There’s no shortage of places to visit for a spook-tacular night out in Aberdeen, writes Susan Welsh
As Halloween approaches, guests choosing to stay at The Caledonian Hotel in Aberdeen may get more than they bargained for, as the building is thought to be the home of a ghostly presence that walks the corridors.
Legend has it that the ghost of Mary Littlejohn, a much-revered restaurant manager from the hotel’s dim and distant past, has been spotted in the hallways of the hotel, which opened on Union Terrace Gardens in the Granite City in 1892.
Hotel staff are more than willing to share their stories of ghostly goings on – and can even point guests intrigued by the paranormal to the spots where they are most likely to encounter some paranormal activity.
Babs Dawson, a member of the housekeeping staff for more than 19 years, is the hotel’s unofficial ghost expert.
She says: “I am one of the longest-serving members of staff at The Caledonian. As long as I have been here, there have been whispers of a ghost. Everyone who works in the basement office has experienced a supernatural presence. When people are working alone down there, they often hear footsteps in the corridor. When they go to check who it is, no one is ever there.
“Some members of staff have also mentioned that there is a cool spot on the right-hand side of the fourth-floor corridor: we think this might have been where Mary lived while working in the hotel,” said Babs.
“The hotel has been open for over 100 years, and I really do believe that there could be an otherworldly presence here. I think, even after all these years, Mary is still checking in on us to make sure the hotel is running smoothly.
“Some guests are intrigued and actually want to see the spirit, but I can assure those who have no desire to come face to face with her that she has never been mischievous. She seems to want to ensure our guests have a restful and relaxing stay, just like the rest of us.”
The Caledonian Hotel is not the only member of The Hotel Collection in Aberdeen to house a ghostly presence. Anne McIntosh, duty manager at The Aberdeen Skyway Hotel, has come face to face with one spectre in the dead of night.
Anne said: “When you’re working the nightshift, you often feel like there’s a presence there with you, but I think that’s part and parcel of working alone at night. There was one time, though, about five years ago, that I saw something I really can’t explain.
“I was working on my own at the reception. I left for a second to look at the security monitors and noticed that there was a woman sitting on a seat next to the reception. I went through to speak to her, but she had disappeared. When I went back through to look at the monitors again, she was still sitting there. As far as I know, no one before or since has seen the ghost, but it was pretty terrifying at the time.”
But it seems Aberdeen ghosts don’t just like to hang out in hotels in Aberdeen city centre, and there are several other spectres that will delight – and terrify. HM Theatre is said to be haunted by not one but two spooks. The most famous is Jake, the spirit of a stagehand who died in a tragic rigging accident during a circus performance at the time of World War II.
Many actors and crew have reported unusual goings-on during performances, with disembodied footsteps heard backstage and props and tools vanishing mysteriously without a trace. There are also rumours of a Grey Lady, who has been spotted gliding through the foyer.
There are other paranormal hotspots close to the hotel, too. Halloween ghost hunters might spot the ghost of Friar Charles Gordon – known affectionately as Priest Gordon – near the Castlegate. After 50 years’ service at St Peter’s Chapel, Gordon died in 1855 and was so loved by the city that the citizens lined the streets for his funeral.
They might also catch a glimpse of the ghoulish monks that are
said to haunt the historic Green marketplace, or the pale apparition
of a dark-haired woman dressed in white that hovers in St Nicholas Kirkyard.