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Since late 1998, Greyfriars Churchyard has been the site of unexplained events linked in the popular imagination to the ghost of Mackenzie, two days after a "vagrant" had broken into his tomb to find shelter . More than 500 attacks had been reported in 2006. Visitors reported being cut, bruised, bitten, scratched and most commonly blacking out. Some complained later of bruises, scratches and gouge-marks on their bodies. Most attacks and feelings of unease occurred in MacKenzie's Black Mausoleum and the Covenantors Prison. An exorcist, Colin Grant, tagged along by journalist Claire Gardener,was brought in to perform an exorcism ceremony, but soon claimed that the forces were too overpowering, and feared that they could kill him. A few weeks later, he died of a heart attack.
Edinburgh City Council closed off that part of the cemetery until an Edinburgh-based historian and author, Jan Andrew Henderson, persuaded the council to allow controlled visits to that part of the churchyard and in turn this developed into a nocturnal guided tour, which became a local attraction. Of the visitors who have taken the tour, over 400 have reported feeling various sensations of being touched, pulled, grabbed or similar and many of them have returned home to find dark bruising and/or deep scratches on their faces, necks, hands, bodies or legs.
The Greyfriars Cemetery is reputedly haunted. One such haunt is attributed to the restless spirit of the infamous 'Bloody' George Mackenzie buried there in 1691. The 'Mackenzie Poltergeist' is said to cause bruising, bites and cuts on those who come into contact with it and many visitors have reported feeling strange sensations. A schoolboy, hiding in the vault to escape a beating from a master at George Heriot's School, supposedly got trapped here and lost his mind on being confronted by the ghost. Visitors who take the City of the Dead ghost tour, which has access to the Covenanters' Prison, have indeed emerged with injuries they have no recollection of sustaining. Even more interestingly, a number of deaths have taken place in the Kirkyard itself.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greyfriars_Kirkyard
Edinburgh City Council closed off that part of the cemetery until an Edinburgh-based historian and author, Jan Andrew Henderson, persuaded the council to allow controlled visits to that part of the churchyard and in turn this developed into a nocturnal guided tour, which became a local attraction. Of the visitors who have taken the tour, over 400 have reported feeling various sensations of being touched, pulled, grabbed or similar and many of them have returned home to find dark bruising and/or deep scratches on their faces, necks, hands, bodies or legs.
The Greyfriars Cemetery is reputedly haunted. One such haunt is attributed to the restless spirit of the infamous 'Bloody' George Mackenzie buried there in 1691. The 'Mackenzie Poltergeist' is said to cause bruising, bites and cuts on those who come into contact with it and many visitors have reported feeling strange sensations. A schoolboy, hiding in the vault to escape a beating from a master at George Heriot's School, supposedly got trapped here and lost his mind on being confronted by the ghost. Visitors who take the City of the Dead ghost tour, which has access to the Covenanters' Prison, have indeed emerged with injuries they have no recollection of sustaining. Even more interestingly, a number of deaths have taken place in the Kirkyard itself.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greyfriars_Kirkyard
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