Successful, and it’s not just for Halloween

mind. The city of Edinburgh has a hidden world of underground passages beneath its streets, the largest of which, under South Bridge, is said to be haunted by no less than nine different entities.

Edinburgh Castle is reported to be one of the most haunted places in Scotland, with one famous story around the Lone Piper. A few hundred years ago secret tunnels were discovered deep underground, running from the castle to other places in the city.

A piper boy was sent down to investigate, instructed to constantly play his pipes, so those above could chart his progress through the tunnels. When the playing suddenly stopped, they went and searched for the piper boy but he had vanished. His ghostly pipes can still be heard playing in the castle to this day.

Edinburgh was in fact named as Britain’s spookiest city in 2013 with a staggering 375 reported paranormal sightings in the past 25 years, so it is no wonder that the atmospheric Old Town is peppered with some of the best ghost tours in the country as well as some truly fear-invoking attractions such as The Real Mary King’s Close and the Edinburgh Dungeon, both of which welcome thousands of visitors every year.

However, it’s not just the capital city that’s proving a draw for those in search of the inexplicable, the pull of eerie places is immeasurable, from Glamis Castle in Angus to Culloden Moor in Invernessshire; Culzean Castle in Ayrshire to Abbotsford House in the Scottish Borders.

So, this Halloween we ask all Scots, visitors and even the ghosts themselves to get out into Scotland and discover the dark side of tourism – you never know what you might uncover.

From a brand new supernatural interactive map of Edinburgh’s spooky Royal Mile, to a bone-chilling exclusive video of Skaill House in Orkney, VisitScotland has a dedicated Halloween site, please visit www.visitscotland.com/ halloween.

For more information on the Scottish Paranormal Festival, visit www.paranormalscotland. com l MalcolmRougheadischief executiveofVisitScotland