A RECENT ACCOUNT FROM
THE COVENANTERS PRISON, EDINBURGH
 Shelley Marshall
On evening of Tuesday 9th September @ 8.30 myself & partner attended City of the Dead Tour to Greyfriars Cemetery. I went on the tour open-minded and for a bit of fun with the aim of learning some history too. I did not really read about the past experiences of people beforehand. On entering the prison yard I felt very cold suddenly and was coughing a little (which I blamed on my asthma being triggered by the cold). I wish to make it clear I was not apprehensive or worried about the time we were about the spend in the tomb. Myself & partner were the first in, standing at the back. Within a minute or 2 I was aware of an electrical charging sort of feeling all over my body. Remembering what the guide had said, I tried to move out of the area by stepping forward a little. I did this a few times, to no avail as the feeling started again as soon as I stood still. My chest felt very heavy, so I took a few deep breaths. I wanted to listen to what the guide was saying and was disappointed that I was feeling this way. I held onto my partner to see if it helped, wondering if it would encourage the thing or person responsible to go away? It did not work. All of this happened very quickly. The lady at the side of my partner was noted to say "I don't feel well" to her partner and collapsed immediately after. At this point my feeling heightened and I left the tomb quietly with partner. I felt quite sick and knew I would probably collapse as I was aware of my heart thumping and felt as though there was no air. I was not comfortable until I stepped far back to in front of the facing tomb. Not long after a young man ran out terrified saying his friend's hand was stone cold rigid hence it scared him. I was not happy but felt I should wait to the guide to see us out safely. We all heard 2 thumping noises at the back of us coming from the facing tomb, which I refused to look at but my partner had a look and all seemed fine. On leaving this area, on the way out through the cemetery, another girl collapsed, complaining she could not breathe and claimed she felt someone was on top of her. While we waited for the guide to catch up, as I stood still, the charging sensation came back and I was uncomfortable. I saw a light through the corner of my eye, then several and thought perhaps there was a beacon or light show or something. I looked around before mentioning it to my partner (who had indeed seen a light himself but only through corner of his eye). The lights became more pronounced and there were several golden/white lights, I can only describe as dancing around the side of us. I was actually watching these as they slowly disappeared, all of the time I had the heavy feeling in my chest and the pins and needles. Anxious to leave, we did wait for the guide to see us out then walked quickly away, thinking everything would now be ok.
When we got back to our hotel my partner noticed 2 marks on the back of his hand which to me looked like burn marks and had an aching neck. That night obviously I had a bad time sleeping but put it down to stress. I was drenched with sweat, felt itchy, still had mild pins and needles and did not feel as though it was just myself and my partner present, as mad as it may sound! My partner told me that he saw a dark shadowy figure following us on leaving the cemetery which seemed to disappear gradually, but felt he could not tell me on the night as I had been through enough. The second night I could also not sleep, was drenched in sweat again which is unusual for me.
I needed to use my inhaler as my chest was tight which I do not have to do on a regular basis. I got up to use the bathroom and discovered an itchy rash around the top/inside of my legs, which I attributed to a ? heat rash. 2 days later I have intermittent pins and needles in my hands and lower arms. I am still a little tight-chested. My partner's marks on the back of his hands have almost gone. I will never go back to this place, certainly not at night time.