Turning up the spook factor

This Halloween, we're visiting some of Australia's spookiest destinations, where you can join in the hair-raising fun.

There's no doubt people love ghosts. Whether it's because of the intriguing possibility of a world beyond this one that they provide evidence of, the excitement of feeling that you're starring in your very own ghost story, or simply that addiction to being scared out of your skin that keeps millions of us going to horror movies every year, we can't stop seeking out spooks and spectres to bring a thrill into our lives.

It is therefore exceedingly fortunate that our country is so well-stocked with places to cater to our love of phantoms. From tiny outback towns to big cities across every state and territory, tales of the supernatural abound. Some of the most picturesque and travel-worthy spots in Australia are bursting with ghosts: indeed, there are many destinations where you can be treated to guided ghost tours and overnight stays in haunted rooms. The historical gaols and cemeteries of our country are naturally prime locations for the dear departed to make their presence known: but there are plenty of less obvious locations that are perfect for satisfying both the traveller and the spook-seeker in you. Here are some of the best.

Once an important stop for travellers on the old Hume Highway, Picton is a gorgeous little berg just a quick drive south-west of Sydney. As such it is full of interest for history buffs, with sites such as the old courthouse, St Mark's Anglican Church and the George IV Inn - one of the oldest hotels in Australia - providing a glimpse into colonial times. The Historic Picton Walking Tour is a handy way to drink in the town's past while also enjoying its pastoral prettiness.

But for those looking to delve into the supernatural, the landmarks are of less interest than the ectoplasmic beings dwelling therein. Picton may, in fact, be the most haunted town in Australia, boasting as it does such eldritch attractions as the old Mushroom Tunnel - this disused railway tunnel, also used previously as a mushroom farm and a storage space for mustard gas in wartime, is home to the spirit of Emily Bollard, who can be seen in the centre of the tunnel, where she was struck by a train and killed in 1916.

You might also enjoy meeting the variety of ghosts at the Wollondilly Shire Hall, or the nasty matron at the old maternity hospital - visitors to the building that once housed the hospital have reported being woken in the night by invisible hands around their throats. As an added bonus for the visitor to Picton, it's just a short trip to Campbelltown, where the Festival of Fisher's Ghost is held every November to celebrate the region's most famous haunting. visitwollondilly.com.au; campbelltown.nsw.gov.au

If there's a rival to Picton as Australia's most haunted town, it's Kapunda in South Australia. But there can surely be no rival to the North Kapunda Hotel as the nation's most haunted single building. Indeed, the pub now trades off its motley crew of spectres, offering ghost tours of the premises and "paranormal lockins", where visitors are locked in to the hotel overnight and supplied with voice recorders and electromagnetic field detectors so as to collect proof of the macabre goings-on they experience. These might include encounters with the atmospherically named Dr Blood, or the Man In Black, a vicious spirit who roams the corridors leaping out and shouting at unwary guests, and indeed other ghosts.

The Man In Black is definitely out to torment you, but many of the hotel's incorporeal residents are more wistful in nature. You might run into Hue, a miner who had his leg amputated and died in room 14; or Sarah, the young girl who haunts the nursery. You can hang out in Sarah's bedroom, an eerie little spot just as she left it.

Or you can brave the Hallway to Hell, where you may hear and feel the presence of any number of unhappy souls reaching out to the material world. All in all, North Kapunda cannot be beaten for a venue that goes out of its way to satisfy the discerning ghost aficionado. ghost-crime-tours.com.au

Monte Cristo Homestead is probably the only building that can compete with the North Kapunda pub for the title of Most Haunted. It sits majestically on a hill overlooking the town of Junee in NSW's beautiful Riverina region. The lush green meadows and rolling uplands of the area provide a stunning backdrop for the bloodcurdling horrors to be found within this stately late-Victorian manor.

The house is gorgeous, but the residents have, historically, tended to have rotten luck. There are estimated to be at least 10 ghosts hanging around the place today: from Christopher Crawley, who built the place, to his wife, who lived in the attic for 20 years in her grief at his death, to the maid who jumped to her death from the balcony, to the disabled child who was kept chained in the coach room, to the stableboy who burnt to death after his boss tried to wake him up by setting his bed on fire.

For a reasonable fee you can hear all the screams, chain-rattles and general mayhem that these unhappy spirits provide on the regular. Turn up between 10am and 4pm on a weekend for a daytime tour, or for the truly stout-hearted, book in for an overnight stay and night tour, with dinner and breakfast included. The hospitality is top-notch, although a night among the spirits can't be guaranteed to be particularly restful. montecristo.com.au

The penal colony at Port Arthur was built on a lovely spot, but the unfortunate convicts transported there found it hard to appreciate the scenery. The Port Arthur Historical Site is a fascinating place to explore for anyone interested in Australia's rich, if brutal, colonial history.

For those interested in what those convicts may have left behind, there's the Port Arthur Ghost Tour, where black-cloaked guides will lead you by lantern-light through the grim shadowy ruins of the old prison. Since the 19th-century, tales of ghosts have sent shivers down spines at Port Arthur, with the ruins now open to anyone whose spine is feeling shiver-deprived. More than a thousand people died at the penal colony, and as you walk through the darkness listening to the stories of the place, it's easy to believe a goodly amount of them are still there in some form.

The 1830 Restaurant and Bar is nearby if you want a good meal beforehand - nobody likes being haunted on an empty stomach. portarthur.org.au

Old Melbourne Gaol was, of course, the site of Ned Kelly's demise, but there's many more gallons of history to down at this imposing pile in Melbourne's CBD. You can check out the gallows, admire the creepy death masks of the gaol's former residents, and duck into a cell to experience just how claustrophobic life as a prisoner in the 19th century must have been. And, of course, there are those inmates who refuse to leave.

Visitors to Old Melbourne Gaol have reported eerie sensations, terrifying apparitions, and even being scratched and punched by unseen assailants. If you'd like to cop a similar battering your best bet is the Old Melbourne Gaol Ghost Tour, on which you will be taught the gaol's history - both natural and supernatural - and hopefully bump into those things that go bump in the night.

If you're afraid of the dark, or of confined spaces, this tour is not for you, as it is involves liberal helpings of both. A variety of different daytime tours are available for the more fainthearted, or those who wish to soak up the history in a slightly less bone-chilling manner. And then there's the Hangman's Night Tour, for those who conversely want to turn the scares up to 11. oldmelbournegaol.com.au

On the west coast of Tasmania is the splendid old town of Zeehan. Once a rival in importance to Hobart and Launceston, Zeehan is now a quieter and more relaxing berg, of great appeal for its proximity to Ocean Beach, prime fishing spots and beautifully-preserved historical buildings within the West Coast Heritage Centre.

Included in these is the glorious Gaiety Theatre, built in 1898 and once Australia's biggest concert hall, but now mainly of interest for the mischievous phantasms who like to muck around in it.

Theatres are frequently great places to find ghosts - presumably because the theatrical life is hard to give up even post-mortem - and the Gaiety is especially great if you want to meet a ghost of a more genteel or friendly disposition than your average gaol or asylum inhabitant.

Old Tailem Town, at Tailem Bend on the Murray River south-east of Adelaide, lays claim to the title of Australia's largest pioneer village, and is a tribute to the can-do spirit of founder Peter Squires, who began the task in 1982 of transporting historic buildings from around Australia to build a somewhat ramshackle but compellingly authentic colonial throwback. The rough and ready little town features highlights like a school from 1881, a ticket office from 1870 and antiques from bakeries to train carriages, all tastefully appointed with real period accoutrements.

And naturally (at least if you believe the legends) with more than a hundred buildings brought from around the country, they've tended to bring their resident ghosts with them. By day, romp about and play at living in the olden days: by night, choose from the Ghost Tour, which exposes you to tales of terrifying occurrences in the town's buildings, or the Ghost Hunt, which arms you with paranormal detection equipment and lets you loose to track down some spooks for yourself. The weather-beaten look of the place, and the night sounds permeating the lonely streets of what is in more ways than one a real ghost town, make trekking through Tailem Town at night an especially eerie experience, even by ghost tour standards. tailemtown.com.au

Oyster Harbour is one of the most stunning locations in Western Australia. A permanently open estuary in the state's south, near Albany, it's a prime spot for fishing, swimming, boating or just hanging out enjoying the serenity. You can cruise up the Kalgan River, or admire the thousands of waterbirds that congregate in the 15-square-kilometre harbour. It's worth a trip there for the natural beauty alone, but for lovers of ghost stories Oyster Harbour really is a hidden treasure. You won't find professional ghost tours here, but you will find one of the most heartrending stories of undying love you could hope for.

For the harbour is haunted by the ghost of Catherine, a young Irish woman whose husband Cathal was falsely convicted of a crime and transported to Australia, where the determined lady tracked him down 10 years later. After sending word to Cathal, she awaited his boat sailing across the harbour. But just as he came into sight, Cathal stood to wave to his wife, overbalancing the boat, and fell into the harbour and drowned.

Catherine died of a broken heart and to this day her spirit walks the shore, hoping to be reunited with her beloved Cathal. If you go down to the pier you might see or hear or yourself - at the very least you can gaze upon the pristine waters and feel the power of the tragic tale echoing through the centuries. westernaustralia.com