Spooky Britain map

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Dark happenings on the Isle of Skye

The Isle of Skye may look beautiful, but there are dark happenings underneath. Venture out at night and you might just run into the ghost of an outlaw named MacRaing. Or head to the eerily beautiful Loch Coruisk where a dreaded water horse – known locally as a kelpie – is said to dwell.

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The White Lady of Samlesbury Hall

Renowned as one of the most haunted locations in Britain, Samlesbury Hall has its own resident spirits including the legendary White Lady, Dorothy Southworth, who died of a broken heart. The hall, embracing its spooky charm, hosts regular ghost-hunts, and is a stunning place to stay and dine – when the ghosts keep at bay of course.

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Britain’s most notorious witches

Lancaster Castle holds a sad secret. More than 400 years ago, 10 people were found guilty of witchcraft here and executed on the nearby moors. Evidence against them was flimsy, but religious persecution was rife in 1612. It became Britain’s most notorious witch trial and you can retrace their final steps from the wild and rugged Pendle Hill to the grand court of Lancaster

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Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was rather spooked by his stay at the Duchy Hotel – now the Dartmoor National Park Visitor Centre – and it inspired him to write Hound of the Baskervilles. He said the moors held dwellings of prehistoric man, strange monoliths, huts and graves”. And little has changed – Dartmoor remains a truly atmospheric location.

Monoliths, huts and graves, oh my!

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We recommend, if you haven’t already, reading the book before you visit…

The vampire of Whitby Abbey

The dramatic ruins of Whitby Abbey are guaranteed to send shivers down the spine of even the most lionhearted explorers. It’s no wonder then that Bram Stoker concocted the infamous and chilling story of Dracula in this seemingly sleepy seaside town.

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Fragrant ghost of Cambridge

The Haunted Bookshop sits in a quiet passage in Cambridge. Over the last decade, a female ghost has started to haunt the stairs of the bookshop, smelling faintly of violets. Many believe she is connected to the shop’s former life as an alehouse and the violent history that came along with it. Go along and browse the bookshelves and see what smells waft your way.

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This village has its own Fright Corner

Pretty Pluckley in Kent has been hailed the most haunted village in Britain – backed by the Guinness Book of World Records in 1989. With no fewer than 16 reported sightings, you can see why. There’s a screaming man, a highwayman who appears at Fright Corner, a schoolmaster hanged by children and an old woman who sits on a bridge smoking.