01 April 08

Features

Get into the spirit

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I’ve always bought into the idea that we are more than the sum of our five senses. I believe we read, enjoy and experience the world in a more intuitive way than we give ourselves credit for, and that there are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamt of in our philosophy. While I still hold to that, and have had fun this weekend, I admit I have not been convinced by anything I’ve seen.

“Do you feel anything?” Jayne asks, noticing that I’ve stepped out of the charmed circle of ghost hunters. “No,” I reply. Apart from the inexplicable sense of disgust I got in the “haunted bedroom”, I’ve felt nothing the rest of the time. Nothing, except the faintest suggestion that the spirit of my grandmother, if she’s up there – a woman with no head for nonsense – is laughing down at me, in the nicest possible way.

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More top ghost tours

Best of the rest around the Ryanair network

Venice is one of the creepiest cities in Europe (see 1970s film Don’t Look Now). The ghostwalking tour takes you from the Rialto Bridge, over canals, and into secret passageways, with tales of rat-infested prison cells, assassinations and hauntings. www.city-discovery.com/venice.

Get your walking shoes out for this night-time tour of the Irish capital, taking in Dublin Castle, Christchurch Cathedral, the medieval church of St Audoen’s and the city walls. If you get lucky, you might meet the green-eyed lady or the headless horseman. www.aboutdublintours.com

Discover the secrets of the Eternal City’s back alleys and tourist streets, with the Dark Heart of Rome tour. Pick up creepy facts you’d probably miss on your average visit, as you stop off in places like Corso Vittorio Emanuele II and Campo de Fiori. www.darkrome.com

The eerie vaults and graveyards of Auld Reekie are filled with reminders of its dastardly past. Edinburgh was hit hard by the Plague, and many affected areas were simply walled in to stop the spread! Learn fun facts and hear some scary stories, with the experts at Mercat Tours. www.mercattours.com

Author Richard Jones is the king of all things ghostly in Britain, and he brings these places alive with his gift for storytelling. He conducts several London walks, so try Ghosts, Ghouls and Graveyards, Jack the Ripper or Sweeney Todd and Other Demons. www.walksoflondon.co.uk

Visit Transylvania offers a host of Dracula tours, which include Tokaj wine (his favourite tipple), castles, wooden stakes and a Halloween party you’ll never forget. www.visit-transylvania.co.uk