British writer designs ghost tour of Valletta

There's an eerie side to Malta's capital, and British author and "ghost walker" Malcolm Hanson has set out to record it.

So anyone into the thrills and spine-tingling chills of the supernatural should grab a copy of his publication, Do-It-Yourself Valletta Ghost Walk, for a tour - with a difference - of the city.

Mr Hanson, who will be in Malta for three weeks from November 27 to promote the book and undertake a number of ghost walks around the city, has written it so that it can replace him on the spooky tours around Valletta. He will be there in spirit...

The author writes about the supernatural and is also a psychic investigator for BBC Radio, Leeds, which covers the north of England.

His writing, he says, complements his work as a "ghost walker" - someone who takes groups of people on tours of old towns, or ancient cities, but instead of pointing out historic buildings and events, highlights haunted sites.

"My job is to deliver the stories of the hauntings in the most dramatic way, and the dramas that have been played out on the island of Malta over the centuries make it easy for me."

In Valletta, among the "haunted" sites would be the house of the Blue Dolphin in St Ursula Street, the shrieks of tormented souls from the Lower Barrakka Gardens, which fishermen have reported hearing, as well as the Greek church of Our Lady of Damascus, in Archbishop Street - all shrouded in mystery and scary stories.

Mr Hanson really feels quite at home in St Ursula Street, while Palazzo Parisio, in Merchants Street, is also one of the spookiest parts of Valletta, he believes. "Its buildings form a fantastic backdrop for a ghost walk, enhanced, of course, by the city's history, particularly the Knights of the Order of St John and the Great Siege."

To add to the appeal, the tours are held after dark.

"As far as I am aware, there are no other ghost walks in the capital - from time to time, people have tried to do them, but you have to be an expert to get it right!"

Mr Hanson considers ghost walks to be the ultimate in outdoor holiday entertainment, and maintains that they are particularly popular in the UK, among the English, who love ghosts.

"The great thing about Malta," he adds, "is that even if the Maltese are not switched on by it, the British are, and I could see tickets selling out in hotels once the walks are promoted.

"That said, the two walks I did last Christmas were purely for the Maltese and they loved it, so I think it would be aimed at anyone who likes to be tantalised and chilled by the world of ghosts."

Mr Hanson is one of the few "walkers" who has moved out of his own area and is targeting Valletta too. Normally, this is rare.

But when he visited Malta last December for a month's holiday, "like everyone else, I fell in love with it! However, Valletta just got to me psychically - I could feel spirits everywhere I went. So I sought out what books existed on the island's ghosts (only two: The Ghosts of Malta by Joseph Attard and The Unexplained by Vanessa Macdonald), and then trawled old newspaper reports and interviewed people to get stories.

"After this, it was a case of being able to link them all together on a route that people could visit, which was possible in Valletta."

Mr Hanson was accompanied by a licensed guide on his first Valletta ghost walk, with an invited audience, at the end of last December.

"It was a success, allowing me to undertake a second tour for tourist officials. They loved it too, so I returned to the UK and wrote Malcolm Hanson's Do-It-Yourself Valletta Ghost Walk, the idea being for the book to replace me when I am not here," he explains, pointing out that the instructions are simple and the route easy to follow. No chance of getting lost in the back streets of the city...

"Reading each page, you will think I am talking to you, and by following the instructions and the map, the book leads you around Valletta, exactly as if I were leading you... Except that I'm not there, and you have to suffer the frights and chills alone."

Anyone interested in attending the tours, which should be held around the beginning of next month, can contact Mr Hanson on info@malcolmhanson.co.uk.