Professor holds seance in a haunted, underground vault

The Edinburgh (Scotland) Evening News has a great first-person account:

A single candle flickers in the gloom and casts a dim light over six Victorian-era objects that have been placed in front of us - artifacts which may - or may not - be manipulated later by a ghost, who is due to be summoned into our midst.

This is a recreation of a 19th-century seance by Professor Richard Wiseman, a researcher into psychology and the paranormal, who is inviting groups into Mary King’s Close, the underground vaults which were closed off from 1645 to 1997 and which are supposedly thick with the spirits of former residents.

Thirty minutes ago we were full of bravado. There were more than a few claims of "it’s probably a load of rubbish" and "I bet it won’t be scary" coming from the group as we passed down into the ancient, haunted streets towards our seance room.

But now that we’re down in the depths of Mary King’s Close, the atmosphere is fairly tense and more than one hand is firmly holding on to the next in the chain as we are told that there is no backing out now. Our host leans forward and blows the candle out, leaving the congregation immersed in darkness. "Welcome to seance," he says calmly before his voice drifts into the void.

And in the pitch dark, with eerie music filling my ears and a cold, prickly sensation creeping along my spine, I’ll admit - I was petrified.

Go read the article, if you DARE!