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Ghastly Guides

👻Ghastly Guides are self-guided, city-based treasure hunt booklets.

Each guide challenges you to solve a fictional whodunnit mystery while uncovering real, spine-tingling stories of the city's ghostly and gruesome history.

19/07/2026

👤 THE MEDIEVAL LABYRINTH HIDDEN BENEATH EXETER’S STREETS… 👤

While shoppers bustle down Exeter’s vibrant High Street, a dark, silent world rests just a few feet beneath their soles.

Welcome to Exeter’s Underground Passages—a claustrophobic network of vaulted stone tunnels dating back to the 14th century. Originally built to house the lead pipes bringing fresh spring water into the walled city, these are the only passages of their kind in the UK open to the public.

And down here in the dark, the echoes of history never truly faded. Throughout the centuries, these damp passages have borne witness to wars, sieges, and devastating plagues. With so much concentrated human anxiety trapped in the subterranean dark, it’s no surprise that the tunnels are notoriously haunted.

🕯️ The Candlemas Draught & Phantom Monks
If you explore the tunnels in early February, you might experience a sudden, freezing rush of air known as the "Candlemas Draught". Local lore connects this cold wind with the ghostly monks spotted above ground at the nearby St Nicholas Priory.

But the phenomena don’t stop with a cold breeze:

•The Murmurs: Some visitors walking the passages beneath St Stephen’s Church report hearing the low, rhythmic chanting of Latin prayers echoing through the stone walls, as if a medieval service is happening just on the other side of the rock.

•The Phantom Cyclist: Perhaps the strangest legend of all is the spectral cyclist said to peddle furiously through the pitch-black, cramped passages late at night!

•Distant Screams: When the tunnels were used as air-raid shelters during the Blitz of WWII, people huddled in the dark claimed to hear ghostly crying and the dragging of heavy chains echoing from blocked-off sections.

Would you dare to step into the tight, dark passages of medieval Exeter?

17/07/2026

👻 21 GHOSTS AND A TREASON TRIAL: WALKING INTO SOUTHAMPTON'S MOST HAUNTED PUB… 👻

If you think your local has a few colorful regulars, they have nothing on The Red Lion on Southampton High Street. Step inside this Tudor-era building, and you aren't just grabbing a pint—you are stepping into a centuries-old hotbed of paranormal activity.

With a Norman cellar dating all the way back to 1148, it is rumored that at least 21 phantom patrons refuse to leave the premises.

The most chilling spirits tied to the pub belong to the infamous Southampton Plot of 1415. Inside the grand, timbered room known as Henry V’s Court Room, an impromptu treason trial was held for three rebellious nobles—Richard (Earl of Cambridge), Lord Scrope, and Sir Thomas Grey—who plotted to assassinate the King.

They were found guilty, dragged out of the pub to the nearby Bargate, and promptly executed. Today, terrified witnesses claim to see a heavy, silent, ghostly procession re-enacting that final, doom-laden walk out of the pub.

But the traitors aren't alone. Keep your eyes peeled for:

•The Floating Barmaid: A spirit of a former employee who died after falling down the cellar stairs. She is frequently seen drifting through the bar area—but is only ever visible from the knee up!

•Michael Carstairs: A tragic figure from 1932 who haunts the upper gallery.

•The Fireside Four: A group of phantom men often spotted sitting quietly around the fireplace, enjoying a drink from a bygone era.

Whether you come for the medieval history or the heavy paranormal vibes, The Red Lion reminds us that in Southampton, the past never truly sleeps.

15/07/2026

🔮 ARE YOU A WITCH? THAME’S STRANGEST STREET SIGN WILL TELL YOU… 🔮

If you’re walking down the High Street in the historic market town of Thame, Oxfordshire, make sure you look up. Hanging over the pavement near the famously haunted Birdcage pub is a peculiar, antique sign known as The Witch Ball. Long before it became the name of a beloved local pub (which sadly closed its doors back in the 1960s), "witch balls" were a deeply rooted piece of English folklore. Dating back to the 17th and 18th centuries, these hollow glass spheres were hung in cottage windows to trap evil spells, ward off misfortune, and capture negative energy in their intricate glass webs before it could cross the threshold.

But Thame’s hanging Witch Ball sign comes with a much more personal—and slightly terrifying—local myth.According to town lore, if you walk out onto the pavement, stand directly underneath The Witch Ball, and the heavy metal sign suddenly begins to spin on its own… it means you are a witch.

It’s the ultimate medieval litmus test, still hanging right above the heads of everyday shoppers. Pair that with the rumor that a secret, ancient underground tunnel runs from St. Mary’s Church right beneath your feet to the Birdcage pub, and Thame starts to look a whole lot more sinister.

Next time you find yourself exploring Oxfordshire, dare to take the test. Just pray for a calm, windless day. 💨🧙‍♀️

26/02/2026

Did you know? Manchester was once home to Angel Meadow, a Victorian slum so deadly it was described as one of the worst places to live in England. 🕯️

Tens of thousands lived — and died — in crushing poverty here, with mass graves discovered beneath what is now a peaceful green space, earning the area a lasting reputation for restless spirits and dark memories.

Step deeper into Manchester’s sinister past, uncover real history, ghost stories, and hidden clues, and solve the mystery for yourself in our self-guided walking tour, The Poisonous Parlourmaid.

24/02/2026

The Starved Knight of Hermitage Castle 💀

Alert for the Scottish Borders!

Betrayal by a brother-in-arms led to one of Scotland's most brutal and enduring ghost stories at the foreboding Hermitage Castle.

In 1342, the respected knight Sir Alexander Ramsay of Dalhousie was seized by his jealous rival, Sir William Douglas (The Knight of Liddesdale). Douglas, enraged that Ramsay had been granted his title of Sheriff of Teviotdale, dragged him in chains to Hermitage Castle.

Ramsay was thrown into the deepest dungeon—a horrific, lightless prison—and deliberately left to starve to death.

Legend says that the doomed knight prolonged his agony for seventeen days by desperately eating small grains of corn and chaff that fell through the cracks of the granary floor above him. His skeleton, a rusty sword, and a handful of chaff were supposedly discovered centuries later.

The injustice was so profound that it stained the very stones of Hermitage. Today, visitors and locals speak of the ghost of Sir Alexander Ramsay—sometimes known as "The Shrieking Sheriff"—whose anguished cries still echo from the castle’s moss-covered walls, eternally protesting his gruesome end.

Ready to explore Scotland’s darkest legends?

19/02/2026

Did you know? Albion House marks the starting point for our Ghastly Guide of Liverpool… and it’s no coincidence. 🕯️

Once the headquarters of the White Star Line, this grand building is forever tied to the Titanic—where dreams were sold, voyages planned, and fate quietly set in motion before the ship ever left the dock.

Uncover more of Liverpool’s dark history, ghost stories, legends, and folklore as you follow the clues, eliminate suspects, and solve the mystery in our self-guided walking tour, The Sinister Stowaway.

17/02/2026

💀 Beyond the gates of the infamous Hellfire Club lies a tragic, deadly secret...

Welcome to the Hellfire Caves in West Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, a site built in the 1700s by the notorious Sir Francis Dashwood. It is here, in the cold, dark tunnels, that the heart-breaking legend of Sukie still echoes.
The Maiden in White

Sukie was reportedly a young, innocent serving girl who worked at the local inn. She fell pregnant and was promised a beautiful white silk wedding dress if she met her lover in the caves.

Tragically, Sukie's meeting was a cruel, deadly joke. According to the long-standing local folklore, as she waited in her flowing white gown, a group of club members—or perhaps just a rival—rolled a large barrel down the long cave passage. It struck her with such force that she was killed instantly.

Her broken hearted spirit remains trapped in the labyrinth of the caves. Visitors often report encountering the ghost of Sukie, sometimes appearing as a chillingly cold spot, or seen as a weeping figure still dressed in her spectral white silk dress, forever waiting for the lover who betrayed her.

Would you risk meeting Sukie in the tunnels of the Hellfire Caves?

15/02/2026

The most disturbing dancehall in history was in London…

12/02/2026

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