The 'eerie' new travel book that shares 111 of Scotland's darkest places to visit

If you’re one of those, you may want to pick up the new book 111 Dark Places in Scotland That You Shouldn’t Miss, which was written by Dr Philip R Stone - a leading authority on dark tourism, which is the act of travelling to destinations that are associated with death, disaster or the macabre.

Alongside battlefields and shadowy vennels, abandoned ruins and graveyards, it highlights Scottish places that even locals might not know about.

We asked Stone to tell us more.

Why did you decide to write the book?

In 2018, a commissioning editor contacted me after reading an interview I did for The Economist about ‘dark tourism’. She wanted to engage the scholarly subject with public markets of the 111 Places guidebook series. So, we decided to focus on England, and I published the 111 Dark Places in England book in 2021. It was only natural that Scotland should come next.

You're based in Lancashire, so how did you get interested in Scotland?

I am from South Shields originally and have lived across the UK, including in Dunkeld in Scotland during the mid-1990s. I used to manage a holiday park in Birnam, and my daughter was born in Perth. She now lives in Edinburgh, all grown up, so I visit a lot and always had an affinity with Scotland.

Which was easier to write - the Scottish or English book?

I wrote the England book during the Covid period, so travel to places during lockdowns – particularly for photography was difficult. I also lost my dad to Covid, so writing about the dead while grieving was challenging, to say the least. I also developed a writing formula for the England book, as it evolved; which I adopted for the Scotland book. So, without doubt, the Scotland book was easier – and more enjoyable to write.

Tell us about your day job in dark tourism

Dark tourism is an academic term to define touristic travel to places of death, disaster or trauma. As the director of the Institute for Dark Tourism Research (iDTR) at the University of Lancashire, I explore socio-cultural consequences of remembering our noteworthy dead within global visitor economies. I also examine political impacts of memorialisation and our ‘difficult heritage’, which is often contested or manipulated.

Why do you think people are attracted to the ‘dark’?

While dark tourism focuses upon the dead and dying, it is about shining a light on life and living. In other words, visiting places of trauma can be enlightening about the sad chronicles of people who came before us. Dark tourism tells fascinating tales of the repressed, the persecuted, and villains and victims of foul deeds. Through ‘their’ dark stories, we not only remember the significant dead of the past, but we are also warned about our own present fights, follies and misfortunes.

Any new discoveries when compiling the Scottish book?

Some ‘dark places’ in the book are well-known but narrated with a different angle. For example, supernatural tales of black death told at the Mary King’s Close attraction in Edinburgh are kitsch and well-rehearsed. But the book shines a different light on the compassionate care that medieval Edinburgh afforded to plague victims at the time. Other places are often obscured from the tourist trail, so the book brings them back into public consciousness. For instance, the ‘unofficial’ memorial cairn of Willie MacRae, off the A87 near Bun Loyne, is a lonely marker in the Highland landscape which remembers the mysterious death of Willie MacRae in 1985, a prominent anti-nuclear campaigner, and tales of foul play.

Who recommended these places to you?

Only one site was recommended to me – the Heart of Midlothian mosaic – by my (future) son-in-law, who is a proud Edinburghian. He told me of locals spitting at the heart-shaped mosaic outside St Giles Cathedral in Edinburgh, though he wasn’t fully aware why. The book delves into the tale and links it with Sir Walter Scott, the former infamous Tolbooth prison, and the Porteous Riots of 1736. Having lived in Scotland, I knew many of the other places – and the rest were discovered through my day job as an academic.

Do you believe in ghosts?

No.

Did you visit all 111 of your recommendations?

Visiting some places in the book is difficult, particularly during winter. For example, I could not visit the ‘ghost village’ on the isle of St Kilda or the Flannan Isles Lighthouse, site of the‘vanishing of three dead men’ in 1900, but I visited most sites and took original photography.

Were the trips split up, or did you go on a single lengthy research mission?

Over two years of research, I took five separate trips to Scotland. I divided the 111 sites simply by geography. On my first trip, I visited the Lockerbie Memorial Garden, which commemorates victims of the terrorist atrocity in 1988. However, my car broke down, and I spent over seven hours waiting for rescue at Dryfesdale Cemetery car park.

What are your ‘favourite’ destinations in the book?

When it comes to sites of ‘pain and shame’, I simply don’t have a favourite. All 111 places in the book are written in an authoritative yet accessible style. They are meant to provoke thought into the why, what and how of past traumas, rather than passively gazing as a tourist.

Which is the creepiest?

I would not consider any of 111 places as so-called ‘creepy’ – though some associated tales of bloodshed, violence, and murder do raise goosebumps. Importantly, the book offers sensitive accounts of ‘heritage that hurts’, and these can be emotive. Probably, the most emotive site for me was visiting the Dunblane Memorial at Dunblane Cemetery. As the most murderous mass shooting in British history, a devil visited Dunblane Primary School in 1996, and 16 young children and a teacher were slain. While the book gives narrative to the atrocity, the memorial site offers visitors a place to remember victims and somewhere to reflect upon our own sense of mortality and the fragmented world in which we live today.

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