Grim tales, ghoulish ghosts and hair-raising hauntings – Australia has its fair share of spooky history for you to dive into. Step this way and try to keep your wits about you…
Explore the other side of Australia — the one that only comes alive at night — with these spine-tingling ghost tours at some super eery locations.
1. Meet the ghosts of old Sydney town on a creepy night tour
Learn about the dark side of Australia’s convict history and be drawn into tales of murder, suicide, hangings, and hauntings on a spine-tingling walk through old Sydney town with The Rocks Ghost Tours.
The Rocks is where the first European settlers arrived by ship in Sydney in 1788, making it Australia’s original settlement. It’s like a time capsule of early European life here, with much of The Rocks sandstone homes, pubs and office buildings unchanged from when it was built over 200 years ago.
As you’re guided down some of the original streets and into some spook-riddled buildings at night, you’re bound to feel the spirits and ghosts that have been trapped here for centuries.
As the company says: “This is no ‘ghost train’ ride from Luna Park – it’s a genuinely creepy tour where the truth can be more chilling than any carnival attraction.”
2. Paranormal Investigations that will have you doubting reality
If things that go bump in the night pique your interest, the National Trust of Queensland offers some exhilarating ghost tours sure to send shivers down your spine.
Known as Toowoomba’s most haunted building, the Royal Bull’s Head Inn invites brave souls to explore its eerie corridors with the team from Pariah Paranormal. This seemingly charming 175-year-old inn is rich in history and mystery. Join expert investigators as they guide you through the tools and techniques of a real paranormal investigation, in search of the inn’s lingering spirits.
The tours are held on a monthly basis, from 7-9m, so check for the next dates.
Further afield, Wolston Farmhouse also opens its doors after dark, from 7-9pm. With Pariah Paranormal on hand, you’ll delve into the home’s haunted past and search for signs of the renowned unseen residents. When the sun sets and silence settles over the historic homestead, who or what will make their presence known? Check dates to see when the next tour is!
3. Rattling bones and opium dens in Melbourne
There’s plenty of unexplained sights, sounds and encounters after dark at the Old Melbourne Gaol. But note that the gaol’s ghost night tour is not for the faint hearted – visitors are led deep into the mysterious and supernatural shady realms within the gaol’s cold stone walls. Entertaining guides share their intimate knowledge of the gaol’s dark and disturbing history, telling tales about the many unexplained happenings that regularly occur.
Note that due to some of the tales told being quite graphic, this one is for those 16 years and older.
4. A shopping mall where all is not it seems, in Adelaide
One of Adelaide’s most iconic and historic shopping destinations, the Adelaide Arcade, has long been steeped in stories of ghostly encounters, and at the heart of many of them is a man named Francis Cluney.
Back in the late 1800s, Francis was the Arcade’s Beadle (aka the caretaker) and a familiar face around the building. Tragically, just two years after the Arcade opened, he met a grisly end while investigating an issue with the electric lighting system. The man usually in charge of the lights, Henry Hardcourt, was reportedly off moonlighting elsewhere, leaving Francis to step in. When the lights began to flicker, he went to check on the machinery. Moments later, the building was plunged into darkness — and Francis was found dead, horrifically caught in the equipment.
While an official inquest ruled it a tragic accident (possibly caused by his clothing being snagged in the machinery) some psychics believe he may have been pushed by a group of troublemakers who had previously threatened to “put the light out.”
Whatever the cause, Francis’ death was sudden, brutal, and widely reported in the press at the time.
To this day, many believe Francis never truly left. Shopkeepers and visitors have reported strange occurrences: items mysteriously falling off shelves, flickering lights, malfunctioning electronics, and even sightings of a full-bodied apparition wearing a long coat, just like the one Francis was known for.
It seems that, more than a century on, Francis may still be faithfully keeping watch over the Adelaide Arcade, welcoming newcomers in his own spooky style.
See for yourself when you take an Adelaide’s Haunted Horizons Tour.
5. Punishment, isolation and chilling stories at Fremantle Prison
Recently retired as a maximum-security prison in 1991, Fremantle Prison is steeped in grim tales of punishment and isolation.
Join its Torchlight Tour and walk the echoing corridors after dark, while your guide shares chilling stories that will make the hairs on your neck stand up. These torturous tales are loaded with utter loneliness, endless pain and suffering, and even executions that went terribly wrong. Within the stone walls and behind the original bars, innocent people were unjustly imprisoned, alongside the guilty who were severely punished for their many sins.
6. Meet some of the most depraved and dangerous Victorian men
Originally a goldfields prison, J Ward was later part of the Ararat Lunatic Asylum (also known as the Aradale Lunatic Asylum) which incarcerated some of the most depraved and dangerous men in Victoria, with high security and truly awful conditions.
Closed in 1991, J Ward is now a well maintained museum complex that preserves and records of the criminals imprisoned and hanged onsite.
On the J Ward Lunatic Asylum Ghost Tour, you can see where murderers took their last breath and where their bodies are buried and learn about notorious criminals who spent time here, such as Chopper Read and William Wallace.
Besides the regular guided tours, you can come face-to-face with spirits still trapped in the walls… now that’s creepy!
Had your fill of spooky ghost tours? That’s okay…get your heart pumping in another way thanks to these adrenaline adventures in WA and the NT.
