Their guide, wearing a trailing white gown, smiles sweetly. "You're welcome to take the elevator," she says. Nobody does.
Mysterious, unexplained noises and late-night apparitions are not the usual fodder of daily tours offered at the parliament buildings in Wellington. But, according to Associated Press, after hours on Thursdays, guides dress in Victorian-era garb to regale visitors with the precinct's less savoury history - "mostly factual" tales of real-world tragedy and paranormal lore that have grown established among political staffers through decades of colourful retelling.
The history of parliament's stately gothic library is particularly rich in woe. Constructed in the late 19th century and feared by some of parliament's night-shift security guards and cleaners, it has survived two fires, a flood, and being overrun by feral cats.
"This is your last chance to back out," Lisa Brand, her face dripping with fake blood, tells a group who have arrived for Thursday's tour.
Walking through a cavernous parliamentary atrium, the guide lets out a hair-raising scream that echoes up to the open windows of legislators' offices. It explains why the so-called spooky tours are reserved for times when parliament is not in session.
When the Thursday visitors arrive, they are greeted by spectral figures who shriek as they glide down staircases beneath the portraits of former head librarians and New Zealand prime ministers...
Spooky stuff. I worked several years at the South African Parliament in Cape Town. Nothing like that happened.
The closest was when a colleague and I decided it was time to call it a day and leave a large cocktail party. When we got outside, a cop approached and asked us to please find a certain MP he...
Mysterious, unexplained noises and late-night apparitions are not the usual fodder of daily tours offered at the parliament buildings in Wellington. But, according to Associated Press, after hours on Thursdays, guides dress in Victorian-era garb to regale visitors with the precinct's less savoury history - "mostly factual" tales of real-world tragedy and paranormal lore that have grown established among political staffers through decades of colourful retelling.
The history of parliament's stately gothic library is particularly rich in woe. Constructed in the late 19th century and feared by some of parliament's night-shift security guards and cleaners, it has survived two fires, a flood, and being overrun by feral cats.
"This is your last chance to back out," Lisa Brand, her face dripping with fake blood, tells a group who have arrived for Thursday's tour.
Walking through a cavernous parliamentary atrium, the guide lets out a hair-raising scream that echoes up to the open windows of legislators' offices. It explains why the so-called spooky tours are reserved for times when parliament is not in session.
When the Thursday visitors arrive, they are greeted by spectral figures who shriek as they glide down staircases beneath the portraits of former head librarians and New Zealand prime ministers...
Spooky stuff. I worked several years at the South African Parliament in Cape Town. Nothing like that happened.
The closest was when a colleague and I decided it was time to call it a day and leave a large cocktail party. When we got outside, a cop approached and asked us to please find a certain MP he...
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The Mercury (Digital) - 1 Issue, March 28, 2025