5 SPOOKY SPOTS TO TAKE YOUR CHILDREN

It might look idyllic, but the seemingly charming Kentish village of PLUCKLEY is officially the most haunted in England. The Guinness Book of World Records awarded the village its title in 1989, thanks to the dozen or so ghosts that are said to haunt Pluckley’s pub, its brickworks, the local woods and various other sites around the hamlet. Look out for a highwayman, a headmaster, and maybe even a coach and horses dashing through the streets.

The windswept Scottish island of ST KILDA has all the ingredients for a spooky stay. At the far western end of the Outer Hebrides, its mist-draped cliffs and rugged sea stacks make up the most remote place in the whole of the British Isles. The island was abandoned in 1930, so once the boat drops you off, you’ll be the only ones here. Explore the deserted stone cottages and try not to think too much about St Kilda’s grim history – dozens of crews have been shipwrecked here over the centuries, and when the islanders finally left, there was no room on the boats for their dogs, who were drowned at sea instead.

Castles, wolves and the historical home of Count Dracula – Romania’s TRANSYLVANIA is the perfect place to scare the bejesus out of your kids. Bram Stoker’s bloodsucking vampire was based on the very real figure of Vlad Tepes, who was known as Vlad the Impaler for reasons you can probably imagine. You can visit Bran Castle, a Gothic-looking fortress that was supposedly his home, and go wolf-tracking in the nearby Carpathian Mountains for extra chills.

SALEM in Massachusetts is famous for the witch trials that devastated the town in the 1690s, when a frenzy of paranoia and gossip resulted in the executions of 19 people for witchcraft. It’s brilliantly captured in Arthur Miller’s play The Crucible (a classic GCSE text, so this is a good one for older children). Salem embraces Halloween, and there are over 500 events throughout October, from fancy-dress parades to haunted bus tours, but make sure you at least visit the Witch Museum and the town cemetery – if you dare.

With over 1000 years of history, it’s no surprise that DUNSTER CASTLE is home to all sorts of ghostly apparitions and, according to the castle’s warden, things that go bump in the night. Destroyed by Oliver Cromwell during the English Civil War, the castle is now said to be home to the ghostly figures of Cavalier soldiers and a man who haunts the gift shop. There are regular reports of mysterious green lights, and dogs allegedly refuse to go near the dungeon where the skeletons of several prisoners were found. The National Trust, who own the castle, have even had one of the castle’s staircases exorcised. If none of that has put you off, then you’re ready to join one of the regular candle-lit ghost tours.

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