Adelaide’s haunted places to avoid – or visit – this Friday the 13th
It’s Friday the 13th, and while the superstitious treat the day with trepidation, InDaily has compiled a list of haunted places for those who like a spook.
There are few superstitions as pervasive in Western culture than that of Friday the 13th.
It comes from a deep-rooted superstition that the number 13 brings bad luck, misfortune and, in the most extreme cases, death.
Fear of the number 13 even has its own name — triskaidekaphobia. Fear of Friday the 13th also has its own even more rarely used word — paraskevidekatriaphobia.
But is there any reason to really be scared?
For anyone with grave (wink, wink) concerns, we’ve spoken to host Adelaide Haunted Horizons owner Alison Oborn and compiled a list of the city’s most haunted spots for you to avoid – or visit.
Adelaide Gaol
One of the oldest public buildings in SA, Adelaide Gaol has built a reputation as one of the city’s scariest sites.
It was the scene of 45 executions and about 300 other deaths over its 147-year working life, Oborn says.
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“Adelaide Gaol has long been known to be haunted,” Oborn says.
“Everything from a woman in white, (the sound of) footsteps following, voices echoing through the buildings, and the sound of slamming doors have all been reported.
“We have now been there 24 years and continue to have strange happenings.”
Creepy.
Z Ward
Originally just one ward within the then-named Parkside Lunatic Asylum precinct, Z Ward had developed a strong presence (get it?) within the paranormal community.
“Security patrols and people hanging outside often described strange sounds and figures in the upper windows,” Oborn says.
“Since operating in the building for 12 years, there have certainly been challenging moments.
“Including what sounds like an old gentleman mumbling, who has also been witnessed walking down the hallway.”
Freaky, right?
Adelaide Arcade
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Adelaide Arcade is one of the city’s most fashionable – and tragic – places, according to Oborn.
“It hold some dark stories within its walls.”
Its caretaker lost his life there in an accident, and a woman died in one of the shops after being shot by her vengeful ex-husband, Oborn says.
“Two children have also been heard running around the balcony in the early hours of the morning, but no one is there.”
Gulp.
Torrens Island Quarantine Station
Speaking of places with a tragic past, Torrens Island Quarantine Station was established to protect the country from the spread of infection diseases, like smallpox and Spanish Flu.
Travellers on affected ships would be sent there, Oborn explains, with some losing their lives, isolated from loved ones.
It was also used as an internment camp in WWI, where conditions were harsh and sometimes brutal, according to Oborn.
“here have been many stories from here, including a shadow figure photographed and witnessed more than once, and even a playful child humming a tune caught on audio.”
Other ghostly mentions
A roundup of other spooky listings in the Adelaide City library’s Allen Tiller collection covers numerous other sightings from Tandanya in the city’s east end – where visitors have reported seeing “shadows” of people in the building – to the university’s Mortlock Library on North Terrace.
It is reported in the Tiller notes during a refurbishment of the Mortlock Library in the mid 1970’s a female cleaner saw an apparition of a woman in a long flowing grey gown.
The Adelaide Central Market released a security footage tape in 2014 of what they allege to be a ghostly presence in the market, according notes in the collection.
While the old Synagogue building off Rundle Street is thought to be haunted by a former Rabbi from the buildings period as a Jewish Synagogue.
And there are claims a spirit haunts the Freemason Grand Lodge on North Terrace and Government House has a “presence”.
The Tiller collection claims Pulteney Grammar School has been linked to reports of paranormal activity at Allan Wheaton House and ghosts have long been part of the history of the old Royal Adelaide Hospital where a grey matron or nurse spirit was said to walk the halls.
