Poltergeist Attacks On Tourists Increasing In Edinburgh
[Original headline: Surge in number of city poltergeist ‘attacks’]
Ghost tour operators today claimed a notorious Edinburgh poltergeist has gone into overdrive - allegedly attacking at least 20 tourists in the last month.
The ghost of 17th century nobleman Sir George MacKenzie, which is said to haunt the Covenanters Prison in Greyfriars Kirkyard, is said to have been increasingly lashing out over the last month.
Tourists claim they have been left with scratches, welt marks, bruises and feelings of nausea, with some saying they have been knocked to the ground.
Jan Henderson, director of the City of the Dead Tour at the Kirk, said: "I have no idea why there has been such an increase in this spate of attacks The poltergeist has gone into overdrive over the last month with 20 single incidents.
"All the tour guides are experiencing tourists passing out, being scratched and bruised. I think it is great because when I started the tours I was a cynic so if there is something there then wonderful.
"They [tourists] have all collapsed at the door of the mausoleum, which shows it isn’t psychosomatic, because they didn’t know everyone falls down there. "
Suzannah Shields, 27, an advertising manager from Sheffield, said after going on the late night tour a large blood blister the size of a thumb appeared under her left eye the next morning.
"It didn’t hurt but it was horrible and took a week to go."
And Karyn Perrin, 37, a legal assistant living in London, said she had a painful experience when she visited the prison.
"I felt light-headed, I had pins and needles and didn’t feel like my hands were mine. I kept fighting it but felt nauseous and had palpitations. That’s when I got hit in the head, it was inside like my brain was being slapped. I managed to get out and couldn’t stop crying. It was like I was grieving."
• Story originally published by:
The Edinburgh Evening News / Scotland - Sept 17.01
Posted Sept 13.01
Scottish Graveyard
Scene Of 80 Ghostly Attacks In 18 Months
[Original headline: Ghost fear of tourists at Greyfriar’s Kirkyard]
It is claimed to be one of the spookiest places in Edinburgh.
And now a whole book of tourists’ tales about ghouls, ghosts and poltergeists in Greyfriar’s Kirkyard have been published in a book.
More than 80 people say they have been attacked in the last 18 months at the Black Mausoleum, where the 17th century judge, Lord Advocate Sir George MacKenzie, is buried.
Their witness statements appear in The Ghost That Haunted Itself.
The graveyard was supposed to have been exorcised last year by an Edinburgh clairvoyant. The Rev Colin Grant later said he thought the experience would kill him and weeks later, he dropped dead.
In the book, an 11-year-old boy also describes how mysterious injuries appeared on his body.
Kevin Marks, from Yorkshire, wrote: "When I was standing in the tomb, something soft, like cotton wool, was touching my eyes and cheek. There was nobody doing this to me. The next day I woke up with a black eye and scratches on my face and neck."
Tourist Mandy Burgen, 38, from Cornwall, wrote: "In the tomb, I felt a pain, just above my chest. After the tour, I unfastened my top and found a large red mark where the pain had been.
"I showed it to the others and, as they looked, three weals rose up in the same place. The next day they were gone."
The book was compiled by Jan-Andrew Henderson, co-owner of City of the Dead Tours.
• Story originally published by:
The Edinburgh Evening News / Scotland - Sept 08.01
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