I Don't Believe in Ghosts, But… 6 Spooky Experiences I've Tried
I don’t think I believe in ghosts.
Which makes it slightly odd that I’ve spent quite a lot of my life voluntarily putting myself in situations where people are trying to convince me they exist.
I’ve been on ghost tours. I’ve investigated a supposedly haunted building. I’ve had my tarot cards read, and generally done rather a lot of things involving the supernatural, the unexplained and things that go bump in the night.
It turns out that after years of doing 52 New Things, (check out the full list of new things tried), I’ve accidentally built up quite a collection of spooky experiences. Which is surprising given I’m also a massive sceptic!
I’ve discovered that being sceptical doesn’t necessarily mean refusing to believe something. Sometimes it means being curious enough to investigate it for yourself.
So, as it is October when I’m writing this, I thought I’d get into the spirit of Halloween and ask:
How scary have those spooky experiences been?
Ghost Bus Tour
Firstly, I absolutely adore the pun in the name of this.
You might have been on a ghost tour, but have you ever been on one on a bus? I boarded the Necrobus in York and braced myself for a drive in the dark.
Our tour guide told us troubled tales of previous wrongdoers and pointed out hotspots where restless spirits still made their presence known as we drove through the city.
But the sinister stories weren’t just outside the bus, as the supernatural goings-on unfolded amongst us. This wasn’t a passive experience as we all became part of the story, whether we liked it or not!
How scared was I?
Combining theatre, ghost stories and a good dose of dark humour, there were plenty of jumps, and I loved that this made me feel scared silly rather than scared stiff.
Try it yourself:
Visit the Ghost Bus Tour website for more details, tickets and booking. It operates in London, Edinburgh and my home city of York.
Palm reading and tarot cards
Before having my palm read I was convinced it was all a con, but I tried to keep an open mind.
Would a stranger really be able to tell me things about my future? What would it mean if the Death card was revealed?!
The session was relaxed and I’ll admit I was a little bit disappointed the lady I met wasn’t wearing a veil like you often see on TV.
I tried really hard to pay attention to the things that I said, and any movements that I made, so that it didn’t give anything away or hint towards anything that could be used to make assumptions.
I walked away from the session feeling unexpectedly positive and motivated, and wondering how on earth she managed to tap into so many things that resonated with me.
How scared was I?
Personally, I was only scared about somehow being conned, but from the moment I stepped into the session it was surprisingly uplifting.
Although how much she seemed to know about me was a little unnerving!
Read more:
Try it yourself:
Have a look for upcoming events in your area. Eventbrite can be a good place to find tarot readings.
Scaremail - a spooky experience through the post
My brother-in-law signed me up to receive a subscription horror story for a year. It was like receiving a book in instalments.
Every two weeks an envelope addressed to ‘the curious mind of Sally’ arrived through the letterbox.
Each delivery brought the next instalment of the story, with letters and artefacts exchanged between the two characters, progressing the eerie situations they encountered.
There was enough detail to tease the imagination as I tried to piece together the clues, and having to wait two weeks for the next ‘chapter’ just added to the suspense.
How scared was I?
My imagination can be quite overactive and easily run away with itself if I let it. There were some weeks when the story took a slightly sinister turn which genuinely left me feeling unnerved.
I enjoyed the anticipation of receiving the next section, although I always opened it in daylight. One of the ‘clues’ one week left me feeling a little too on edge to risk opening it after dark!
Read more:
Try it yourself:
Visit the Scaremail website for details of the horror subscription.
York Dungeon Lates
Whilst York is beautiful, it does have a bit of a horrible history and York Dungeon puts all of your senses through their paces with some of those dastardly goings-on.
It’s usually a daytime attraction, but occasionally they offer late-night experiences so I went along. On my own. That would be enough to put many people off!
Thankfully the four others on the tour were friends rather than foes, which was much appreciated as we made our way through the ten themed areas.
There were special effects that wouldn’t have looked out of place in a stage production. There were scenes, sounds and yes, even smells of dread.
But it was the actors who kept us on our toes as we never quite knew what they were going to do or where they were going to appear.
How scared was I?
The jump scares were one thing, but I was much more concerned about being singled out for audience participation.
Apparently a close up spider encounter would have been preferable to being dragged onto the stage!
Read more:
Try it yourself:
Visit the York Dungeon website for details of upcoming Lates events, and to book your tickets.
Paranormal Investigation
The anticipation of this genuinely scared me. Eight of us spent an evening with hosts from a paranormal investigation group in one of the older buildings in York.
Our mission was to determine whether the spirits were in residence.
We had the opportunity to try and make contact with the other side by using a selection of ghost-hunting tools of the trade. From human pendulums to crystals, spirit boxes to parabolic ears and video cameras, it was fascinating using the equipment and seeing how other people responded too.
I tried to keep an open mind, and whilst others in the group seemed to fully experience some sort of connection, I can’t say with any certainty that I witnessed anything conclusive.
How scared was I?
It wasn’t necessarily being in one of York’s old buildings during the witching hour that scared me, it was the fact I had to walk home on my own afterwards!
I can’t explain how we got responses from some of the tools we used, but I’m not entirely sure I believed it was due to paranormal activity.
Read more:
Try it yourself:
Have a look at the Paranormal Eye website to find ghost-hunting events around the UK
Victorian Murder Mystery
I hadn’t expected my brain to hurt so much from this one!
Dressing up was optional, but I had something in my wardrobe that suited the character I was playing, Alexandra Feversham, daughter of a rather well-to-do family.
Everyone was a suspect. Could we chat to the other characters and determine who among us might have committed the dastardly crime? With family feuds, sneaky servants and all sorts of extramarital affairs being uncovered, it was a challenge trying to remember who had given us which pieces of information.
Cryptic clues were dropped throughout the evening, alongside additional tasks and plenty of misdirection. There was a lot going on!
Accusations were made, fingers were literally pointed and eventually (after several missteps) we collectively worked out who the murderer was.
How scared was I?
We were howling with laughter rather than terror during the evening. As everyone got into character, this was more fun than frightening.
Read more:
Try it yourself:
Take a look at Eventbrite as it’s a great place to find murder mystery events happening in your area.
You’ll Never Know… Unless You Try
So it turns out that different things scare me at different levels, and it’s not always the most obvious thing which makes me feel fearful.
I love trying new things, not just spooky experiences, because you never know exactly what’s going to happen.
You don’t know whether you’ll be frightened.
You don’t know whether you’ll believe it.
And you don’t know whether you’ll love it.
You just have to walk through the door.
