The Haunting File: Melbourne - Behind the Marvellous City
Melbourne, Saturday 21.Find the ghosts before the other teams do.Your friends are not going to believewhat is under Melbourne.Halloween packed up.Melbourne's dead didn't.A date night,with ghosts.What the plaquesleave out.Not a tour.A ghost hunt you play.The ghost nightlocals actually do.The stories Melbournedoes not lead with.You three, one phone,one case.Saturday's plan,sorted.Rated by thousandsof players in Melbourne.
Saturday 21 November, 7.45pm. A night out on foot with your friends: the haunted places of Melbourne, the true stories behind them, and every other team racing you on one scoreboard.
- 90 min · 2.7 km
- Teams of 2 to 5
- Old Treasury Building
- $21.99 each
7.45pm at Old Treasury Building. Teams of two to five. Check in on your phones and the story opens.
13 stops, 2.7 km, about 90 minutes. Each stop is a story and a clue. Fast and right beats slow and right.
Every team lands on one scoreboard. It closes at 10.45pm. The top three win a free Questo game for every player. The rest take the pub.
What players say.
★ 4.4 from 1,254 Questo players in Melbourne
Absolutely amazing! As a local, I had no idea that my city had so many interesting ghost stories.
A player, played in Thorshavn
Great way to see the city. We learned things we never knew, and we’ve lived in Glasgow our whole lives. We bar hopped while playing, which made it even better!
A player, played in Glasgow
A really lovely game, and it left us with some surprising memories. We will look at some of the places we walked past differently now.
A player, played in Cluj-Napoca (translated from Romanian)
Meet at 7.45pm.
- Hunt the streets.
- Top the board.
- Then the pub.
Everyone starts together at Old Treasury Building. Then your team is on its own: 13 stops through Melbourne, a story at each one, clues you have to find on the street, and a city-wide scoreboard watching the clock.
No guide to follow. The game runs in the Questo app: check in at Old Treasury Building at 7.45pm, the story opens on your phones, and off you go. Keep mobile data on.
It is a ghost story you walk through, not a haunted house. Nothing jumps out. Your mates will, though.
Not a ghost tour. Nobody talks at you for 90 minutes: your team plays the story, and every team in Melbourne is on the same scoreboard.
The case
The Haunting File: Melbourne - Behind the Marvellous City
The city feels older tonight. Heavier. Like something has been waiting a very long time for someone to come asking.
You've been recruited by the Bureau of Otherworldly Observation, and Agent Howl is handing you your first case: a district full of the dead, and a file nobody has ever managed to close.
Thirteen stops. Thirteen things this city would rather you didn't look at too closely. Some of them are waiting for you.
Pick your night.
The night. The whole city out, every team on the scoreboard.
★ 4.4 from 1,254 Questo players in Melbourne
Players at night.
Questo players in Melbourne.
After the hunt.
- When the board closes, the teams meet at the Oxford Scholar Hotel (Swanston Street), near the finish in Melbourne. A drink, the scores, and the other teams at the next table, if you feel like it.
- Somewhere quieter? The John Curtin Hotel is close by too.
- Drinks are not included in the ticket. You pay at the bar, like any night out.
Bring this.
- A phone per player with the Questo app, charged.
- Comfortable shoes. It is about 90 minutes and 2.7 km on foot.
- A team of 2 to 5. Solo works too, the scoreboard does not mind.
- A team photo at the finish, if you like. The best one across all cities wins a year of Questo games.
- Some stories are dark. None are gory.
Where it starts.
34/2 Collins St, Melbourne VIC 3000, AustraliaOpen in Maps
Real events. Old legends. Your streets.
Every stop is a real place with a story that happened there, or has long been told there. We wrote the night from what the city remembers and dramatised it for the hunt. A few of the 13 stops; the rest you find on the street.
See the stops
- StartOld Treasury Building
- Stop 3 of 13Princess Theatre
Baritone Frederick Federici died here in 1888; the cast swore he took his bow.
- Stop 5 of 13Little Lon Distilling
Melbourne's notorious slum had no sewers until the late 1890s, and typhoid followed.
- Stop 8 of 13The Pailou Archway
Fergus Hume's 1886 Mystery of a Hansom Cab spread this street's lurid reputation worldwide.
- Stop 11 of 13Old Melbourne Gaol
Colin Campbell Ross was hanged here in 1922 and pardoned in 2008.
- FinishMelbourne City Baths
Can't make it?
Leave your email and you hear first when the next haunted night in Melbourne opens.
Before you buy
Will I actually be scared?
A bit. It is a ghost story told in the streets it happened in. Nothing jumps out, nobody in a costume chases you. The streets do the rest.
Are the stories true?
The stories are inspired by true events and local legends, dramatised for the game, and every stop is a real place. At the Princess Theatre, singer Frederick Federici really did collapse during Faust in 1888.
Is it ok for kids?
Some stories are dark. None are gory. Teens love it. For younger kids it depends on the child.
Is there a guide?
No. The game runs in the Questo app on your phones. Everyone checks in at Old Treasury Building at 7.45pm, then each team goes at its own pace.
What if it rains?
It runs in rain. If the city issues a weather warning we move you to the other night or refund you, your call.
Can we turn up late?
The start window is half an hour. After 8.15pm you can still play, but the clock started at 7.45pm for everyone and the scoreboard does not wait.
One ticket each?
Yes. Every player has the story on their own phone and their own part to play. A team shares one place on the scoreboard.
Do we need to finish by 10.45pm?
For the scoreboard, yes. The story stays open for you until the end of the night.
Can I get a refund?
In full, up to 24 hours before the start. After that we can move you to the other night if there is space.
Why are places limited?
Because it is one night, played together. Enough teams for a real race and new people to meet at the finish. Few enough that every team finds its own clues, and everyone fits at the Oxford Scholar Hotel (Swanston Street) after.
Is this a one-off?
Every night is its own story, played in Melbourne only on the dates above. Leave your email in the box above and you hear first when the next one opens.