By Laura McQueen, Visitor Services Assistant
On 23 October the National Museum of Costume held its annual Halloween event. We were fully booked with 15 in each tour, one at 5:30pm and another at 6:30pm. As usual the day of the event day proved to be busy which meant it was a rush to get everything ready for 5:30pm but of course we managed it… just!
Each group gathered down in the Witches’ Den in the tearoom, where they were given a ghoulish drink while they waited for their nightmare to begin… they were then escorted round to the front door by myself but I wasn’t staying to find out what happens once you get locked inside…
Halloween decorations at the National Museum of Costume. Photo © Simon Madine.
The tours this year were slightly different than the previous years’. Margaret was each group’s tour guide, taking the group on the ghost hunt around the house which had been decorated, with the lights turned off to add to the effect.
More spooky decorations.
We had five ghosts in total, each one having a different story to tell. Visitor Services Assistant Pen became Mrs Stewart of Shambellie, from the 1900s. She was confident, bossy and authoritative. She had lost her special brooch and was desperate to find it – she even accused our visitors and asked them to empty their pockets! She never found it: it turned out the maid had been given it, as Mr Stewart was fond of the maid!
Next we moved on to Janet who was another Mrs Stewart but from a different era (1940s). She was an optimistic, hopeful ghost who was waiting for her son to return from the war. She was a holy woman waiting patiently, assuming he was coming back at any time. Visitor Services Assistant Laura McVie was the floating ghost who came into each of the rooms to deliver bad news: she told the group that Janet’s missing son wasn’t coming back as he was on the Lancastria, which had sunk and everyoneon board had died.
Next the group moved on to me (after a quick costume change from witch to ghost). I was Helen, who was a waiting ghost, waiting for my mother to tell me what happened to the “love of my life”. I had heard a gunshot but didn’t know what else had happened. Laura the bad news ghost came in and told us that my brothers had shot him because he was a stable boy and not of my class. That sent me to tears and the group left.
The last ghost they met was Christine; she was the nanny who didn’t like children! She was creating a potion for the children to drink as they didn’t treat her very well at the last house she worked in. The children in the groups were offered some of the “potion” but no one wanted a taste! Laura then handed out certificates to each person to certify they had taken part in “Ghost Hunting” at the National Museum of Costume. We all hope everyone managed to get home safely without meeting any real ghosts!
The ghostly crew at the National Museum of Costume.
