I always thought I was brave enough to handle any ghost tour/haunted house. Not anymore, thanks to a frightening Evening of Ghosts & Ghouls with Mercat Tours. Although it might have more to do with who I went with than the actual tour itself (more on that later). I have been on other Edinburgh Ghost Tours, but this one scared me the most.

I love the Halloween season. It is a perfect time for dressing up, Trick-or-Treating, and having a great time getting scared silly going through haunted houses. I also enjoy going on ghost tours when I’m visiting a new city. Most of the time, I’m going on them solo, where nobody knows me and knows about my tendency to jump/scream when approached from behind unsuspectingly. The majority of the tours, I can come out with only a slight case of the heebie-jeebies from listening to the creepy stories. Not this time, though. My friend, whom I was visiting in Scotland, happened to find out about my weakness for jump scares and was determined to exploit it the entire weekend.

Evening of Ghosts and Ghouls Tour

The Evening Ghosts and Ghouls Tour by Mercat Tours starts in the evening at the Mercat Cross on the Royal Mile. There are several Edinburgh Ghost Tours all starting in the same area, so make sure you are at the right one. We were on the last tour of the night (9 pm) so, it was plenty dark as we gathered by the cross. We were met by Ruth, our storyteller, for the evening. Dressed in her witch attire, she started regaling us with stories about Edinburgh’s sordid witch trial history. Ruth is a fantastic storyteller in how she reels you in and makes you feel a part of the story. 

The tour takes you around St. Giles’ Cathedral, the location of numerous successful and not-so-successful witch hangings. Even with the morbid history, the cathedral is stunning at night! The hangings happened in the area at the bottom right. After a little reenactment, the tour moves along toward the other side of the Royal Mile.

As you walk down a close, Ruth enjoys going into the details of the stories of the not-so-successful hangings. The alleyways in Edinburgh a.k.a close (kloʊs) are small, narrow roads with tall buildings (used to be ten stories tall) on either side which do give you an eerie feeling at night. So far I’m doing pretty good by keeping my back to the wall and being aware of the surroundings, keeping my potential scaring to a minimum. 

Then it all changed when we headed underground. The Mercat tour takes you down into the haunted Blair Street Underground Vaults. These vaults (120 rooms) were constructed during the creation of the South Bridge in 1788. Each of these vaults was used for businesses such as cobblers, taverns, and other merchants at that time. Now, a few of them are used to take unsuspecting visitors through while telling them haunted and creepy stories that raise the hair on your arms and the back of your neck. I can honestly say I was getting a bit creeped out down there in the dark with openings in the walls that I assumed something would come out and grab me. Nothing did, but my friend made sure that I thought something did. Thanks for grabbing my shoulders in the dark! I honestly didn’t need the extra scares; I was doing fine freaking myself out.

I was ever so grateful to head back up to enjoy a nice cocktail in their candlelit cellar. Here we heard more haunted tales and ghost stories beautifully told by Ruth. The whole cellar experience was misleadingly relaxing. I didn’t think anything of the screams we heard through the walls at the time. At the end of the last story, she said, “Good Luck getting out since it will be harder than getting in!”  What?

To get out, we had to go through a haunted house that they had set up. I’m not sure if they do this all the time, but it could have been set up just for the Halloween season. Either way, I was not prepared for this. As my haunted house buddy, Kayla knows that she goes in first, and I’m right behind her. I usually hold onto her shirt for dear life throughout the whole experience. Except for that one time, when a chainsaw-wielding zombie was chasing me, and I threw her behind me, ran away, and left her. Hey, if the zombie apocalypse happens, I know I’ll survive. Sorry, Kayla! I still love you!

Thank you, friend, for not being my front man on this! I have never gone through a haunted house first, and now I know why. I was screaming at the top of my lungs and crying my eyes out at the same time while he was pushing me through to the exit. I was definitely not thrilled when I got out! Oh, did I forget to mention that he was laughing his butt off the entire time I was being scared shitless!

Will I go on another Edinburgh Ghost Tour? Probably. Will he be going with me? Probably not. 

If you are interested in going on Mercat Ghost Tours, one of the best of the Edinburgh Ghost Tours, you should! It is an enjoyable evening out, with fantastic tour guides, and you can learn an incredible amount of history at the same time. Just make sure you go with someone who doesn’t trigger your fight or flight response!

What do you guys think of my haunted adventure? How do you handle going through haunted houses? Have you had any truly scary experiences on any of the Edinburgh Ghost Tours?

Thank you, Mercat Tours, for the entertaining evening! As always, opinions and screams are 100% my own.