Greyfriars Kirkyard in Edinburgh, Scotland is notorious for its dark history and unsettling atmosphere . The cemetery has been at the centre of paranormal claims after exorcist Colin Grant died under mysterious circumstances.
A chilling photograph taken before Grant's death has resurfaced, sending shivers down the spines of viewers who claim to have spotted an eerie presence lurking in the background .
The graveyard's troubled past dates back to the Battle of Bothwell Bridge in 1679, when government forces defeated a group of Presbyterian Covenanters led by the Duke of Monmouth. Approximately 1,200 Covenanters were captured and imprisoned near the churchyard.
Many were executed or died from mistreatment, with George 'Bloody' Mackenzie, a ruthless judge, being a strong advocate for torture in Scotland.
The Covenanters' bodies were dumped into a mass grave in what is now Greyfriars Kirkyard. In a twist of fate, when Mackenzie died in 1691, he was buried in the Black Mausoleum within the same cemetery.
The graveyard quickly gained a reputation for being haunted , with numerous accounts of unexplained occurrences, including scratches and bruises appearing on visitors' faces. One woman even claimed to have been knocked over by an "icy blast" of wind coming from the mausoleum.
The cemetery's dark history has led to claims of an evil presence following visitors home and even starting fires. The photograph taken before Grant's death has reignited interest in the cemetery's paranormal past, with many believing that the exorcist's death was a result of his clash with Mackenzie's ghost .
In the late 1990s, fears of paranormal activity intensified after a homeless man took a tumble through a crumbling floor in a mausoleum and into a pit of old bones, fuelling speculation that the incident had awakened the malevolent spirit of 'Bloody' Mackenzie.
According to podcaster Mr Ballen, "A story began to circulate around town that maybe when that guy fell through the floor in the mausoleum that had released George McKenzie's evil spirit and his spirit was responsible for all these attacks."
The eerie events continued for months, culminating in the discovery of a girl lying unconscious outside the notorious mausoleum, bearing signs of strangulation. Upon regaining consciousness, her memory was eerily blank, sparking further whispers of a supernatural assault by the vengeful spirit of George McKenzie.
In response, local authorities enlisted the aid of Colin Grant, a minister turned medium, to perform an exorcism and rid the graveyard of Mackenzie's tormented soul. As Mr Ballen recounted, "If he didn't do this exorcism there was a good chance more people were going to get hurt."
The exorcism was attended by a duo, consisting of a journalist and a photographer from a local newspaper, who were present to document the events. Colin admitted to the reporter that he was having trouble with the exorcism ritual and eventually gave up trying to confront Mackenzie's ghost.
Instead, he focused on freeing the trapped spirits of around 200 Covenanters buried there. A worn-out Colin predicted that the exorcism would "be the death of him".
The ritual reached its peak around 2 am, and even the two skeptical journalists sensed that something strange was happening. Photographer Susan Burrell took one last photo of Colin, which showed a mysterious dark figure over his shoulder, seemingly peering from a window of the locked and empty church.
Susan later told colleagues that this eerie apparition had been moving when she took the photo.
"After the flash goes away," Mr Ballen recounts, "it was like the light went out of Colin and he just crumpled to the ground. The journalist immediately rushed over to check if he was OK and Colin, barely conscious at this point, kept repeating 'This is going to kill me, this is going to kill me ...'".
Colin's words turned out to be eerily accurate. The podcaster added: "Not long after this failed exorcism, Colin died inexplicably. His death came as a total shock to his friends and family."
No plausible explanation has ever been provided for Susan's photo, which seems to show the ruthless judge reaching out from beyond the grave to claim one last victim.
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