Reading time: 4 minutes
Yvette Fielding and the team explore Edinburgh’s Mary King’s Close and encounter mysterious energies in plague-hit areas, writes JOANNA HAGUE
Episode title: Mary King’s Close
Place: Edinburgh
Series: 4 Episode number: 7
Originally broadcast: May 4, 2004
Mary King’s Close, Most Haunted review
The lovely Yvette Fielding opens the episode; dark figures, apparitions and phantom body parts have all been seen under the Royal Mile in Edinburgh. In 1645 the neighborhood was a breeding ground for the plague. In the 18th century, the Royal Exchange building was built on top of the seven-storey enclosure and the streets were evacuated, closing the enclosure.
Some houses on the outskirts are still intact, and in one house, known as the Chesney House, staff members refuse to enter during tours, and after the lights go out, shadows can be seen and an apparition of a man is seen in the neighbourhood. doorway, along with footsteps that echo late into the night.
In the Murder House, a woman murdered her son-in-law, and his figure is seen reliving his death over and over again. In Annie’s room, the staff felt cold spots, heard voices and saw shadows. The ghost of a little girl has been seen searching for her mother. Visitors to the end often bring her toys to keep her company.
Phil talks to Yvette about his first impressions of the place, and he openly admits that it is dark and creepy. He then starts talking about swamp gases that leaked towards the end in 1645 and were known to cause hallucinations.
Derek Acorah is the medium for the episode, and as soon as he comes in, he says he picks up residual energy from various people; he can hear screaming and crying; he notes that people are marked; and above all, it has a terrible smell. He goes on to say that there are a lot of sick people who are not necessarily being cared for properly. He eventually picks up on the plague and talks about the rotting skin and flesh causing the smell down there.
In the Plague Room, Yvette openly admits that she hates the room, and as Derek talks about the energy he picks up in the room, a groaning sound is heard. It also picks up the animals that were kept in a room off to the side, and information appears at the bottom of the screen that this was the case. In this room he picks up the energy of a man who feels responsible for the spread of the plague. At the end, more information appears on the screen, stating that a man named John Craig passed the plague on to his family in 1645.
At the Chesney House, movements and screams are noticed by Derek. He says some may be made to feel unwanted, which is why they don’t want to come into the house. Derek says the man in this area is responsible for causing this fear. He cannot think of a name for this man, but is convinced that he murdered people in this area around 1651, even though he did not live in the house.
In the Long Room, Derek wrinkles his nose as he enters and picks up dismembered body parts instead of a whole person. He describes the parts and says that if anyone sees this, he or she may have gone crazy. Derek also picks up a man named Thomas Weir, who was the Major, but no links to him or those close to him can be found. Information is emerging that this man was executed in 1670, not 1691 as Derek claimed.
During this investigation, they invited guest medium Derek Ogilvie, who almost immediately began noticing a woman who he believed wanted to clear her lungs. Some of the ghosts he feels say it always feels like a circus, with lots of people coming and going. The name Derek picks up is Sheila, but as always she can’t be traced without a last name.
Back with Derek Acorah in Annie’s room, he talks about the different energies he can pick up on. He picks up a little girl whose energy moves around as she searches for her parents; he feels like she may have starved, but he also picks up on her mother’s energy.
In room ten, Derek picks up the residual energy of a man who has lost his wife; he picks up the remaining screams, and there is a killer grounded in this area, causing a lot of audible noises and shadows that people have seen.
Cath has decided to visit the Chesney House, where she feels like she is being watched and begins to feel quite ill. Just as she’s discussing how claustrophobic it is at the end, a huge lighting anomaly comes towards her on camera. She also captures some banging and crackling sounds while she’s in the house.
Derek Ogilvie goes to the bully room and immediately picks up the energy of a man standing in the corner. He suddenly has to leave the room in a great hurry, seemingly overwhelmed, before collapsing on the floor.
In the main part of the ending, Karl finds a tunnel that he wants to explore. In true Karl style, it’s a small, tight space, but he manages to squeeze through feet first. Yvette hears some banging coming from above them, which is also caught on tape, so they all go to investigate, seeming to forget that poor Karl is stuck in the hole. Karl finds the situation funny that they left him; the source of the sounds appears to be creaking pipes, nothing paranormal.
Karl, Alex, Tom and Stuart investigate Annie’s room, where a teddy bear is thrown across the room by one of the crew. Noises are heard at the same time this happened; the crew begins to feel scared; they don’t even want to look around the room.
Summarizing the episode, Richard Felix says the ending will undoubtedly be spooky because of all the tragedy that happened there, and Phil says there’s a somber feeling even during the day, but he’d like to explore it again.
Tell us your thoughts on this Most Haunted episode, Mary King’s Close, in the comments below!
