Ghost in Edinburgh Ghost Tour Pics: Fact or Faked?

Here we go again, another ghost tour claiming it caught a ghost not once but twice in pictures during its ghost tour.

STV broke the story Friday in “Mystery as ‘ghost’ appears in two photos from Edinburgh tours.”

photo of "ghost" on Edinburgh ghost tour; pic from STV article

Apparently staff at the Real Mary King’s Close feel the blond woman in both photos was not a customer on the tour. But I didn’t exactly understand from the article how it came to be that people noticed the “apparition” in the photos in the first place.

Staff were first alerted to their unexpected visitor last October, when a member of the public queried their souvenir photograph. A few weeks later, the same thing happened with a different tourist, and staff say they have been trying to figure out what is going on ever since.

Why would a member of the public query the souvenir photograph? (I’m assuming by “souvenir” they mean the tour company takes a picture of all the ghost tour takers to take home to remember their experience by.) What was it that made the person question the photo at all? That sounds fishy to me.

And the pictures aren’t all that great. Everyone looks pretty “ghostly” in them really. But the lady that’s supposedly the ghost looks just like any of the other tour takers. There’s really nothing supernatural looking about her.

I’m thinking this is another Barwon ghost girl kind of gimmick. Especially when I read:

They have now introduced later night tours for the month of August in a bid to get to the bottom of the mystery.

Lisa Robshaw, spokesperson for The Real Mary King’s Close, said: “We hope that by extending the hours of opening we can get to the bottom of this mystery.

Apparently they’ve tested the camera they use to take the photos and swear they haven’t doctored the photos. I don’t think they doctored the photos. I think they’re doctoring the story to create hype and drum up more business for their ghost tours.

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I’d love it if I was wrong for a change, but I have a feeling someone will reveal the mysterious blond’s identity eventually and it will again turn out to be a real live flesh and blood person.

And 10 to 1 the ghost tour company plays the “We had no way of knowing” card. They’ve left themselves that opening by stating:

“If there are people in the images who can explain who the lady is we would love to hear from them. We’ve tested the static camera that we use and it appears to be working normally so we really do not have an explanation. We just want to try and understand what has happened.”

I think I know what’s happened. It’s called a PR move.

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7 Comments

  1. Done many if not all of the ghost tours in Edinburgh a few times….they are all a bit gimmicky 🙂 But I do love them! I will be back in November, I will do some field work for you 😀

    Cheers!

  2. Author

    Oh yeah! I forgot about you being Ms. Scotland! LUCKY DAMN DUCK! Can I stow away in your suitcase? (Nope, scratch that. With the way airlines charge for bags these days it’d be cheaper for me to buy my own seat! LOL)

    Field work? FANTASTIC! You’re hired! I’ll look forward to hearing what you find out!

  3. I agree with Jason…most are hyped to the point of the ridiculous anymore. Like those “Documentaries” on TV where they can’t just tell you the story, they have to have the music and special effects. I hate that. makes it seem, I dunno, cheap and hokey.

    I remember one ghost tour in New Orleans. Now, It’s New Orleans, you don’t really need any theatrics to make something seem creepy, but this woman was dressed as a vampire and she had hired people to jump out at certain points. The actors where all dressed like the ghost she was talking about. It was awful!

  4. I was on this tour last summer. I was pretty disappointed; we went out at dusk (which isn’t dark considering the sun sets later at night than in the US). It was mainly walking around back alleys and stopping once and a while when someone would come flying out to scare us. It was nice to hear the stories, but it would have been better to go inside the buildings and cut the acting portion. The back alleys of Edinburgh’s cobble-stone streets are pretty creepy on their own!

  5. Author

    And Mandy, I hit submit comment before I had a chance to say THANKS for stopping by with your comment. I have never been to Edinburgh (or Scotland at all for that matter!), but I would LOVE to go. But I would not be happy going on a ghost tour with people popping out at me. THANKS for the warning so when I do go I’ll know!

  6. Author

    Sigh. I just now realized I never thanked Mommy D or Jason for their insightful comments either. Sorry. I enjoyed reading what you both had to say and chuckled as I nodded my head in agreement!

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