Party
What would Christmas look like after the end of the world? On the evening of the 7th of December 2024 we threw a one-of-a-kind Christmas party in a real nuclear bunker on the edge of Edinburgh. Barnton Bunker was built in the 1960s, and would have housed around 400 lucky survivors in the event of nuclear war….
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Awful 1970s Dinner Party Cuisine Cooking Class
Jellied salads. Spam and lima beans. Mayonnaise-based puddings. Glace cherries and pineapple rings. Why does dinner party cuisine from the 1970s seem quite so appalling by modern standards? We attempted to find out… with a cooking class at New Town Cookery School in Edinburgh on the 19th of September, 2024. During theis event, we put…
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Coffee Shop Exorcism
On Thursday 24th May, 2024, we stopped by Throat Punch Coffee in Edinburgh to perform our first ever exorcism. We included a short talk on the history of exorcism beforehand to maximise its educational value. Clear signs of a poltergeist had been observed within the coffee shop, including a safe falling off a shelf. A…
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Ghost Hunt in a Nuclear Bunker
On Saturday 4th May 2024 we carried out a paranormal investigation inside Barnton Bunker, a disused nuclear bunker in Edinburgh. Once upon a time, Barnton Bunker was the designated Regional Seat of Government for Scotland in the event of nuclear war. Had the worst happened, around 400 civil servants, politicians, firefighters and doctors would have…
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Pint and a Spooky Thing
We organised several spooky walks in Edinburgh that began with a pint (or two) in a historic pub, and ended in one or other of the city’s most haunted graveyards. On our first PaaST we visited Greyfriar’s Cemetery, where we learned about the incredibly touching story of Greyfriar’s Bobby, and risked a knock of the…