Spooky tourist guide to Scotland is published

A 7ft vampire roaming the streets of Glasgow, a poltergeist haunting an iconic Edinburgh graveyard and a monster locked up in an Aberdeenshire castle are just a few of the terrifying tales featured in a new guide to the country's most '˜spooktacular' locations.

Edinburghs apparently haunted Greyfriars Kirkyard is one of the spooky attractions featured in the guide.

Tapping into the growing popularity of “dark tourism”, the guide, compiled by national tourism organisation VisitScotland, also features The Green Lady - a spectre said to haunt Crathes Castle in Aberdeenshire - the fabled Gorbals Vampire, which was the subject of a much-publicised hunt involving hundreds of schoolchildren at Glasgow Necropolis in September 1954, and the ghosts of soldiers spotted on the battlefield of Culloden.

Among the other spine-chilling places explored in the online book is “Scotland’s Ghost Road” – the A75 in Dumfries & Galloway – which has been the scene of various unexplained phenomena over the years; Edinburgh’s Greyfriars Kirkyard, said to be haunted by the ghost of Lord Advocate George “Bluidy” Mackenzie; and Glamis Castle in Angus – which is supposedly home to a mysterious monster.

Famous Scottish legends such as the Loch Ness Monster, the Kelpie and the Ghillie Dhu are also featured, with each entry in the book accompanied by the places to visit for a haunting holiday experience.

Malcolm Roughead, chief executive of VisitScotland, said the organisation was also opening an online forum for people to discuss their experiences of spooky goings on in Scotland.

He said: “Scotland’s ancient castles and extraordinary landscapes, coupled with our rich tradition of storytelling, means that spine-chilling tales of ghosts, monsters and other unexplained phenomena are plentiful. Using our online community, we’d love to hear from anyone with a spooky Scottish story to tell.”