North East's most haunted places to explore this Halloween if you dare
Feel the sudden chill in the air? As Halloween approaches, families will be preparing for trick-or-treating while adults may well be plucking up courage for their annual visit to a thoroughly gory scare park.
At this spooky time of year, it's no surprise that thoughts turn to ghost stories so now seems a fitting time to remind ourselves of some of the scary experiences reported around the North East. The region is said to have a wealth of haunted properties, from pubs - not called local haunts for nothing - to castles, with some spectre sightings on rural roads in between.
Ghostly tales abound and our guide here includes haunted sites whose tales include long-dead murderers said to return to the scene of their crime; lovelorn ladies wandering corridors and even child ghosts - always the creepiest - scampering around in attics. To send shivers down the spine this Halloween, here is a round-up of 15 haunted locations to explore if you're up to it.
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And if you're in the mood for more spine-tingling experiences, check out our pick of the most scary films around and we're talking not jump-scares gore-fests but movies which, as it says, are "tension-building, spine-tingling 'I want to cry' scary".
The Schooner Hotel
Based in Alnmouth, Northumberland, this hotel, a 17th century former coaching inn, reckons it has around 60 individual spirits and it's not talking a well-stocked bar. Twice voted the most haunted hotel in the UK by the Poltergeist Society, it lays claim to one particularly creepy story involving a man who killed his wife and two children then himself.
One story - and there are many - tells of a woman guest staying in the room, number 28, where the deed is said to have taken place who reported waking during the night to find her daughter in conversation. The girl said she was talking to a man at the end of the bed and was curious as to why her mother couldn’t see him.
The Old George
Another old coaching inn, this Newcastle boozer was reputedly a favourite with Charles I who was allowed to visit it in 1646 during the English Civil War, despite being held in Newcastle as a prisoner by Parliamentarian forces at the time. There's a replica in the pub of his favourite seat and there are reports of people seeing the outline of a spectral figure, wreathed in a grey fog, sitting on it.
Staff have also reported feeling a presence and once after alarms went off - having been triggered by sensors which were tripped in order as if someone was walking along a route - they checked CCTV which showed a ghostly orb captured on film.
Newcastle’s Castle Keep
The 12th century Newcastle landmark, a fortress and former prison, has appeared on TV's Most Haunted and describes itself as 'a major hub of paranormal activity', with eerie whistles, phantom footsteps, cold spots and odd shadows. It says: "Some have even seen the castle’s chaplain pacing the length of the chapel."
Having almost 2,000 years of dark history, which includes being the graphic scene of torture when an imprisoned nobleman was hanged, drawn and quartered, it hosts paranormal investigations in its dark rooms and passageways and asks visitors 'what will you uncover?'.
The Lit & Phil
The atmospheric 19th century library looks ready-made for spooktacular stories and in fact there are many actually housed within its own shelves. Among its books are 500 volumes about ghosts, folklore and the supernatural dating back to the 17th century.
The vast Grade II-listed space is said to have more ghosts than any other building in the city, with at least 16 spectres haunting its three floors. Ghost-hunters have been in action there and tests appeared to reveal an electrical charge coming from a book about witchcraft and there have been reports of eerie sounds of people coughing and of book pages turning.
In 2022 ghost hunters caught footage of a door being opened by a 'ghost' and an image showing what looked like a face appearing among the bookshelves.
Chillingham Castle
One of the most famously haunted castles around, this 13th century Northumberland fortress runs ghost tours and ghost hunts to introduce its spooky inhabitants, said to include a 'blue boy' or 'radiant boy', sometimes sighted in the castle's Pink Room, who is said to have been bricked up in a wall renovations; as well as the ghost of a Lady Mary Berkeley and a lady in white seen in the pantry begging for water, which suggests she may have been poisoned in life.
Back in the 1920s, one witness - a Leonora, Lady Tankerville - who reportedly dreamed vividly about Chillingham before ever going there, went on to record several ghostly encounters and seeing portents of the First World War. Chillingham Castle is said to have six ghosts in all and claims some of the highest levels of paranormal activity in the country.
The Lord Crewe Arms
This 12th century pub in Blanchland in Northumberland - originally the guest house and kitchens for Blanchland Abbey - is said to be haunted by Dorothy Forster, niece to the Bishop of Durham and Lady Crewe and sister to General Tom Foster who she helped spring from a London prison, saving him from death, during the 1715 Jacobite rising.
The hotel has a vast fireplace where Tom then hid out before fleeing to France and Dorothy's ghost apparently waits by the window for her brother’s return.
As for our earlier mention of an apparition on a rural road, see this previous video clip featuring the A696 near Belsay in Northumberland and a ghostly figure - but don't blink as you might miss it.
Langley Castle
Another Northumberland castle with another juicy ghost story - this time with a new mystery adding to the mix. The tale of Langley's sobbing ghost is well known in the area and it has long been claimed that the morose ghost was Maud De Lucy, widow of Sir Thomas who built the tower in 1350 and who, devastated by the news of his death in the battle of Shrewsbury, jumped from the window where she had been keeping an eye out for his return.
Guests are said to have encountered Maud sobbing and repeatedly muttering Sir Thomas’ name before throwing herself again out of the same window. But in the past few years the castle has cast doubt upon the identity of its ghost, saying that the story doesn't quite fit the facts and now there is some suggestion that the unhappy spectre may be that of Maud's stepmother Agnes.
The Maltings
Customers at this old South Tyneside pub, which occupies a former brewery site in South Shields, have previously reported being spooked by ghostly figures in their peripheral vision and particularly in the area of the gents' toilets.
Staff have told of feelings of being followed by footsteps when there is nobody there, seeing items thrown off the bar and hearing disturbing sounds of grinding and clanking metal. Read more about its curious story here.
Royalty Theatre
This Sunderland theatre, originally built as a church in the late 1800s then used as a soldiers' hospital during the First World War, is said to be haunted by sounds of moaning and whistling and also the scene of poltergeist activity. The sound of strange footstep have been heard both on stage and in the wings and some have apparently seen a ghost of a man sitting at the back of the auditorium.
Doors also have been slammed and people's belongings have strangely gone missing.
Marsden Grotto
Another haunted pub in the area is the grotto at the foot of the limestone cliffs of Marsden Bay in South Shields - in fact is has been said to be the most haunted in Britain. The story goes that a John the Jibber, reputedly murdered by fellow criminals after he sold information to HM Customs, was left to starve in a barrel in nearby Smugglers Cave - and his cries are said to be heard ever since.
There also have been reports of mysterious bare footprints left on the bar floor which will not wash away and knocking sounds from the cellar.
North East Aircraft Museum
Visitors to this Sunderland museum - full name the North East Land, Sea and Air Museum - are said to have encountered the ghost of an army sergeant who has not been able to rest and sightings which have inspired an appearance on TV's Most Haunted. Near the site of an airfield, which opened in 1916 and played a key war-time role, its other creepy goings-on include sightings of the lower half of a man wandering among the aircraft, dark shadows and reported poltergeist activity in the hangars such as stones being thrown, 'rocking' aircraft and an old gramophone starting to play by itself .
Wartime lovers, a man murdered by a jealous husband and a woman who was the victim of an accident also add to the ghostly mix.
Beamish Hall Hotel
Guests may well find things go bump in the night at this 13th century manor house in County Durham which occasionally hosts paranormal investigations as well as ghost tours.
It is said to be haunted by the spectre of a Grey Lady with other spooky residents including a woman searching for her lost love and children in the attic - which sounds the spookiest of the lot - and over the years there have been reports of dark shadows moving through walls, dogs barking, running footsteps and doors slamming shut in empty rooms.
The Ship Isis
Named after an Egyptian goddess, this Sunderland pub is said to be haunted by a woman more commonly associated with County Durham: Victorian serial killer Mary Ann Cotton. And the apparent reason is that two of her victims are said to be buried on the site of what is now its cellar. So-called Black Widow Cotton is believed to have poisoned 21 people including several husbands and 11 of her 13 children.
There are reports of sightings of a Victorian woman and a young child as well as as singing, crying and screaming heard coming from empty room. For more of Sunderland's ghostly tales see here.
Lumley Castle Hotel
There are stories of guests who have fled their rooms and been sent running from this medieval castle following night-time scares. One reported to have woken to find shoes, having been left in disarray, neatly lined up.
The 630-year-old County Durham castle's famous ghost tale tells of Lily of Lumley who in the 14th century was thrown down the on-site well by priests when she rejected the Catholic faith and refused to renounce her own. The location is often the subject of odd happenings and reports of ghostly sightings within its walls - and visitors can still see the well (thankfully now covered) where Lily is said to have met her death.
Flodden Field
In 1513 this Northumberland field, by the village of Branxton, staged the bloodiest battle in the history of England, with up to 15,000 men believed to have lost their lives in the space of just three hours.
Considering the scale of such carnage at The Battle of Flodden, it is no surprise to discover that some unexplainable activity has been recorded in the area such as ghosts of fallen soldiers from both sides being heard and seen re-enacting the clash.