The Paranormal Database

Pale Woman

Location: Edinburgh - Hunter's Tryst Inn, Oxgangs Road
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1985
Further Comments: This white, spectral woman lurks around the one time coaching inn. One guest felt invisible lips kiss his cheek as he lay in bed.

Jamaica Street, Edinburgh.

Red Hat

Location: Edinburgh - Jamaica Street
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Late eighteenth / early nineteenth century
Further Comments: This area was haunted by a copper-coloured man in a red hat - a landlord took his tenant to court as it was believed the 'haunting' was created to control low rent prices.

Kirkyard, Coventanter's Prison, Edinburgh.

Bluidy MacKenzie

Location: Edinburgh - Kirkyard, Coventanter's Prison
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: 1996
Further Comments: While George MacKenzie has been blamed for the phantom attacks on sightseers at this locale, other people say it is the spirits of the prisoners. Either way, many visitors on the local 'ghost walks' have been pinched, pushed, pulled, and even cut while at this spooky site.

Elizabeth Elphinstone

Location: Edinburgh - Large house to the north of Balcarres Street, Morringside cross
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1720s
Further Comments: Elizabeth was stabbed through the heart by her husband after he found her in the arms of his son from a former marriage. The husband killed himself soon after the incident. Elizabeth's ghost took to haunting the house until the death of her stepson, when all spiritual activity ceased.

Last Drop Tavern, Edinburgh.

Maria

Location: Edinburgh - Last Drop Tavern, Grassmarket
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2007
Further Comments: Identified by visiting psychics, Maria is believed to have been murdered in the eighteenth century. The phantom girl now makes her presence known by poltergeist-like antics; cups move and items fall from shelves, though nothing is ever broken.

Running

Location: Edinburgh - Lauriston Castle (aka Lauriston House), 2a Cramond Road
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1926 onwards
Further Comments: This entity creates the sound of footsteps moving quickly around the building. The sound is thought to be made by a former butler.

Old Fireman

Location: Edinburgh - Lauriston Place (old fire station)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1980s
Further Comments: Normally appearing at night, staff have reported seeing a ghostly dark figure wearing old style fire uniform. Footsteps have been heard in various parts of the building when it is known there is no-one else on duty.

Whistler

Location: Edinburgh - Learmouth Hotel
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: Twentieth century
Further Comments: Door opening and closing are the trademarks of this spirit, though it is also known to whistle down the corridors.

Portrait Photograph

Location: Edinburgh - Liberton House
Type: Unknown Ghost Type
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A photograph taken in the building is reputed to show a huge phantom face, though it is said that you must use your imagination to see it properly!

Riders

Location: Edinburgh - Lochend Loch, Restalrig
Type: Unknown Ghost Type
Date / Time: Sixteenth century
Further Comments: As Bessie Dunlop tied her horse to the edge of the loch, she heard dozens of people on horseback dash past her into the water, although nothing could be seen.

Old Fashioned Figure

Location: Edinburgh - Lochinvar Camp (aka Wardie Playing Fields), Granton Road
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1950s-2009
Further Comments: The ghostly figure wearing old fashioned clothing was reported to have chased a teenager in the mid-twentieth century and was seen by other people during the 1970s through to the 1990s. Stargazers may have last seen the entity in 2009.

Lady in White

Location: Edinburgh - Lymphoy House, Currie
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This property was said to be haunted by a woman in white, a soldier's wife who died on the steps of his parents' house after they refused to let her in. A ghostly bagpiper is also said hang around the site, after entering a tunnel beneath the house and never returning.

Flying Cookware

Location: Edinburgh - Marchmont Hardware (shop), Warrender Park Road
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: 2020s
Further Comments: Inventory, including hammers, knives and cookware, has flown off the shelves in this shop. The owners featured in the local press, claiming the entity could be a family member who died in 2018.

Mary King's Close, Edinburgh.

Plague Victims

Location: Edinburgh - Mary King's Close, currently buried under the City Chambers
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Circa 1685 - 2020s
Further Comments: A whole host of spectres haunt this area; women, children, old men and even animals have been reported haunting the site over the past 350 years. More recently, there have been reports of a ghostly little girl and an 'impish' young boy. The last occupant of the close was forced to move out in 1898 to make way for the City Chambers extension, which now stands over the area.

Elizabeth Dundas

Location: Edinburgh - Melville Castle Hotel
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1990s
Further Comments: While the site was being renovated, one witness spotted this phantom walk through a wall.

Mercat Cross, Edinburgh.

Death List

Location: Edinburgh - Mercat Cross, High Street
Type: Other
Date / Time: 08 September 1513
Further Comments: The voice of the Devil (or a demon named Plotcock, Platcock or Potcock) could be heard in the area of the cross calling out all the names of men who would die in the Battle of Flodden, which would occur the following day. Richard Lawson, upon hearing his own name, threw a coin against the cross, and appealed against the judgement in the name of God and Jesus - Lawson was the only named person to survive.

Spottiswode

Location: Edinburgh - Mitre Public House, Royal Mile
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Archbishop Spottiswode is reported to haunt the building where he concealed his episcopal chair, even though the haunting takes the form of poltergeist activity.

Museum of Childhood, Edinburgh.

Laughter

Location: Edinburgh - Museum of Childhood, 42 High Street
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Twentieth century
Further Comments: Laughing, crying and whispering are all said to have been heard coming from empty rooms within the building, and phantom footsteps walk on the upper floors.

Chimney Sweep

Location: Edinburgh - Nicol Edwards public house, Niddry Street
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This young lad managed to trap himself behind the old chimney stacks in the area and suffocated. He has been reported by members of the public not aware of the story or history.

Fighting

Location: Edinburgh - Old Fish Inn (no longer standing), Murrayfield
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1945-1957
Further Comments: This building was said to be the haunt of a gang of bandits, one figure was seen in the bar, while the sound of fighting could occasionally be heard in the evening.

The Edinburgh Playhouse.

Albert

Location: Edinburgh - Playhouse, Greenside Place
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Dressed in a grey great coat when seen, Albert prefers to make his presence known by creating cold spots. He is thought to have been either a stagehand who died in an accident or a night watchman who killed himself.

St John's church, Edinburgh.

Crying Girl

Location: Edinburgh - Princes Street and St John's church
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1987?
Further Comments: The crying girl haunts both the church and Princes Street. The little girl sobs into her hands, slowly fading away until completely gone. The gardens of Princes Street were once the 'Nor Loch' - when drained hundreds of bodies were found when the water was drained.

Shadowy Figures

Location: Edinburgh - Private flat in Bruntsfield Place
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2004
Further Comments: Several entities reportedly haunt this building, including cats, a dog, and possibly several people who were mistaken as 'real' by one witness.

Footsteps

Location: Edinburgh - Private flat, Bruntsfield area
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2003-2008
Further Comments: Disembodied footsteps were heard by members of the family at night and in the early hours of the morning.

Lurking Man

Location: Edinburgh - Private residence along Glenlee Avenue
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1970s
Further Comments: A member of the family living in this house reported, on more than one occasion, seeing a man lurking in the kitchen doorway. On the day the family moved out, they were told that a former owner hanged himself from a wooden beam the cellar, directly under the kitchen door.