The Ghost Story podcast by UK journalist Tristan Redman had us hooked from the very first episode. If you haven’t listed yet, we’ll set the scene for you… Tristan is a journalist who doesn’t believe in ghosts, despite the fact that he experienced spooky things as a teenager.
When he was around 16 years old, back in the nineties, his family moved into a house on a street called Queens Rd. He slept in a bedroom on the creaky top floor where “weird things” would happen. “I’d wake up and objects would have moved across the room,” he explains in the first episode. “Specifically, this one vase. When I’d go to bed it would be on the mantelpiece and then in the morning I’d find it on the desk.”
After growing up and forgetting about it, he hears of several separate accounts of strange things happening in the same house when other families lived there. Stories about the ghost of a faceless woman appearing and sitting on the end of the bed.
Then, he meets his wife Kate. As he’s getting to know her, he finds out that there was a big murder in her family. Her grandad’s mother was killed in her own home, right next door to the one where Tristan’s family lived and weird things happened.
If that’s not enough to give you goosebumps, the way the murder happened will. “Just next door to my house, the house supposedly haunted by a faceless woman, Kate’s great grandmother was killed by two gun shots to the face,” Tristan explains.
So follows the true story of a murder mystery and the question of its connection to the ghost sightings next door.
Where are Australia’s most haunted houses?
Whether or not you believe in ghosts, it’s hard to deny that the spooky stories about them are fascinating. Especially when they’re close to home.
Some of Australia’s most beautiful, historic homes are said to be haunted by ghosts. According to legend, these five homes are the settings of some pretty terrifying stories.
1. Monte Cristo Homestead, NSW
We’ll begin with Monte Cristo Homestead, aka Australia’s most haunted house. Constructed in 1884/85, the owners envisioned the home, which is perched high on a hill, to be the grandest of the area. The house’s history is infested with suspicious deaths, ghost sightings and tragic occurrences. The original owners are said to haunt the home, as well as a caretaker who was murdered there in 1961 and a boy who was kept hidden in the homestead’s cottage for many years.
Don’t believe us? You can spend the night here and find out for yourself. Monte Cristo is open to the public from Monday to Friday for self-guided tours. Guided ghost tours run from October, and bookings are essential. For more information visit Monte Cristo Homestead’s Facebook Page.
2. Black Rock House, VIC
Heritage-listed Victorian-era Black Rock House was built in 1856 by Victoria’s first auditor-general Charles Ebden. It originally served as his holiday home, but today is owned by the Bayside City Council and operated by Friends of Black Rock House.
It is notable for its fortress-like stone walls and expansive garden. Over the years the house has attracted its fair share of myths and legends (including stories of hauntings and secret passageways. Ghost tours are held at the house in winter from June to August.
For more information, visit blackrockhouse.org
3. Barwon Park Mansion, VIC
Barwon Park Mansion is a 42-room, bluestone mansion that was built by pioneer and pastoralist Thomas Austin and his wife Elizabeth in 1871. While Thomas Austin died just six months after the home was built, his wife Elizabeth resided there for many years, before passing away in the home in 1910.
Her ghost is said to haunt the mansion, and paranormal investigation group tours are available to book for people over 13 years of age.
For more information, visit the nationaltrust.org.au
4. Whepstead House, QLD
Whepstead House, a heritage-listed villa originally known as Fernbourne, was constructed in 1889 for a sawmill proprietor. It was a private residence right up until 1943, when it was purchased by Matron Ethel Dolley and converted into a private hospital.
Many ghosts are thought to haunt the house, including the original owners and their servants. Most recently, Whepstead Manor operated as a restaurant and function centre.
5. Studley Park House, NSW
Over the years, imposing Studley Park house in Sydney’s Camden has served as a defence establishment, grammar school and private residence. Today it is a clubhouse and golf course, but that doesn’t stop the rumours about its paranormal aura.
Two schoolboys died on the property in separate incidents. The first in 1909 due to a drowning, and a second in 1939 from appendicitis.
