Haunted Edinburgh

Here's a tour for me. From The Scotsman:

As we descend the two flights of stairs, a breeze whispers past by my face and plays a haunting melody down my spine. If I was less level-headed I would find it all a bit unsettling, as if someone was warning me to turn back. The six-hour Vaults Vigil, operated by Mercat Tours, leads a few daring individuals down into the depths of a dismal past, where the spirits of the dead live on to bother the living. Candles and small lanterns light the vaults and create a subtly sinister ambience that at once alarms and allures. Leaking walls bleed damp, cold water onto the dirty and uneven floor. The temperature remains constant – until it plummets chillingly - which I am assured is a sign of a ghostly presence. snip Everyone is given recorders that allow us to gauge the frequency of the surrounding energy. Ghosts can be detected at the push of a button. But here in the gloom, if I stop long enough, I don't feel the need of an electronic monitor to sense the spidery filaments of other lives. Built in 1788, the vaults were storage compartments, jewellers, pubs and fabric stores that were evacuated a mere seven years later as the premises began to flood. Brothels and gambling flourished in this vacant area, but by 1820 the leaking became so severe that even the illegitimate enterprises dissolved. Before the vaults permanently closed in 1830, squatters and criminals moved in and turned the place into a disease-ridden slum. In the Tavern vault, my tour guides, Gary and Struan, explain a number of theories about paranormal activity. "Ghosts and spirits," advises Gary, "draw heat out of living bodies in order to materialise, which explains the decrease in temperature around victims…" We all shiver and the drop…drop…drop of the leaking room echoes through the damp, pungent room. "Another theory," continues Gary, as we move out of the Tavern, "is that the vaults are a 'weak point' for spirits to come through - just as Halloween is a 'weak date'".

Entire story well worth the click.