On Saturday 30th September, in honour of that most hallowed of holidays: “International Ghost Hunting Day” (because of course), the International Ghost Appreciation Society hosted our inaugural “PINT AND A SPOOKY THING” event! (Pause for all the cheering) And it was delightful.
The natural follow-up question, now that all the cheering has subsided is “what, pray tell, is ‘Pint and a spooky thing’?
Well, while the general aim of the society is to visit haunted places and make cool videos about them, we try to do at least two big events/ghost hunts a year. Which is, quite frankly, not enough spookiness for our tastes. So as a remedy, we decided to throw some smaller local gatherings into the mix as a fun way to meet new people, grow the society and learn more about some spooky things, all while drinking a nice cold pint (or cocktail or soft drink or cup of the blood of your enemies).
So that is precisely what we did!
A group of fun folk gathered at the Beehive Inn on Grassmarket to begin our latest adventure. Considered to be one of the most haunted pubs in Edinburgh, it boasts a door on the way upstairs to the restaurant that used to take you through to the condemned cell of Edinburgh’s former Calton prison. (Don’t panic – the pub also has other, less threatening, doors.)
This particular door used to lead to a cell that once housed the infamous William Burke before he was executed for all those gnarly murders he committed (a fate which his good pal William Hare managed to avoid – want to know more? Check out this video)
While there were, alas, no sightings of Mr Burke on our visit, we managed to keep our spirits up (hur hur) with excellent chat and a pub quiz to boot (complete with prize for the winner).
This was followed by the main event: a late night tour of Greyfriar’s Kirkyard. (We have, you guessed it, a video about that too!)
In use since the 1500’s, this particular graveyard is considered the most densely populated in Scotland; home to countless corpses, covenanters and, if the stories are to be believed, one apoplectic poltergeist. It’s also home to an adorable little dog called Bobby and – should you time your arrival when Greyfriar’s Bothy is open – a cabinet full of creepy haunted dolls. What better way to spend an evening on International Ghost Hunting Day?!
After introductions to the likes of the aforementioned Wee Bobby, Bloody MacKenzie’s Tomb (10/10, very tomby), the Covenanter’s Prison and a prime example of a ‘Mort Safe’ (which is just as grim a concept as it sounds), we completed our tour before breaking out into smaller groups to brave the darkness in search of gravestones, ghosts and “emblems of mortality”.