Chapter 1

“Welcome to our Ghost Walk 2023. We do these every year on this day 31st October. Now, I’ve been asked a couple of times what the cost is, so just to be clear; there is no charge. Yes, I know, something that is free! Probably means it is rubbish doesn’t it? Well maybe, but you can decide at the end of the walk to pay what you think it is worth.

I hope you are all fit and healthy, because there is a fair amount of walking to do from now until we end at 12. The witching hour! Ha ha.

I will tell you all about the macabre and maniacal; the tragic and sad; and the just plain stupid along the way.

My name is Luke Minster, my gravestone is up on the hill over yonder, and I’ll tell you my story first. Come a little closer.”

The speaker was dressed plainly, but in nineteenth century farming clothes. He spoke well and clearly. The group clustering around him were the usual mixture. A couple of teenage boys out for a laugh; three families visiting the seaside town, two with bored teenage daughters around sixteen, one had a younger sister, the other a brother of eighteen. The third family was three generations: grand parents on one side, two parents, and a girl of nineteen. It was odd what some people chose to do of a night. The grandfather had ‘Tales of Ghosts’ in his hand. He was keen on this walk and intended to check each fact as it came up. Three women were there too; they were due on a Hen Do the following day and thought this would pass the time. They had travelled up a day early because it was a long way. So, eighteen people in total, an easy number to cope with. One year they had had thirty and he had had to summon a second guide. Another year only four arrived. They only did it once a year, on this night. It seemed a good night to do it.