Source: Pixabay on Pexels.
It’s going to get a lot colder before the first shoots of spring arrive to taunt us with the promise of summer but there’s no reason why the inclement weather has to mean a February indoors; in fact, there are plenty of experiences in the North East that might benefit from a frosty backdrop or a biting wind.
Whether you’re a fan of the paranormal and enjoy a “ghost walk” around the city centre (there’s reportedly a gypsy piper – Jimmy Allen – haunting a prison cell under Elvet Bridge in Durham) or like to spend an evening solving puzzles with friends, trying to escape a locked room, the North East has you covered.
Eyeballs in Jars
Humans have had an obsession with the myrmidons of the night for thousands of years, and that fascination continues to influence popular culture – if you’ve never dressed up for Halloween, you’ve almost certainly encountered US TV show The Walking Dead, or a video game like Resident Evil; in fact, gamers get the lion’s share of creepy content, with casino brands borrowing heavily from the horror genre in recent years.
Vegas Casino, a brand unique for operating exclusively in the Bitcoin cryptocurrency, carries slot machines with classic monsters on the reels and offers a 1,000mBTC welcome bonus for new players to online Casino Angebote. Frankenslots Monster, for example, a 5-reel, 20-payline game, is a jaunt through the mind of a digital Mary Shelley, with eyeballs in jars, electronic gizmos, and the obligatory mad scientist as a chaperone. It’s a great warm-up for an eerie night, such as one of our favourites, below:
Durham Ghost Walk
Taking place on the first Sunday of every month, the Durham Ghost Walk is led by the local Paranormal Research Group and takes in the city’s castle, where poltergeist activity persists in the disused Room 21 (there’s a Grey Lady on the Black Staircase too); Gilesgate, the location of a haunted barracks, and a number of other locations around the city.
Source: Unsplash on Pexels.
Blyth Gun Battery
While not an event as such, ghost hunters can still book to visit this abandoned First World War bunker on the South Beach in Blyth. The installation has a grisly history and is reportedly haunted by a man in a white apron. The disembodied sound of children laughing and the presence of a violent poltergeist make this one a must-visit for the especially stout-hearted.
Escape Rooms Durham
The only example of an escape room in Durham, this thrilling activity is based out of Saddler Street in the city centre, and tasks teams of 3-6 people with solving puzzles to earn their freedom – against a rising tide of (mercifully fake) toxic gas. With two rooms (the Study and the Lab), Escape Rooms Durham is a unique way to spend an afternoon with the family.
The Ship Isis
A pub in Sunderland, and one associated with Mary Ann Cotton, one of England’s first serial killers, The Ship Isis reportedly has the ghosts of a woman and a little girl in residence – perhaps even Cotton and one of her victims, doomed to wander the halls of this Grade II building forever. After all, two of Cotton’s victims are reportedly buried somewhere onsite.
As a final bit of advice, if you’d like to take a wander around the haunted North East on your own, make sure you say “hello” to the White Lady of Crook Hall, the late chief of Durham University at Owengate, and the numerous spooks on The Bailey, a street wracked with unusual goings-on, including the appearance of a strange man in a nightcap. Just remember – even the dead can’t get to you if you run fast enough.
For the rest of us timid folk, there are still plenty of opportunities for a good scare in the safety of the living room with Reel Fear and Vampire Fortune, two more horror slots from Vegas Casino.