England's most haunted city - 13 WTHR Indianapolis

Take an afternoon stroll through the medieval streets of York and you'll find plenty to see, hear and taste. But, when night falls there is something creepy about this city.

"I think York has a reputation for being the most haunted city in Europe, perhaps the entire world," said Dan Wood. He leads the nightly "Ghost Hunt of York," a popular way for visitors to learn the city's frightening history. The excursion was created by Andy Dextrous.

"So, each night the ghost hunt starts with me walking down the Shambles, York's oldest street, with a crowd behind me, ringing my death bell, carrying my doctor's bag and then I scare the life out of them," said Wood.

The ghost stories allow people to dig deep into York's past.

"So many old buildings and dark alleyways, sadly so many deaths. The plague was prevalent in York. It killed many people. Roman battles, Viking battles, lots of horrible, grisly deaths," said Wood.

"York's most famous ghost story involves the Roman legion. The ghost of an entire Roman legion including a great big white horse, passed through the basement of the treasurer's house. Seen by a complete skeptic one night. Of course, he wasn't a skeptic after that. He saw the ghosts of hundreds of Romans. But, it wasn't until many years later they dug up treasurer's house in the basement and they found the Roman road. Spooky stuff," said Wood.

Wood entertains the crowd of visitors on the guided tour by telling a variety of ghost stories.

"First story is in an antique center in York. It used to be a doctor's house. Many years ago, the doctor had a little girl and she was watching a party from the top balcony, and she would lean over and watching the party and she slipped, she leant too far and sadly, she fell to her death right down through the staircase into the basement. She died tragically. Her ghost is said to haunt that antique center from that day to this. From that day to this, people will swear there is poltergeist activity in the antique center. They hear her running about, things are thrown, often drinks are spilled, it's a spooky place," said Wood.

The ghost stories extend into local pubs in York.

"Ghosts, spirits, poltergeists, goblins. We have an abundance of extra-activity in here," said Stephanie Macklewain who owns the Golden Fleece, a quirky pub built on stilts in 1503. It is billed as the most haunted pub in York. Macklewain claims she did not initially believe in ghosts until frightening encounters and unexplained equipment problems began happening.

"I had electrical things blowing up and I had the drains backing up and flowing down inside the pub from the open area. Every single time I'd get something fixed, the washing machine was brand new and the hose was twisted," said Macklewain. "It went on for maybe six to eight weeks of really difficult situation of things breaking and breaking down - electrics. The phones would go," said Macklewain.

The owner of the Golden Fleece said a man came into her pub and began an unusual conversation.

"He asked my name and 'said are you having problems in the pub'? And, I said, 'what do you mean'? He said, 'you know what I mean. Are you having problems'? And I said, 'yeah I am'. He goes, 'you don't believe, do you in the spirits'? And I said, 'no. How do you know this'? And he said, 'well, you have to acknowledge them because you will not get anywhere if you don't accept and acknowledge them. You'll continue to have a lot of problems,'" said Macklewain.

Macklewain said she went into a room of the Golden Fleece and began to have a conversation with the ghosts.

"I had a conversation and said, 'ok, I'm sorry that I don't believe in you. I do. Please, we have to work together. And, I accept that you're here. I'd like you to accept me and we work together.' Nothing happened after that, not one thing happened. Nothing breaking. So, then I came to the conclusion - yeah, There's something there," said Macklewain. "I didn't have one problem after that. So basically, that's when I changed my mind. I realized that when things instantly stopped like that, it has to be a bigger picture there. But then, not only did things stop going wrong, really amazing things started to happen. Like things moved. Like there was a bottle on the bar and it turned - and it was like woah! So, then I began to embrace it more and now I like the company. Sometimes they come out shopping with me as well which is more fun," said Macklewain.

Macklewain claims people who stay overnight in the Golden Fleece hear footsteps outside their rooms.

"They go to the door thinking somebody's standing outside there. The door will be opened. Then, the footsteps disappear and you feel the vibration but there's nobody there," said Macklewain.

"We've had a workman here who had a really frightening experience. He heard the footsteps coming up the staircase and he thought it was a burglar because the pub was shut at the time. So, he jumped up ready to fight and he opened the door and nobody was there," said Macklewain. "The footsteps just disappeared in front of him up the next flight of stairs, but he was traumatized by it. He had to drink a half bottle of Bushman's to make himself sleep because he was too frightened. We've had two ladies leave in the middle of the night because they saw a man kneeling in front of the mirror in the wardrobe in the bedroom. They said they couldn't stay another night," said Macklewain.

"We had one couple who was in the Shambles room. Above them in the Minster room, they said there was a Scottish lady and she was dragging furniture around the room all night. But, the Scottish lady actually checked out because she couldn't put up with the people below dragging furniture around, so there was no one dragging furniture around," said Macklewain.

Now, Macklewain is recruiting people to become future ghosts, creating plaster-casts of faces to put on the walls of the haunted pub.

"York has been a city for 800 years. I thought I'd do my part and show what people do in York and what their occupations are. So, how could I capture that? I had an idea that I would mold people's heads, set them on a plaque, put their name underneath and basically say, Scott Swan, anchorman, and a little bit about you really, about who you are and what you do," said Macklewain. "There will be 800 people all to give an insight, a modern day census of York to say these people existed, these people did these jobs in York. You can actually see that person. That's the fascination. You will be forever young on the wall. You will be here forever. And, I think the fascination is that you could come back here in 50 years time and look upon yourself, and you'll look just as handsome. You'll always remember your time here. And maybe your family members will come and see you," said Macklewain.

I agreed to allow Macklewain to take a mold of my face. In the cellar of the Golden Fleece, I sat in a black chair while a worker poured a blue liquid all over my face. I was able to breath using two straws in my nose. After approximately 30 minutes, the plaster hardened and the mold of my face was complete.

"I've got you then. I've got your soul. I've got you forever on my wall. You'll never escape the Golden Fleece. You're tomorrow's ghost, you see? You're alive now. But, there will be a point when you're not. But, I'll have you on my wall," laughed Macklewain.

Wood says residents and visitors embrace York's spooky history.

"I think deep down, people always wonder is there life after death? People are always questioning life and what happens next. People are interested to know is there such a thing as a ghost? Will I see a ghost if I go on the ghost hunt tonight? We make no promises but you never know what might happen in the dark," said Wood.