The Mackenzie Poltergeist

Greyfriars Cemetery, in Edinburgh, is home to a ghost with a terrible reputation. It’s the location of the tomb of George Mackenzie, a 17th-century Scottish lawyer.

He was responsible for 18,000 opponents of King Charles II being put to death, which earned him the nickname “Bluidy Mackenzie.”Back in 1999, a homeless man broke into the tomb in order to find shelter from the cold. Then he climbed into the coffin, and it all went wrong.

The coffin crumbled all over the terrified man, and he ended up running away, covered in the dust of the long-dead man. This thoroughly terrified a dog walker, who probably thought he was seeing a ghost. But the real ghosts were yet to come.

People soon started making claims about unusual activity around the tomb. The city council closed the cemetery to the public until local tour guide Jan-Andrew Henderson set up an official ghost tour. Since then, 350 people claim to have been attacked by a poltergeist around the tomb. There have been stories of broken bones caused by the spirit, and 170 people have passed out during the tour.

If that wasn't enough reason to check out Greyfriars cemetery then maybe the grave of Thomas Riddell might be. J.K. Rowling has said that the grave may well have been a subconscious influence in her choice of name for Harry Potter's nemesis Lord Voldemort.