ON the face of it, a hot food bar in Dungannon, a hotel in Ballymena, a shopping centre in north Belfast and a stately home in Cookstown have nothing in common.
They are, however, four of 135 places where paranormal sightings have taken place in Northern Ireland, according to a new study carried out just in time for Halloween.
The north's most haunted city is Belfast, which boasts 24 spooky reports.
Twenty-one of these have been `haunting manifestations', with apparitions coming thick and fast across the city.
Among the sites compiled by campervan rental platform PaulCamper for their users to visit this Halloween is the former home of Lord Craigavon, Crumlin Road Gaol, a "shop" at Cavehill Park, the `barracks' at west Belfast's City Cemetery, and the historic Crown Bar.
However, a less haunting but still intriguing UFO sighting is also logged "above Yorkgate shopping centre" in the north of the city.
Dungannon, the 'capital' of the O'Neill dynasty of Tír Eoghain, is the second most haunted location - although "there have only been five reported spooky sightings in this area".
However, visitors in search of ghoulish thrills can try their luck at the defunct former Royal Irish Constabulary Barracks where there is the story of the so-called Black Sergeant.
Stationed at the barracks, it is said he was tried for a gruesome murder in the late 1800s and found guilty and hanged here - continuing to haunts the Scottish Baronial edifice.
A more surprising site is `Deano's Hot Food Bar' where a `haunting manifestation' is recorded on a `former bridge'.
In joint third place are Ballymena and Lisburn, both with four paranormal sightings reported on the database.
In Ballymena, visitors checking into the Tullyglass Hotel will be shocked to find that the establishment has its own permanent resident - the ghost of a young girl named Carrie who died in the bell tower and is now seen wandering the halls.
Lisburn's showing is relatively poor, considering it has its own paranormal spotting group on Facebook called Lisburn Paranormal.
However, ghost enthusiasts can stop off at Union Bridge/civic centre area, Bridge Street, the Irish Linen Centre and Museum and Wallace Park where ghostly apparitions have been recorded.
For the particularly brave, in Co Derry, there is a record of a "vampire" encountered at Abhartach's grave in Slaghtaverty.
The Paranormal Database was used to collect reports across the UK and analyse which locations had the most sightings by county and individual place.
Northern Ireland’s most haunted counties (and number of paranormal reports)
1 Antrim (64)
2 Tyrone (19)
3 Down (18)
4 Armagh (14)
5 Derry (12)
6 Fermanagh (8)
The full data and interactive map are here: https://paulcamper.co.uk/magazine/the-uks-spookiest-places/.
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