Hosts, ghosts and guests! Love it or hate it, Halloween is a great excuse to get your spook on and act like a kid for a night .If you’re planning an event, here’s a list of venues with bonafide supernatural gate crashers.
Mayday Hills lunatic asylum was one of the largest institutions in Victoria. Opened in 1867 as A Lunatic Asylum, this building housed thousands of people described at the time as ‘lunatics’, ‘idiots’ and ‘imbeciles’ (easily mistaken for the Parliament House circa 2013).
Larnarch Castle is not only a beautiful, historically significant property, it’s also haunted by its namesake William Lanarch’s two wives and favourite daughter Kate who died at the tender age of 28.
Built by convicts on a grant of six acres, this splendid example of Australian Gothic architecture first opened its doors in 1864, as the Convict Establishment Fremantle Lunatic Asylum and Invalid Depot. All inmates were under the punitive control of prison rules and regulations and, over time, the asylum became the depository for any social problem, such as alcoholism, prostitution and the elderly. All of this guarantees an excellent class of in-house ghoul.
Built in 1833, Duntroon House is the oldest building in Canberra and is allegedly haunted by the ghost of Sophia Susanna Campbell who, on May 31, 1885, aged just 28, died after falling from the room’s window. Her death certificate states that Sophia died of apoplexy (cerebral haemorrhage). Speculation to this day remains as to whether she was pushed, fell, or jumped.
Machattie Park was formally opened in December 1890. The park is built on the site of the old Bathurst Gaol, which was demolished in 1888 to make way for the park. This is one creepy outdoor setting to feel a chilly breeze down your spine.
