Australia's spooky suburbs

His friend and neighbour, George Worrall, claimed Fisher had returned to England, leaving him with power of attorney. Months later, Worrall asserted that Fisher had written to gift him his farm.

The tale took a mysterious turn when, four months after Fisher's disappearance, a local man named John Farley burst into a hotel in a state of agitation. He claimed to have seen Fisher's ghost sitting on a nearby bridge, pointing silently to a paddock before vanishing. Initially dismissed, Farley's story eventually led to a police search of the indicated area, where Fisher's remains were discovered. Worrall was arrested, confessed to the murder, and was subsequently hanged. Fred Fisher, whose lands he had coveted, was buried in the cemetery at St. Peter's Anglican Church in Campbelltown.

It is suggested that Farley invented the ghost story as a way of concealing the true source of his knowledge about the whereabouts of Fisher’s body. Regardless of the truth of the story, Frederick Fisher’s tale continues to capture Australian imagination almost 200 years later. We simply love the paranormal.

After all, Halloween's roots stretch back to the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain, first celebrated almost 3000 years ago. The Celts believed that on the night of October 31, which marked the end of the harvest season and the beginning of winter, the boundary between the living and the dead blurred, allowing ghosts to return to earth.

Today, especially in Australia where the 31st of October falls in spring rather than autumn, Halloween is celebrated as a fun cultural import expressed through costumes, decorations, and fantasy. It's from this playful perspective that we've mapped reported haunted locations across Australia and compared them to local house prices.

Our research uncovered 296 reportedly haunted locations across the country. Regional Queensland emerged as the most haunted area with 66 reported locations, followed by regional NSW with 53. Among major cities, Sydney reported the most haunted sites.

Of these spectral spots, nearly two-thirds (175) are in public spaces such as parks, museums, asylums, hospitals, and cemeteries. Hotels, pubs, and restaurants account for the second-largest category with 83 locations. Private homes and residences contribute 24 haunted sites, while the remaining 14 are entire towns, camps, and islands.

Several notable haunted locations in Australia include Cockatoo Island, Picton and Beechworth Gaol. Cockatoo Island, a former convict penal establishment and reform school in Sydney Harbour, is known for its history of harsh treatment and poor living conditions. Picton, a small town in New South Wales, is often referred to as Australia's most haunted town due to its colonial-era executions and a reportedly haunted railway tunnel. Beechworth Gaol, a historic 19th-century prison in Victoria, is famous for once holding bushranger Ned Kelly and is now a popular site for ghost tours.

Interestingly, Queensland's hauntings are mostly reported in hotels, pubs, and restaurants, while NSW’s most common haunted locations are parks, roads, and bridges.