Ryan O’Neill recounts the strange mystery of New Slains Castle, a location investigated by his team Scottish Paranormal
It inspired Bram Stoker to write the masterpiece Dracula, the real castle behind the bloodsucking vampire who’s known the world over.
Yet, we are not in deep dark Romania, we are, in fact, in the North East of Scotland.
Welcome my friends to Slains Castle, also referred to as New Slains Castle.
Casting An Imposing Shadow
New Slains Castle is a partially ruined location, which overlooks the bitterly cold North Sea.
Positioned just north of Aberdeen, the castle casts an imposing shadow over the Northeast of Scotland & the local village of Cruden Bay.
The centre of the castle is a 16th-century tower house, built by the 9th Earl of Erroll.
Significant reconstruction of the castle has been carried out several times, most recently in 1837 when it was rebuilt as a Scots mansion.
In 1895 the author Bram Stoker visited this specific area, staying at a cottage near Cruden Bay, and he no doubt would have been a guest at Slains Castle.
The castle is commonly cited as an inspiration for Stoker’s 1897 novel Dracula.
A Roofless Shell
The main family associated with this stunning location is that of the powerful Hay Clan.
Three hundred years of occupation by this powerful family, ended around 1913 when the castles was sold to Sir John Ellerman.
Unfortunately, the roof was removed around 1925 to avoid the paying of tax, and thus, the building fell into ruin as it suffered the harsh weather conditions on this rugged coastline of Scotland.
It is now a roofless shell, with most of the outer and inner walls standing to full height.
In 2004 it was reported that the Slains Partnership was preparing plans for the restoration of the building and conversion into 35-holiday apartments.
However, the financial downturn may have affected these plans.
Paranormal Mysteries
Many excellent members of Haunted Scotland and Scottish Paranormal have shared a plethora of paranormal happenings at Slains.
For example, there is the apparition, who walks the ruins shaking his keys – possibly a jailer who locked up the accused witches – and even tugs at the jacket of some unexpecting visitors.
How about the soldiers, said to be of the WW2 era due to the military dress they own.
Astonishingly a member of one of our groups asked if there was a military connection during one of our Live Streams.
Could they have been tapping into the energy of these soldiers, perhaps watching us from the maze of areas surrounding us?
A Lady In White And A Horse And Carriage
Sightings of a Lady in White have also been reported here in the past, which some have associated with the accused witches who were once locked up in the tower jail.
The possibility here is they may be looking for some type of closure to the gruesome treatment of the past.
Then we have the horse and carriage, known to pull up at the once grand entrance on the drive.
Can this merely be non-sentient residual energy of a past event? Could the granite be holding this energy, which then replays when conditions are perfect?
Home To Otherworldly Energies
With a plethora of mysterious reports and a location that even inspired Bram Stoker’s Dracula, is it little wonder that this magical location seems to be home to otherworldly energies?
We conducted various audio, and we were shocked to hear substantial reference to witches, burning and torcher come through after our analysis.
References to a man were evident, the jailer as mentioned earlier we assume, who seemed to be trying to put his sins behind him.
Our research continues into this intriguing castle; the sessions conducted so far spanned a unity project of seven paranormal teams, one from Southern Australia.
So we are due to return in the future, to conduct more experiments, dig deeper into the history and reveal more on the spirits who walk New Slains Castle.
The inlet set deep into the rocks just north of the castle ruins made for a fascinating dive. Took some effort for 2 of us to climb down with all the gear but the depth at the entrance and the small beach area at the head would have made a natural place to land small boats. You can see it to the left of the path as you walk towards the ruin. Approach is treacherous if wet, but manageable otherwise.
Thanks for the great advice Spider!