A freelance entertainer is hoping to explore some of Harrogate’s most haunted places when he launches a series of ghost hunts this month. 

Paul Forster is a mind-reader, magician and tour guide and has already led almost 2,000 paying visitors around Harrogate’s haunted hotspots – or rather, cold spots – over the past 18 months during his twice-monthly ghost walks. 

He is now offering tickets for a ghost hunt at the historic Crown Hotel, and has been given exclusive access to some of its darker recesses. 

He said: 

The ghost hunt will take place between 9pm and 1am, with 30 guests splitting into small groups in the hopes of capturing evidence of unusual activity.

Paul will be working in conjunction with paranormal investigation firm Angelic Forces, using techniques including table-tipping and glass divining, as well as specialist equipment such as digital thermometers and thermal imaging cameras to measure temperature, humidity, and electromagnetic fields. 

There are just six tickets left for the event on April 29, but Paul has already scheduled further events at the Crown Hotel on June 10 and at the Turkish Baths on June 16. 

He said:  

Paul – whose book, Haunted Harrogate, was published last year – now believes some apparitions may simply be an imprint, or “recording”, of one moment in someone’s life, rendered visible because energy has been left behind in objects, such as stone – a phenomenon described by the “Stone Tape Theory”. 

He hopes the events will attract both die-hard ghost-hunters and curious sceptics, but says whatever happens, the events will be unlike anything else. He said: 

Tickets for the Harrogate Ghost Hunt cost £49 and be booked online at www.harrogateghostwalk.com. 

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• Author on the hunt for Harrogate ghost stories


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