The Press and Journal (Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire)
Halloween visitors to be treated to after-dark goings-on at castle
A Deeside castle dating back to the 16th century is gearing up to give locals a glimpse of its spooky history.
Crathes Castle, which somebelieve to be haunted, will be giving ghostly tours in the run-up to Halloween next Monday.
The National Trust for Scotland (NTS) will open up the doors of the property – the ancestral homeof the Burnett family – after dark from Friday, October 28 to Sunday, October 31.
A film fright night will also be held in the woods on Saturday with a nighttime screening of The Blair Witch Project.
Trick-or-treaters aged 511 are invited to attend the Children’s Traditional Scottish Halloween on Friday and Saturday. Youngsters will make a scarecrow – or “tattie-bogle”.
The castle is said to be the home of two ghosts – the Green Lady and the White Lady.
TheGreenLady has been spotted throughout the years carrying an infant child, which is said to have been fathered by a servantfromthe castle. The skeletons of the two are said to have been discovered under a fireplace in the building, with the ghost usually spotted walking into it. Queen Victoria is said to have spotted the apparition on a visit.
Legend has it that the White Lady is either Lady Agnes Burnett or a youngster she allegedly poisoned out of spite, Bertha de Bernard.
An NTS spokeswoman said: “No guarantee can be made that participants in the ghoulish ghost tour will see either of the ladies – but they can be sure of a scary time as they drift along gloomy corridors and staircases, listening to shiversome stories of madness, murder and gore.”
Tours will start at 7pm and 9pm and cost £13 per adult, while the film will screen at 9pm also at the cost of £13. The Traditional Scottish Halloween will run at 11.30am and 1.30pm at the cost of £6 per child.
“Shiversome stories of madness and murder”