The spookiest tours in regional Victoria

J Ward Lunatic Asylum Ghost Tour

Halloween is the day when the living get together to honour the dead. To celebrate, here are 10 of the best ghostly, ghoulish tours across regional Victoria:

Ararat

Ararat is home to not one, but two, of Victoria’s creepiest locations. Opened in 1867, Ararat Lunatic Asylum housed tens of thousands of people described as “lunatics”, “idiots” and “imbeciles”. The building saw some of the most controversial psychiatric treatments in Australia and more than 13,000 people died here in its 130 year history – no wonder they say there are ghosts in the halls. Heath Street, Ararat, +61 1300 856 668

Just nearby is J Ward Lunatic Asylum – once home to the criminally insane including notorious criminals such as Chopper Read, Gary Webb and William Wallace. Visitors can take a ghost tour or paranormal investigation to explore the governor’s bathroom, hangman’s gallows, original kitchen, shower block, grave sites, exercise yards and grounds in search of the souls that still linger. The very bravest can spend the night sleeping in the original, unrenovated gaol cells. Girdlestone Street, Ararat, +61 1300 390 119.

Ballarat

Some say an Eerie Tour of Ballarat is the only way to learn the great haunted stories behind the city. The evening walking tour presents the unusual tales and legends of this historic town centre. Visitors can walk the streets constructed during the gold rush, explore forgotten underground buildings, visit the old gaol and learn its bloody history as the site of the highest number of executions in Victoria outside of Melbourne, and marvel at the architecture of Victorian buildings like Craig’s Royal Hotel, all while being led around by professional costumed historians and tour guides. Lydiard Street, Ballarat. +61 1300 856 668.

BeechworthBeechworth Ghost Tours runs day and night tours of the Mayday Hills Lunatic Asylum, where it is believed that patients who died violent deaths still roam the halls. The day tour is a must for lovers of history, and stories about past patients will be shared. When night falls, tales and myths of the paranormal are imparted as visitors are led though the Asylum’s wards, cells and surgical areas. The Paranormal Investigation and Dead Time Investigation, equip visitors with night vision cameras, infrared goggles, spirit boxes and motion sensors, while Lockdown, offers the chance to sleep in the wards where “Lunatics” once died. Albert Road, Beechworth, +61 447 432 816.

CastlemainePerched atop a hill, the imposing Old Castlemaine Gaol provides an ominous backdrop for a ghost tour. Those game enough can venture deep within its sandstone walls with Lantern Ghost Tours to discover the ghost of John Duffus, the last man hanged onsite, the cell of Australian serial killer Peter Dupas and the walls within which 10 prisoners were buried so their souls can never rest. With the initials of former inmates still etched on walls and the ghosts of the damned still said to be lingering, this is one building guaranteed to send shivers down even the stiffest spine. 36 Bowden Street, Castlemaine, +61 3 5470 6222.

Daylesford

More than 140 years of history are contained within the walls of Daylesford Convent Gallery so it is no surprise to hear that a few spirits are said to be lurking. The site was home to the gold commissioner during the gold rush, before becoming the eponymous convent, then a boarding school. The building closed in 1973, and fell into disrepair. While it has operated as a gallery since 1988, the Spookspotters Paranormal Research Team will take those brave enough on a lamp lit journey shedding light on the building’s darker past. 7 Daly Street, Daylesford, +61 3 5348 3211

Echuca MoamaThe Port of Echuca wharf and surrounding areas have long been associated with stories of ghosts and unexplained happenings. Port After Dark guided lantern tours enables visitors to explore the nooks and crannies of Echuca’s port side and learn about the tales of greed, murder and betrayal leading to lost souls and sightings of ghostly apparitions. 74 Murray Esplanade, Echuca, 1300 942 737.

GeelongGeelong Gaol opened in 1853 and is one of Australia’s most well preserved nineteenth century convict prisons. Twisted History offers several types of tours – all of which explore the prison after dark and take visitors through the haunting stories of convicts, murderers and lunatics who once called the three storey bluestone building home. From a more sedate day tour, through to a ghost tour and a paranormal investigation, there is something for every level of bravery. 202 Myers Street Geelong, 1300 865 800

Mount MacedonTake a twilight tour of Duneira at Mt Macedon and hear the ghostly happenings and mysterious sightings by people who previously lived in the historic homestead. Led by Duneira’s Director Jacky Ogeil, this tour of Duneira also includes wine and cheese, to help steel the nerves. Officer Lane, Mount Macedon, +613 5426 1490

Sorrento

On a Sorrento Ghost Tour, participants visit around a dozen historic sites, at least eight of which are believed to have ghostly occupants. One is the Three Palms Restaurant,  which was once a family home from whence a girl had been abducted and never found. Another stop on the tour is the Athenaeum, built in 1870. The cinema here was built about 90 years ago, and is said to be watched over by a lady in white who has been seen by a number of people. Sorrento, +61 0409 844 768

WalhallaThe former gold mining town of Walhalla is has a rich history filled with bizarre, mysterious and often tragic stories. On Walhalla Ghost Tours, visitors will be given a fascinating insight into the town’s past, told through a number of spine-tingling tales, and may be visited by a number of rumoured ghosts, including the Forgotten Children Spirits of Walhalla, the Poltergeist Horses of Church Hill Road or the Trench Coat Walker. Walhalla, +613 5165 6250