The 8 most haunted places in Australia

What many people don’t know about Canberra’s National Film and Sound Archive is that it has a long-standing history as a different kind of museum, and some supernatural spirits to go with it. Before it gave us a world of videos, the building was once the Institute of Anatomy, a prized school excursion location and tourism hotspot for more than 50 years. The most daring visitors can snoop through the secret nooks and crannies of the landmark building after dark with Tim the Yowie Man’s popular torchlight ghost tours. Rumour has it, there’s been the workings of a poltergeist in the old dissection laboratories, the now-sound recording booths, and a little girl that reportedly pops out to amuse school children in what used to be the theatrette. 

It’s said that a ghost haunts a place because it faced a violent death there. Traumatic events have occurred across many points in history at Port Arthur, both when it was a convict site and also during the Port Arthur Massacre in 1996. The onsite ghost tours dive deep into the site's colonial past, sharing eerie stories of prison guards who plunged from towers to haunt the grounds below, and entering the chilling solitary confinement cell that has had people rocking back and forth inside before. There are thousands of written reports of what people have seen here, and even creepier, is a lot of them have the same experience. 

If a ghost tour still isn’t enough to get your blood pumping, how about a paranormal lock-in? Spend the night at the North Kapunda Hotel for a holiday that’s far from hospitable. Equipped with electromagnetic field detectors and voice recorders, you’ll have all you need to garner evidence of the ghosts lingering in the joint. People have seen child spirits run in and out of the ‘nursery room’, and old publicans playing poker have been picked up in the basement. Popular TV series Haunting: Australia filmed an episode here that ended up being the most highly rated show on the night it played for its unexplainable encounters. 

For the faint of heart, a visit to Fremantle Prison will involve a historical turn around the grounds. For everyone else, a tour by torchlight awaits. The nighttime adventure on Wednesdays and Fridays might give your camera a little bit of grief – they’ve been known to suddenly stop working in the prison or photos people have taken in the gallows have shown up looking headless. If that isn’t enough to shiver your timbers, the tunnels tour will have you in a hard hat and overalls to explore the tight little cave system that convicts established many years ago. If you’re claustrophobic, don’t say we didn’t warn you. 

Junee is a tiny little NSW town near Wagga Wagga offering humble tourist attractions like the Licorice and Chocolate Factory, and… a real-life haunted house. We’re not talking about those gimmicky setups with paid actors. There are said to be more than ten ghosts that haunt the historical site, some of which were brutally murdered and some that allegedly hate animals. A detail the current homeowners discovered when they returned home to a whole coop of strangled chickens. Today, ghost tours run on the property, and the doll museum is enough to send your skin crawling.

The most popular tale of this heritage-listed graveyard is that of Spook Hill. It’s said that two girls killed in a car accident were buried at the top of Twelfth Avenue. People have reported parking their car at the bottom, leaving it in neutral and the car moving up the hill. The story goes that the girls are pulling the unsuspecting cars up so that they can roll backwards and meet a similar fate. Among even more stories, there’s even speculation that London’s Jack the Ripper is buried here. 

Far before the Fremantle Arts Centre was a, well, arts centre, it was a ‘lunatic asylum’. For that history alone, you can imagine the supernatural happenings today. Spiritual encounters have been reported since World War II when resident American soldiers believed they heard whispers and banging noises. There are various spirits said to roam the property, from old prostitutes to patients tortured by electric shock therapy. One ghost hunter said they entered the room and the whole temperature dropped drastically, before they started smelling burning human flesh. 

The first railway tunnel used by NSW Railways was opened in 1867 and closed sometime after. Since then, it’s become dark and damp, and majorly deteriorated to the point that visitors aren’t allowed inside. A woman is said to haunt the tunnel after she was hit by a train while passing through. She isn’t the only one who faced such a fate, and visitors today have witnessed flickering lights and cold gusts. The graveyard, maternity hospital and town hall are also all said to be haunted in Picton, so you can make a day out of your paranormal intrigue.