Halloween is just around the corner. And what better way to celebrate this spooky holiday than with a visit to some of the most haunted locations in Australia.
History and Horror
We shared with you some of the most haunted places in Adelaide, and now we’ll show you other eerie places you can visit down under. Prepare your notes because you’ll be learning some history with your horror stories.
Fremantle Arts Centre [Western Australia]
History: The centre was built between 1861 and 1868 through convict labour and was originally a psychiatric hospital called the Fremantle Lunatic Asylum and later the Asylum for the Criminally Insane. Today, the Fremantle Arts Centre is a multi-arts organisation offering art and music courses.
Ghostly Activity: Visitors have reported feeling unwelcome when they set foot in the historic building, as well as cold spots in specific areas. There are also reports of doors moving by themselves as well as a ghostly presence while walking the halls.
Devil’s Pool [Babinda, Queensland]
History: Aboriginal Folklore tells the story of a woman who drowned herself in the pool after she was separated from her lover. It is said that she now haunts the place, luring unsuspecting victims to their watery graves. Since the 50s, there have been a total of 17 deaths in the Devil’s Pool
Ghostly Activity: People have reported hearing the sound of someone crying as well as seeing strange apparitions. Visitors are warned against going into the water, as bizarre, unexplained forces are known to yank and drown victims with no warning as in the case of James Bennet, who “came for a visit, and stayed forever.”
Boggo Road Gaol [Brisbane, Queensland]
History: Opened in 1883, Boggo Road Gaol was a large-scale prison built by Robert Porter. Over the years, it saw a lot of buildings come up and torn down. One of the demolished buildings was the ‘No. 1 Division’ which saw the hanging of 42 prisoners. When the building was wrecked, the oval that was built in its place became home to the prison’s infamous underground cellblock called the “black hole” where prisoners were known to have been tortured until the prison’s closure in 1989.
Ghostly Activity: Because of the site’s history of executions, spirits of the prisoners are in the buildings, including a correctional officer which can be heard jangling his keys as he makes his nightly strolls through the prison hallways, still doing his job from beyond the grave.
Manly Quarantine Station [Sydney, New South Wales]
History: The Manly Complex served as a quarantine station from 1832 to 1984. New arrivals to the Sydney Harbour who were suspected to have an infectious disease were confined to these barracks until doctors have cleared them. During its operation, the building saw over 500 deaths due to the bubonic plague, Spanish Influenza, Smallpox, Typhus, Scarlet Fever, and Yellow Fever to name a few. The complex has since been renovated, and today it is a hotel, conference centre and restaurant called the Q Station.
Ghostly Activity: The renovations to the complex has done very little as visitors often experience unexplained smells and ghost sightings of patients and workers walking around the building. Visitors who snapped photos during ghost tours believe they have captured some of these ghosts on film.
Beechworth Asylum [Beechworth, Victoria]
History: Beechworth Asylum was founded in 1867 and was originally known as the Mayday Hills Lunatic Asylum. More than 3000 patients lost their lives in the facility between its opening and shutdown in 1995.
Ghostly Activity: There have been several ghost sightings including that of a woman who was tossed from an upstairs window. She is often seen standing on the spot where she landed. A former nurse is also known to prowl the halls, still bound by her earthly duties to take care of patients long since passed.
This Halloween, don’t stay in and watch boring horror movies at home. Create your own horror movie-like experiences by visiting these places this season with your mates and have a grand time! Don’t have a car for the road? Alpha has your back. Rent from our fleet of vehicles and drive to the nearest haunted spot to prove once and for all that you can handle ghosts without running off screaming into the night.
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