By NOEL MURPHY
GHOSTS and ghouls, gore and the gruesome – welcome to the seedy side of Geelong few realise lurks behind its sandstone facades and bluestone streets.
A scratch in the right places reveals spades of dead whispering undertakers, murder victim poltergeists, mischievous shop spooks, tragic baby ghosts and perplexing hauntings.
Even Moorabool, the name of the city’s main thoroughfare, is an Aboriginal word for ghost – one of which haunts National Wool Museum, situated on that very street.
Which is all very appropriate, given a frightening little soiree the museum has planned.
Flagged as a “night of fantastical stories, gruesome and untimely endings, frightful circumstances and unexplainable occurrences”, the night tour of the museum offers a chance to meet a ghost first-hand.
“You don’t want to be there alone, at night, when it’s dark,” said a frightened museum staffer.
“It starts with a feeling like, like, you aren’t alone. Then perhaps a strange noise or two and sometimes you see a figure walking along the ramps.”
The museum’s marketing department, keen to enhance the chances of making contact with the spirit, has purchased a ouija board for Melbourne outfit Twisted History’s torchlight tour.
“We opened our collection and archive for them and they selected several objects never before on display and researched numerous stories all sure to send chills down your spine,” a museum spokesperson said.
Stories and tours will vary to be suitable for all ages and constitutions, from the bravest adventurer to the meekest scaredy cat.
