Nicola reveals the story behind the haunted accordion that plays itself in the Gays Arcade Museum.
Presented by Ghost Crime Tours
Reviewed 16 February 2015
There is little comfort but ample ghoulish delight to hear that Adelaide is the murder capital of Australia and the serial killer capital per capita of the world. Perhaps we’re known as the City of Churches because there are so many bodies to be buried…
For more than 2 years, the Ghost Crime Tours company has been taking punters back in time through our seedy past to unravel gruesome murders, graphic suicides, ghostly haunts and criminal life. They offer the tours year-round in the CBD, Port Adelaide and Kapunda, although it’s only the first two tours on offer for the Adelaide Fringe.
Our guide, Nicola, leading the city tour, was a fount of unbelievable knowledge, imparting horrible histories of Adelaide’s underbelly from the 1940s and other early eras, vividly describing targeted killings, accidental deaths, suicides and murders most foul that remain a mystery to this very day. Each has been well researched and referenced, although such is Nicola’s storytelling abilities that any campfire would welcome her tormented tales and gleeful retelling of them.
She spoke without notes and her projection was excellent too, ensuring her enraptured audience could hang on every word.
Along Nicola’s dark path of misery, spectral sightings are highlighted beginning with the 3 ghosts who haunt Adelaide Arcade and ending down in the Treasury tunnels beneath the city streets. Some reported sightings give genuine chills.
Out of respect for any living relatives, the narratives are kept to at least 3 generations past as the tour meanders slowly down Rundle Mall into the city’s west before skulking its way through the darkening streets to the city centre.
Although a short break in a haunted hotel is provided half way through the tour, the casual stroll through the city does require 2 hours of walking. Wear sensible shoes, dress for the weather and don’t be afraid to look over your shoulder. Sometimes the shadows do move.
Reviewed by Rod Lewis
Twitter: @StrtegicRetweet
Rating out of 5: 4
Venue: Adelaide CBD and Port Adelaide tours available
Season: 13 February – 14 March 2015
Duration: 2.5 hours approx
Tickets: $27-$28
Bookings: Book through FringeTix online or at a FringeTix box office (booking fees apply)
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