To mark halloween in Canberra, ghost tour guide Tim the Yowie Man shines the spotlight on our region's Top five haunted houses, all of which you can visit at various times of the year… if you dare!

Located on the desolate Monaro Plain near Bombala and hidden behind a stand of century-old exotic pines, this 32-room gothic-style mansion is home to a veritable gaggle of Victorian-era ghosts.

Haunted by: During the past 10 years that former Canberran Steve Rickett has lived alone in this spook house he has encountered several apparitions including the ghost of a girl leering at him from the end of his bed and the vision of Miss Edith (who ran the homestead as High Victorian right into the 1950s) "hovering" near the fish pond. Rickett has also endured shuffling wardrobes, phantom phone calls and random knocks.

Recent sightings: While filming the The Haunted Tales of Burnima Homestead, the just-released first episode to Tim the Yowie Man – The Series, several crew members experienced strange happenings. Assistant director Olga Royfman was "alarmed" by an "unknown force pushing her" on a ground floor veranda and sound technician Dylan Anderson battled with "weird interference on the wireless microphone" in an upstairs bedroom.

Scare Factor: High, especially on a cold misty winter's evening.

Take me there: There are regular open days on the first Saturday of the month. Call ahead to confirm 02 6458 3042 or contact@burnima.com.au. Night tours: www.yowieman.com.au

Built in 1833 by merchant shipper Robert Campbell, Duntroon House is the oldest building in Canberra. These days it is primarily used as the Officer's Mess for the Royal Military College but it's not just our top brass that wander its stately corridors and around its dark corners.

Haunted by: During the 1970s, college residents began to report glimpses of a glowing ghost of a young woman in 19th century period costume. Soon after, some residents also complained that a bed, freshly made in the morning, would be found in as if it had been slept in later in the day, with pillows hurled around the room.

This room, on the first floor, once belonged to Sophia Susanna Campbell (Robert's grand-daughter), who, on May 31, 1885, aged just 28, died after apparently falling from the room's window. Speculation to this day remains as to whether she was pushed, or jumped. One version of the story even suggests poor Sophia died after attempting to replicate an acrobat with her friends after seeing a circus the night before and died after falling badly.

Recent Sightings: Earlier this month, Angela Binos of Isabella Plains snapped a photo of what appears to be a face near a tree in the gardens of Duntroon House. "The afternoon I took that photo I visited my son who works at Duntroon Car Care," reports Binos, adding, "he wanted to show me the gardens so we took a walk over there and took the photo." Binos didn't look at the photo until later that night, but when she did, confesses, "it immediately freaked me out!"

Scare Factor: High, several top brass of the military refuse to stay in Sophia's former room.

Take me there: Duntroon House is off-limits to the public, except on annual Open Days, usually held in August or September.

This quaint cottage, now on the banks of Lake Burley Griffin harbours a dark past.

Haunted by: The apparition of a teenage girl playing in the English gardens around this historic rubble-stone relic from the mid-1800s is thought by paranormal investigators to be the ghost of Florrie Blundell, who died in 1892 at the age of 16 as a result of burns sustained in an ironing accident.

Recent sightings: Last month, several visitors to the heritage-listed cottage - now a museum - reported being overcome with the "disturbing odour of burning human flesh".

Scare Factor: Medium, far from a malevolent spirit, several spiritualists claim Florrie actually enjoys visitors.

Take me there: Blundells Cottage is open on Saturday afternoons. 10am-2pm. More: 02 6272 2902 or www.nca.gov.au

Regal trimmings aren't the only treasure to be found at this 1891 historic homestead, now the official residence of Australia's governor-general.

Haunted by: Several people, including Sir Murray Tyrell who was private secretary to a succession of governors-general from 1947 to 1973, claim to have encountered a spectre climbing the spiral stairs of the heritage-listed residence. Some believe it could be the ghost of an indigenous boy who was allegedly buried beneath a deodar tree in what are now the grounds of Government House in the 1840s.

Recent sightings: It's been a while between sightings of this ghost, possibly attributable to the lack of access.

Scare Factor: Medium, if you are going to be scared out of your wits, with security cameras capturing every movement here, at least you'd have your ghost encounter on film.

Take me there: There are regular open days at Government House.

No list of haunted houses is complete without mention of Monte Cristo, a two-storey mansion in Junee, regarded by many as Australia's most haunted.

Haunted by: Original inhabitants, William and Elizabeth Crawley are thought to be the source of most of the ghostly goings-on, including a phantom piano player and a chattering "female voice".

Recent sightings: Although not a recent sighting, a photo taken by Katherine Saliba in 2004 has just come to light. Some of Saliba's friends and family believe the figure in the reflection of the mirror may be the ghost of Mrs Crawley as "no one else was near her when she took the photo". Saliba snapped the photo and "a bunch of others of the furniture" to show her mother who is interested in antiques. Apparently her mother only noticed the figure "when she was looking at the photos at home sometime after".

Scare Factor: High, an after-dark snoop around Monte Cristo is not for the faint-hearted. Sceptics sometimes leave as true believers.

Take me there: There are regular day and ghost tours of Monte Cristo. www.montecristo.com.au