Despite being a relatively young country, New Zealand sure has its fair share of spooky spots and ghostly tales. Just in time for Halloween, we uncover some of the most spookiest places around the country, from hotels and hospitals to theatres and prisons.
So while there are no such thing as ghosts, it is Halloween so we can play along.
New Zealand's answer to Bedlam, Kingseat Psychiatric Hospital opened in 1932 and was operational until 1999 when it was shut down during a sweeping reform of our public mental health system.
Both patients and staff (suicides) regularly died within the grounds, and many former patients have come forward claiming to have witnessed or experienced abuse at the hands of the staff. There have been more than 100 (obviously unconfirmed) reported ghost sightings and supernatural experiences, the most well known being the 'Grey Nurse'.
Built in 1908 with an Art Deco wing added in 1928, the Waitomo Caves Hotel is often touted as New Zealand's most spooky hotel.
Maori occupation of the land on which it sits dates back to 1350 and has been the site of many tribal skirmishes as well as later battles between the Maori King Movement (Kingitanga) and the British Army, with the hotel itself built on the site of a British fort.
Objects being moved, the feeling of something passing through guests, screams, children's laughter, bed sheets pulled away and dripping blood have all been reported.
There have been numerous reports of ghosts in Wellington's historic St James Theatre, built in 1912.
It's alleged the site was formerly a burial ground or cemetery but this hasn't been proven.
One of the most seen ghosts is that of a Russian performer named Yuri, who supposedly fell to his death from the flies several metres above the stage, though a more widely accepted version of events says he was pushed by a female co-performer named Pasha.
Yuri is known for switching lights on and off, but one projectionist claims Yuri has twice saved his life.
Another regular apparition is the 'Wailing Woman,' who is said to have slit her wrists after being booed off stage. Her wail is heard throughout the theatre and she's also purported to be the cause of many of the odd occurrences and accidents surrounding lead actresses in plays performed at the St. James.
Peter Jackson has talked about seeing the wailing woman at the foot of his bed in his apartment across from the St James about 20 years ago.
A boy's choir is heard singing in the stands, with the sound moving to other seats when investigated. According to legend, the choir played their last song at the St. James during World War II before sailing off on tour where their ship was lost at sea.
First built in the 1860s, partially destroyed by fire in the 1890s and rebuilt again after the 1931 earthquake
A regular guest died in the elevator, the old staff quarters are apparently no longer used after a chef died in the bath there, music and lights turn on by themselves and many reports of apparitions appearing and unexplained cold spots felt have been made.
Capturing the imaginations of locals and passers-by for many years, Carlile House in Auckland's Grey Lynn certainly looks spooky, and the fact it was formerly an orphanage and then emergency housing for the Salvation Army does nothing to alleviate its reputation.
Many myths surround the landmark Victorian building, constructed in 1886, the most disturbing of these being that 43 boys died of smoke inhalation during a fire there in 1912.
Footsteps and children's laughter has been heard and those brave enough to go inside report feelings of unease and of a malevolent presence.
Christchurch's Racecourse Hotel is said to be haunted by the ghost of former licensee Donald Fraser, who was murdered in his bed there in 1933.
Shot twice by a double-barrelled shotgun while his wife lay beside him, his killer was never found, and it is said Fraser's ghost walks the corridors of the hotel looking for his murderer.
Set on the Otago Peninsula, Larnach Castle was completed in 1887 as the residence of prominent entrepreneur and politician William Larnach and his family.
Larnach's first wife Eliza, who hated the isolation of life at the castle, died of a stroke at age 38, his second (Eliza's younger half sister Mary) died of blood poisoning at the same age. His favourite daughter Kate, who he had a ballroom built for to celebrate her 21st birthday, died of typhoid not long after the grand room was complete.
Larnach himself committed suicide in 1898, beset by financial troubles and on learning his son Douglas had been having an affair with his third wife Constance.
The castle was then used to house shell-shocked soldiers and as a mental hospital during both World Wars.
There have been more than 30 reported sightings and odd occurrences, with visitors and staff frequently being touched on the back of their necks, being pushed, hearing heavy objects moved and footsteps late at night and witnessing doors opening on their own.
New Zealand TV show Ghost Hunt captured what looked like a light spectre on camera while filming there in 2005, and the Spookers TV team ended up being too frightened to stay in the stables (another paranormal hotspot along with Eliza's room, the ballroom and adjoining anteroom) through the night they filmed there.
The Vulcan, built around 1889 in what was then a booming gold mining town, is said to be haunted by the spiteful spirit of a woman named 'The Rose' who was murdered in one of the rooms.
Groans are heard in the hallways, kettles turn themselves on, and a ghostly figure is often seen lying on a chaise lounge in the hotel's dining room.
For more than two decades until 2009, there was even a local race called the Ghost to Ghost, which started and finished outside the ghost's bedroom window.
Another 'Grey Lady' roams the now-empty halls and wards of Waimate Hospital, thought to be the ghost of a former patient who hung herself from a toilet chain in the 1940s, though most who have encountered her agree she means no harm.
Built in 1879, the hospital closed in 1996, former staff have reported doors opening and closing on their own, including those thought locked, the sound of breaking glass with none found, unexplained temperature changes and the presence of someone in the room when no one could be seen.
Its resemblance to the Overlook Hotel from Stephen King's The Shining already sets this property apart, but add the fact it was also used as a women's asylum in the 1940 into the mix and you've got yourself one big spooky building.
Staff tell tales of the spirit of a nurse named Charlotte who is said to have died in one of the rooms, and others tell tales of a patient who hung themselves.
Fires stutter in the fireplaces, curtains move despite no drafts being felt, doors open and close on their own, and it's rumoured that guests who are 'unwelcome' may wake up in the morning to find their luggage already packed and placed outside the door.
A former asylum built in 1865, Carrington now houses Unitec Institute of Technology, but tales of strange and unexplainable occurrences continue.
The asylum was gutted by fire twice - the first, and worst, was lit by a patient and resulted in one female inmate being burned to death.
It's estimated that hundreds of people, both patients and staff, died on the site during its 130 years as a psychiatric hospital - including 60 patients who contracted typhoid in 1922 and whose deaths were apparently not made public as they were caused by the hospital's poor sanitation.
Other unusual deaths at Carrington include the pitch-forking of a warden by an inmate, the 1867 suicide of Thomas Lynch who cut his own throat with a piece of glass, the suicide of Thomas Meredith in 1897 who was found more than a fortnight after he had slipped away from the premises, hanging by his own belt from a tree, and the 1982 death of Michael Watene following the administration of electroconvulsive treatment.
'Building 1' is the hotspot for Carrington's supernatural activity, with multiple reports of everything from shadowy forms moving around rooms and down hallways to figures seen through the glass in rooms founds to be locked and empty, objects being thrown by unseen forces, scratching sounds heard at windows, footsteps down empty corridors and students and staff being slapped or pushed on stairs.
Napier Prison was constructed in 1862 and used until 1993. In addition to being a prison, the location was also used as an orphanage and a psychiatric unit. During the 19th century, four hangings were conducted at the prison.
There have been many reports of ghostly occurrences at the site such as unexplained footsteps, disembodied faces, doors opening and closing on their own.
The best known former prisoner is mass-murderer Roland Edwards, whose spirit is said to haunt the area. He died on July 15 and paranormal activity is reputedly more prevalent around the anniversary of his death.
