As one of Australia's youngest cities, it might come as a surprise, says Tim the Yowie Man, to know that Canberra is the most haunted place in the nation.
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Tim keeps us informed and amused in his regular Panorama column, often mentioning ghostly things, and now he's pulled together a new book, Haunted & Mysterious Australia, documenting haunted places throughout the nation.
"Canberra is often misleadingly portrayed as sterile and full of grey-suited public servants," says Tim.
"However, many of Canberra's major national institutions are home to paranormal activity. If you scratch the surface of Canberra you can find a hidden underbelly of ghosts, ghouls and phantoms. There is a higher incidence of paranormal activity in Canberra per capita than any other Australian city.
"As well as Old Parliament House, the National Film and Sound Archive and Duntroon House, the capital's ghostly hot spots include: the National Museum of Australia, the War Memorial, the National Library, the National Gallery of Australia, Government House and Blundell's Cottage, a quaint farmer's cottage nestled on the shores of Lake Burley Griffin."
Old Parliament House is our focus here. During the recent Canberra Writers Festival the After Dark: Ghost Hunters tour was so successful, the team at the Museum of Australian Democracy have decided to run some more.
The tour takes visitors on a torch-led journey through Old Parliament House to hear haunted tales from inside the 90-year old building.
According to Tim's book, most reports of ghostly goings on in OPH come from those who work there during the witching hours – security guards and cleaners. Security guards report seeing odd apparitions while doing their regular rounds. Doors attached to a security system have been seen opening by themselves. Strange musty smells float down the main stairs late at night. There is also a spot on the ground floor where several guards in the mid-1990s were overcome with the distinctive smell of cigar smoke.
There was a famous incident some years ago during which all the security guards bailed out of the building and refused to go back in, apparently because of a ghost in one of the main chambers. Another guard even quit his job there after seeing something ghostly.
Several cleaners, whose work takes them deep into the bowels of the building long after dark, have heard the echo of a woman screaming above the hum of the vacuum cleaners.
The next tours will run on Thursday nights throughout September 7, 14, 21 and 28 starting at 8pm.
Tickets cost $20 per person and can be booked via www.moadoph.gov.au/events/ghost-hunters/
Haunted & Mysterious Australia is available through New Holland publishers for $35. Complete with full-colour photographs, illustrations and a comprehensive list of ghost tours, it's a fascinating read for anyone with an interest in things that go bump in the night - for true believers and sceptics alike.
