It’s time to get spooky! So, in honour of Halloween, why not read about or even go looking for some actual haunted grounds and spirits. There are a number of haunted places in Christchurch that are known for some paranormal activity, so let’s dive into the list and get spooked out, shall we?
1. Quail Island
This is a quick ferry journey from Lyttleton to begin the spooky journey. Quail island offers visitors the chance to visit spots where leprosy patients where quarantined in the early twentieth-century. It later quarantined animals into the 1930s, and the eerie atmospheres can breed some spooky results.
2. The Riccarton Racecourse Hotel
This chilling hotel is said to be one of the most haunted spots in all of New Zealand, so enter if you dare. It is thought that the ghost of former owner Donald Fraser walks the hall, following his brutal murder with a double-barrelled shotgun. His own wife was acquitted on trial, but ol’ Mr. Fraser is clearly still angry about something!
3. Victoria Street
This story dates back to Christchurch in 1894. Many people in one evening (March 9, 1894) sighted a peculiar figure in white jumping towards them, particularly creeping out local young children. The figure was sighted again three days later, where they were said to even strike people over the head and look at them with fiery eyes. This lead to hysteria in the city, with people afraid to go for walks! Officers attempted to find the ghost, but after a month, it seemingly vanished. Eventually it was reported the “ghost” was, in fact, a patient from a psychiatric hospital, with fiery eyes from phosphorus rings making him look ghost like. While there is not any recorded paranormal activity here, it is part of the city’s history as it was gripped in tense hysteria at the thought of a ghost walking their streets!
4. Otira Tunnel
This one is a little drive out of Christchurch, but it’s just as spooky. As tales go, a friendly man is said to help people by Otira Tunnel, when in fact, he is simply a ghost. Hmm, strange one. He is thought to be a man from Scotland who was killed during the building of the tunnel.
5. Christchurch Gondola
Another one of the most haunted places in Christchurch. The Gondola on Mount Cavendish is always an excellent idea. However, staff working at the Gondola reported feeling hands on their shoulders when nobody is there, seeing dashes out the corner of their eyes, and feeling cold air pass over them, all towards the end of the day. The site has been blessed by a local kaumātua three times due to the activity, and the last time (2013) it seemed to have done the trick!