By Kelly McAlpine,    

If you’re looking for the best ghoulish goings on as Hallowe’en draws near, then make Dalriada Lodges your base to dabble in the dark side of Scotland’s past.

Scotland has long been a place of supernatural occurrences, and the North-east corner could surely lay claim to the title most haunted.

Within an hour’s drive of our luxury lodges, you’ll find a selection of spooky spots that offer more than a fair share of spine-chilling connections.

Eerie Ruins

Dunnottar Castle, with its cliff top setting near Stonehaven, is practically on our doorstep and can be seen from all of our lodges.

This dramatic and evocative fortress is steeped in history and holds many secrets and mysteries, having been attacked by Vikings, captured by William Wallace and visited by Mary Queen of Scots, with part of the castle used as a prison in years gone by.

It’s said that two ghostly apparitions have been sighted at Dunnottar - a girl wearing a plaid dress has been seen at the location, and a man of Scandinavian appearance having been spotted entering the guard room.

Head north up the coast and near Cruden Bay you will find the eerie ruins of Slains Castle, perched on the edge of a cliff which, like Dunnottar, has the fierce North Sea as it’s neighbour.

Bram Stoker’s classic vampire story Dracula is thought to have been inspired by Slains Castle and a visit to the spot will leave you in no doubt why. The atmospheric ruins would certainly set imaginations racing and could indeed have inspired the story of the infamous vampire.

Petrifying Prison

Peterhead Prison Museum has a distinct atmosphere all of its own. Visit the former Victorian prison and learn of its turbulent past as you see round the cells, the exercise yard, kitchen, hospital, and punishment block. It earned the reputation of being Scotland’s toughest jail and true stories, like how the prisoners rioted and took a warden hostage, who was eventually rescued by the SAS, are enough to send a shiver down the spine!

Gruesome Ghost Tours

The murky past of the city of Aberdeen is laid bare on ghost tours and hunts. Hidden Aberdeen Tours reveal the Terror Tales of Torry, Ghosts of Gilcomston, and takes brave adventurers on a Ghost Hunt.

Creepy Castles

Grand and imposing properties in the care of the National Trust for Scotland are said to have their own resident ghosts. Fyvie Castle, shares the tale of Lilias Drummond who died at the castle in 1601. Legend goes that she was starved to death by her husband. Others say she died from a broken heart.

Crathes Castle near Banchory is reputed to be haunted by the restless spirit of the Green Lady, a ghostly apparition who wears a green robe. In the 1800s skeletal remains were found behind the fireplace in a room she has been seen in. Was she a servant girl, or ward of the Laird who disappeared soon after having a child?

If you'd rather not venture out, why not stay in the comfort and warmth of your lodge and have a traditional Hallowe’en party, carving pumpkins, ducking for apples and watching your favourite horror films?

Or, if all this ghost talk has proved too much, why not turn the spotlight on spirits of a different kind – whisky? Revive the soul by taking a tour of Royal Lochnagar Distillery near Ballater, which includes a sample of its award-winning malt. Queen Victoria and Prince Albert visited in 1848, and HRH Prince Charles, The Duke of Rothesay, called in last year.