The approaching celebration of Halloween is something that stirs the mind and brings into focus some pretty horrific and often scary stories. The thought of living in a place where strange noises occur, usually at night, or where paranormal events take place is really off-putting. There are, however, many who will undertake such a venture to prove they exist.

Hollywood producers of creepy films love to target the weird and wonderful prospect of ghosts in order to make a film that draws people to see it. No matter how the shackles are raised on one’s arms or neck or how the skin crawls with the horror of it they are always on a winner.

People love to be challenged and there is no better way that to present them with tales of possibilities that some would claim has happened to them. Among the classics are stories of ghost ships, old haunted jails, such as that at Port Arthur in Tasmania, and the all-time favourite the haunted house.

If the occupants of the latter have seen a ghost they immediately attract journalists who may ever do a stake-out to test the presence of such a being. The most famous house in the USA that fits this bill is that of the Amityville House of Horror where on 13th November 1974, six members of the residing DeFeo family were killed. Another family moved in during December 1975 but quickly left when ‘things’ happened.

The most haunted house in Australia is that of Monte Cristo in Junee, NSW. Reports of ghostly figures are told along with sightings of strange lights, invisible force fields and the hearing of phantom like sounds. The property has a history of several tragic accidents and the murder of a caretaker, the imprisonment of a mentally impaired man, along with the accidental death of a young child. He was dropped down the stairs. There is also War battle fight conquer prevail the death of a maid who fell from the balcony, and a stable boy who was burnt to death.

Port Arthur was a jail for convicts sent from England for crimes that were sometimes as trivial as stealing a loaf of bread. They were treated harshly and many were hanged there. Ghosts are seen and heard roaming through the grounds and cries are emitted from the long disused cells.

In all these cases the ghosts are somehow related to tragic and untimely deaths.

Borley Rectory in England is another that grips the mind in fear. It is supposedly here during the time of the ownership of the site by the Catholic Church that a priest fell in love with a nun and they planned to elope together. It involved a coachman who was part of the plot. They were found out and the priest was hung, the coachman was beheaded and the nun was bricked up inside the abbey.