Down among the dead men

Published on Saturday 28 November 2009 10:02

'I DON'T feel good right now at all, there's something here with me and I can feel it." The trembling voice is that of a rather sweaty and petrified Zak Bagans.

The American ghost hunter has locked himself inside Edinburgh's underground vaults – widely thought to be one of the most haunted sites in the world – from dusk to dawn, with no chance of a premature escape.

Together with fellow ghost hunters Nick Groff and Aaron Goodwin, Zak is filming for the cult US show Ghost Adventures – which is airing on British screens next month – and is determined to prove exactly why the famous vaults have gained their spooky reputation.

The trio spent around a week in September filming in "Edinburrow" speaking to historians, residents, eyewitnesses and guides prior to a 12-hour "lockdown" inside the South Bridge vaults.

It's the latest outing for the team, who have travelled the world seeking the "ultimate" haunting".

Programmes featuring lockdowns in the likes of Idaho State Penitentiary, Preston Castle in California and an abandoned psychiatric hospital in New Jersey have attracted legions of fans – as has the hunky star of the show, Zak.

But why does the 32-year-old want to lock himself in rooms thought to be haunted with ghoulies, ghosties and goodness knows what else?

"I used to live in an old historic shipyard town called Trenton, Michigan, and a month after I moved in I started hearing this woman screaming my full name at three in the morning, every night. Finally, on the seventh or eighth night she screamed it again, and I woke up. I was pretty much pinned down on my bed, like somebody was holding me down. When the pressure stopped, I flipped up in bed and saw this lady standing at the foot just staring at me. Then she disappeared right before my eyes."

Zak later discovered that a woman had committed suicide in the bath years before he had moved in .

In The Ghost Adventures, prior to the lockdown, the team learn about the history of the vaults, which were created during the building of the South Bridge between 1785 and 1788.

One of the experts they've filmed is Joyce Clark, historian and marketing manager for Mercat Tours, which organises trips to the vaults. She says: "The vaulted rooms were to be storage areas or workshops for the shops on top of the bridge. But by about the 1790s the vaults were subject to problems with dampness because the bridge hadn't been damp-proofed, so the vaults could not store goods."

The beginning of the 19th century saw the merchants moving to the New Town and many of the vaults closed down due to the dampness.

The Irish potato famine and the Agricultural Revolution left thousands of people without homes and therefore contributed to a huge increase in the Capital's population, with many people seeking a better life in Scotland. The Cowgate area became known as "Little Ireland" in the 1840s and 1850s, at which point living conditions in the city were at their worst. "The vaults provided an ideal shelter for people without homes, and where you have an underclass of people you have crime and prostitution," explains Joyce, who says there was an "underworld" in the vaults up until around 1870.

And it is into this world that Zak, Aaron and Nick venture, armed with hi-tech gear, including night vision cameras, EVP recorders to capture ghostly voices, and a thermometer to take readings of sudden temperature drops – reputedly a classic sign of a paranormal presence. Their aim is to summon the spirit of Mr Boots, thought to be the most evil spirit inside the vaults.

Mercat Tours guide Jodie Stalker says Mr Boots was "a tall man with a dark blue overcoat" who became known as Mr Boots because of the large boots he wore.

The slum landlord lived in the vaults at the turn of the 19th century, with many visitors claiming to have seen his ghost, which is said to have no eyes and a "leering grin".

Zak attempts to provoke Mr Boots by sitting on the spot where it is thought the body of a prostitute he murdered lay, and asking if he killed her.

Zak subsequently hears a clear scratching noise on the wall by him, before defiantly announcing, "I'm not going anywhere".

Then he adds, quite unnecessarily: "I'm not going to lie to you, it is very, very creepy being in here."

During their 12 hours underground, the group hears a range of noises including a dragging sound that lasts for more than six minutes, footsteps and what sounds like a crying dog. "Many who took refuge in this darkness never had a chance in society," says Zak. "Maybe that is why some are still angry."

The team finally emerges at 6:40am, after plenty of wide-eyed, open-mouthed staring at the camera, and gasps of "oh dude!" and "are you serious?"

There's also a lot of running about in tight T-shirts with muscles bulging. But did they come face to face with the Other Side? You'll have to watch and see .

With mediums, spiritualists and ghost hunters constantly visiting the vaults, the Ghost Adventures team were certainly not the first to explore Edinburgh's underground.

Joyce Clark smiles: "They are much more informal – they are Americans so they have got a different approach to it all than we do.

"They were absolutely lovely. We go down there every day, it's part of our job, so it was nice to see the vaults through fresh eyes again. America has not got as much history as Scotland – the vaults themselves are older than America!"

Joyce, a guide for more than seven years, adds: "I am convinced that there is something down there.

"Some of our guides have had experiences and I have taken tours where people have had experiences.

"Anybody can do the jumping out and giving people a fright – that's easy.

"But it is much more difficult to unnerve someone with this idea that we are not alone."

Joyce feared the history of the vaults, and Edinburgh, would be misinterpreted.

"A lot of filming companies want to sensationalise the history," she explains. "But you don't need to because it is so interesting anyway."

The Ghost Adventures episode is on Living2 on Wednesday, 16 December at 10pm.