Bus tour uncovers Edinburgh's cool ghouls

Organisers are promising a trip around "the killing fields" of the city during the Ghost Bus Tour of some of the Capital’s supernatural hotspots.

The Royal Mile, New Town, Princes Street, Lothian Road, Tollcross, the Grassmarket, Abbeyhill and the Canongate will all feature.

The Mercat Tour Company will be joining forces with coach firm Rabbie’s for the 90-minute tours, part of an extensive programme of events organised by the Real Mary King’s Close visitor attraction.

An overnight vigil in Edinburgh’s underground vaults, parapsychology experiments, film screenings and a psychic fair are all being planned for Ghost Fest.

Other events in the festival include a spooky procession down the Royal Mile, nights of whisky tastings from Scotland’s haunted distilleries, a horror film quiz and tarot readings.

The ten-day festival from May 13-22 is planned to be an annual fixture in the city.

The bus tour promises to give an insight into the antics of serial killers Burke and Hare, the burning of suspected witches, how the city’s theatres are bedevilled by spirits, and how the new Scottish Parliament building is linked to a notorious cannibal.

The most ghoulish spots in the city include:

Holyrood Palace, where the naked ghost of Bald Agnes, who was stripped and tortured in 1592, after being accused of witchcraft, is said to roam.

Charlotte Square, which is reputed to be haunted by a phantom beggar, a monk and even a piano player.

Royal Lyceum Theatre, where there have been occasional sightings of a blue lady, reputed to be Ellen Terry, an actress who appeared at the theatre’s first show.

Edinburgh Festival Theatre, which is said to be haunted by the famous illusionist Sigmund Neuberger, who burned to death in a blaze in the former Empire Theatre in 1911.

Queensberry House, where the demented Earl of Drumlanrig, the son of the Duke of Queensberry, escaped from his room and killed the kitchen boy before roasting him on a spit.

Win Brogan, spokeswoman for the Mercat Tour Company, which has been running tours of ghostly sites in Edinburgh since 1985, said: "All of our tours are obviously concentrated in certain parts of the city, but having a coach tour gives us the chance to tell as many ghastly tales as we can while taking everyone round in luxury."

The rest of the Ghost Fest programme includes the chance to spend the night in the underground vaults below Blair Street, which are reputed to be one of the spookiest places in Britain; a chance to take part in a parapsychology experiment at the Real Mary King’s Close with leading expert Dr Richard Wiseman, of Hertfordshire University; a talk by the historian Louise Yeoman at the National Library of Scotland on why Scotland is such a supernatural place; and a lecture promising an insight into the origins of the "Indian Rope Trick".

The Scotch Whisky Heritage Centre on Castlehill will be hosting the whisky tastings, the Cameo cinema will be staging special screenings of Friday the 13th Part Three (in 3D), the Witchfinder General and Theatre of Blood, while the Mitre pub, on the High Street, has organised ghostly storytelling sessions.

A spokeswoman for Real Mary King’s Close, where visitors can find out about the plague which forced it to be closed off in the 17th century, said: "Edinburgh’s darkest tales and legendary paranormal activity will be revealed during the new city-wide ghost festival."