Edinburgh’s annual GhostFest is now firmly established in the calendar of “things to do in Edinburgh”. The most recent happening, from 9 to 18 May, featured a whole range of events not included in any of the previous GhostFests – some pure entertainment and some of a slightly more serious nature. The festival is now four years old, and still delivers fun to a wide audience, from the open minded through to the true believer with a scattering of skeptics for good measure. One complaint is simply that there are now so many things happening that it is physically impossible to attend everything. So having admitted that I didn’t go to everything, what did I go to and what was it like?

First off was “Dark investigation – in the footsteps of Ghost Hunters International”. Ghost Hunters International is an American TV show that does what it says in the title. In the past they have visited Mary King’s Close (a seventeenth-century street that was built over during the modernisation of the old town; the underground close has been reopened and is now a visitor attraction, The Real Mary King’s Close) and the Ragged School, which are described as two of Scotland’s most haunted locations, so we spent two hours at each location in the company of Ghost Finders Scotland.

Firstly, The Real Mary King’s Close (“real” not to distinguish it from a fake Mary King’s Close, but to stress that when you go there the stories you are told are all based on fact). Ghost Finders Scotland carry out their investigations using a mixture of science (tape recorders, cameras, digital thermometers etc) and traditional séance material (mediums, ouija boards and table tipping). And that is what we were treated to here. Naturally a two hour session in this one location was simply not enough. Moving from room to room there was a chance for people to try some EVP – recording our questions on a digital voice recorder and then playing it back to listen to the ghostly static voices replying to us. A gather-in-a-circle-and-link-energies séance was also carried out, led by the team’s resident medium, Linda. All the while events were being videoed and any mention of a temperature fluctuation was rapidly probed with a digital thermometer.

After two hours here we moved a little further up The Royal Mile to the Camera Obscura (a visitor attraction comprising the Camera Obscura show, rooftop views over Edinburgh and three galleries of “optical experiences”) to be introduced to the Ragged School. The Ragged School is a back section of the Camera Obscura building that was once used as a school for destitute children, but has long lain empty and unused. The Camera Obscura has owned the building for a number of years but are only now beginning to extend their exhibition space into it, so this was the last chance to investigate it in its current state. Again a mixture of séance and EVP, but here we had more time as there are only two rooms, unlike the whole street of Mary King’s Close. The first room we visited was basically an attic room with rather good views of the Castle and most of Edinburgh. There was a small area here that the medium refused to enter, saying she could sense a presence which she did not like at all. Naturally this intrigued a number of us, so we deliberately spent time in it hoping for something, indeed anything, to happen. A few noises were recorded on the voice recorder – if you visit Ghost Finders Scotland’s website you can hear some of them for yourself. The second room yielded similar results. We then had a quick opportunity to experience the Camera Obscura in action – but at night it’s not quite so impressive. All told an enjoyable four hours; nothing that would convince a skeptic, but enough to keep a true believer happy.

Next up was “An Evening with Richard Felix”, formerly of TV’s Most Haunted. This was a three-hour session in Mary King’s Close with Richard Felix and Ghost Finders Scotland, except for those with an inability to correctly read the programme, for whom it was a two hour session (cue embarrassed coughing and shuffling of feet). The intrepid ghost hunters were divided into two groups, and after an introductory talk one went down Mary King’s Close with Richard and the other went with Ghost Finders; halfway through the session the groups swapped over. Richard told us that he doesn't believe in ghosts, despite having seen two. A firm believer in the stone tape hypothesis (what are commonly perceived as ghosts are actually imprints on the rocks and stones around us, which have recorded historical events as if on magnetic tape), he is happy to admit to a lack of scientific knowledge, but he still got over the basics of the theory for those who had not come across it before and that was the important bit. In the company of Richard various techniques were tried including dowsing (with a visible target so the ideomotor effect – whereby the body reacts reflexively to the mind's unconscious suggestions – could hardly be discounted), the use of a pendulum and general calling out to spirits (Richard claims no mediumistic power himself, he is by nature a historian). Pendulums swung, dowsing rods moved and Richard professed his dislike of Chesney’s house – the last occupied building in Mary King’s Close, whose rich and proud owner refused to leave until the end of the nineteenth century. When Richard was visiting with Most Haunted a stone was thrown across the room in his presence; regrettably this was not to be the case during our visit. A swap over on neutral territory and we were back with Mark, Lisa and the rest of the Ghost Finders team for a return to the scientific approach.

The Koestler Institute of Parapsychology were involved in GhostFest with “The Science of Ghostly Experiences”. Participants were given the opportunity to go on a normal Mary King’s Close tour, but we were invited to write down any experiences that we had whilst there and also to rate the potential involvement of ghosts and ghouls. This was after completing a questionnaire to assess our belief in things of a paranormal nature. We had been asked before we did anything to soak up the atmosphere in each room for a few seconds first – apparently the guide had not been told this as upon entering each room the standard tales were launched into, but this didn’t seem to bother anyone. Despite spending untold hours in haunted locations I’ve never really experienced anything definitively paranormal in nature, but it was interesting to note that both my wife and I reported one odd experience during the tour – we both had a headache which came on when we entered the plague room and disappeared when we left. The results of this study are being assessed by Caroline Watt and Brandon Massulo of the Koestler Institute and will be released in due course.

Next an old favourite of mine, EVP. The first of “Four Nights of EVP” was spent at the Covenanters Prison; as this night – or, rather, two hours – coincided with the Edinburgh Fortean Society’s monthly meeting there was a large representation from the august group. The Covenanters Prison is part of Greyfriars Kirkyard, of Greyfriars Bobby fame and, more importantly, is the supposed home of the Greyfriars poltergeist. The relevant section of the graveyard is a long alleyway with mausoleums down both sides; we were based in two of these. Black Hart Entertainment, who run an Edinburgh ghost tour called City of the Dead, claim that this is one of the most paranormal sites in the world, and they have records of the ghostly events that have occurred throughout the lifetime of the company. Most of these are people passing out, finding mysterious scratches and experiencing general feelings of discomfort. No one has been able to find out who the alleged poltergeist is, so there was a bit of a challenge for the EVP! Everyone who wanted to was given the opportunity to ask questions and listen to the playback – the most promising samples were then played back via a laptop and amplified further to aid listening. The questions were the usual ones: what is your name, when were you born, how old are you, can you show yourself and – the one that shocked the researchers – do you know you’re dead? Apparently you’re not supposed to use the D word. I know some of the people in the group had previously been totally disbelieving of EVP, but by the end of the night they thought there might be something in it after all. For those claiming it’s all down to the recorder picking up stray radio waves, the group used a Faraday cage, knocking that argument on the head. For those claiming it’s all down to the ability of the human mind to find meaning in random things (such as shapes in clouds or tea leaves) – well, that one’s harder to dismiss. Researchers point to the answers being relevant and consistent. Pop across to the Ghost Finders website and make your own mind up.

After night one of EVP came “Night Two – The Edinburgh Playhouse Theatre”. The Playhouse Theatre is a new venue for GhostFest and one that has long harboured tales of hauntings. We were given a guided tour around the whole venue, including backstage and above stage access, so irrespective of any paranormal aspects it was an interesting tour. Whilst sat in the main auditorium some people claimed to see a figure where no one should be. Needless to say, I was looking in the wrong direction at the time and copious photographs failed to turn anything up. Not even an orb. One thing I did experience was hearing footsteps from an empty area of the stage, a characteristic of Albert the resident ghost. As questions were asked it was obvious what motivations people had – someone who knew the stories came right out and asked for Albert. No reply. Some ageing rockers asked for a guest spot from Joey Ramone, again with no reply. Of all the EVP sessions this was probably the driest. The recorder used, the Panasonic RR-DR60 (which was reputedly withdrawn from the market because of “other voices” that appeared on recordings), is operated in a voice-activated mode, making it much easier to hear these “other voices” which, when heard, are generally louder than the voices of the researchers asking the questions. The fact that the same recorder used in the same manner does not always get voices is a plus point in favour of EVP!

The third EVP session was at the Ragged School. When I asked my standard “Can you show yourself?” question the reply was a relatively clear “Behind you!”. Needless to say I could see nothing behind me, and again photographs showed up nothing. Some Americans who questioned the spirits got good responses: good in terms of loud and reasonably clear, that is; not good in terms of actual content, unless of course you like swearing at Americans!

“Night Four – The Real Mary King’s Close followed the same pattern as the previous nights, but here we had the opportunity to venture into Chesney’s house and see the only flush toilet in the Close, a sight normally only seen from a distance outside of the GhostFest. From the responses on the recorder it would appear that Mr Chesney is not a happy or nice man, but then we were invading his home and demanding he answer our questions!

Moving away from EVP, the final event I attended was “Paranormal Investigation – Edinburgh Playhouse Theatre”. Regrettably this was far too short to be a real investigation – it was, again, only a taster session. This time, instead of a tour of the theatre as a whole, we concentrated on different parts of the auditorium. As is usual with Ghost Finders Scotland a variety of techniques were used: EVP, a medium and the good old ouija board. If there were any spirits present, they weren’t interested in using the ouija board, which was a real dead duck in terms of activity – even changing people didn’t produce anything. At one point we took part in what may well be the biggest séance ever conducted in Edinburgh – some thirty people linked together whilst the medium communicated with the other side.

And for me that was the Edinburgh GhostFest 2008. I was lucky enough to be able to get a few snippets of some things that I was unable to attend in full – the “Horrible Histories Bus Tour” and Archie Lawrie’s “Intriguing Poltergeists” lecture. Among the whole raft of things that proved impossible to attend due to time were several overnight vigils, “An Evening of Trance and Mediumship with Roberta Gordon” and many other delights.

For those who can’t make it to Edinburgh in May for subsequent GhostFests (one attendee from the States had timed her trip to coincide with the festival and was already planning a repeat visit!), the company behind the whole project also runs Canterbury and Oxford Castle ghost festivals. If you do get the chance to go to one of these events take it. You might not see ghosts but you’re more than likely going to have a dead good time!