Ghouls and ghosts: Australia's dark tourism industry

Australian Community Media

What does it take to be a ghost hunter or paranormal tour guide?

Transcript

00:00What makes someone chase ghosts down dark alleys and stumble through cemeteries with

00:12a pack of tourists on Halloween night?

00:14Well, I spoke to some of Australia's spookiest tourism operators to find out why they love

00:20what they do.

00:21It's so interesting to see what sort of people come on the tours.

00:24No two tours I've ever run have been the same.

00:27It's always a very different group of interesting people that will come, and I find that everyone

00:34that comes on these ghost tours has always got very interesting stories.

00:37Ice Ice Baby, that's not her real name, leads silent disco dance parties through Castlemaine

00:43in country Victoria.

00:45Ghouls and goblins and monsters and mischief and vixens come out in hordes in Castlemaine

00:52to robe the streets, howling and eating brains.

00:59She runs these tours with her company Detour to make the people around her smile.

01:05We were zombies and we went into the local Chinese restaurant and the owners were wondering

01:15what was going on and filmed us.

01:16It's fantastic how outrageous everybody's acting and people love it.

01:23But there are some on-the-job risks.

01:26I've always been very interested in the supernatural, but I hadn't had my own experience until one

01:34of the stories that I share on the tour.

01:36I was standing in the middle of the road, telling a ghost story on the tour, and then

01:43I saw out of the corner of my eye this 1920s style car turn up the road and came speeding

01:50towards me.

01:51It was coming so fast I didn't have time to move out of the way, and I felt it hit me.

01:55And then I looked at everyone in the group and they all appeared to me like I was going

01:59crazy and it disappeared.

02:02And I was honestly so excited when that happened because it was my first proper experience.

02:07So would you want to be a ghost hunter or a Halloween dance captain?

02:13I would love to be a ghost hunter.

02:14I would love to be a ghost captain.

02:15I would love to be a ghost captain.

02:16I would love to be a ghost captain.

02:17I would love to be a ghost captain.

02:18I would love to be a ghost captain.

02:19I would love to be a ghost captain.

02:20I would love to be a ghost captain.

02:21I would love to be a ghost captain.

02:22I would love to be a ghost captain.

02:23I would love to be a ghost captain.

02:24I would love to be a ghost captain.

02:25I would love to be a ghost captain.

02:26I would love to be a ghost captain.

02:27I would love to be a ghost captain.

02:28I would love to be a ghost captain.

02:29I would love to be a ghost captain.

02:30I would love to be a ghost captain.

02:31I would love to be a ghost captain.

02:32I would love to be a ghost captain.

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