Skip to main content
GamesRadar+ GamesRadar+
US EditionUS CA EditionCanada UK EditionUK AU EditionAustralia
Sign in
  • View Profile
  • Sign out
  • Games
    • Game Insights
      • Games News
      • Games Features
      • Games Reviews
      • Games Guides
      • Big in 2026
      • The Big Preview
      • On The Radar
      • Indie Spotlight
      • Future Games Show
      • Golden Joystick Awards
    • Genres
      • Action Games
      • RPGs
      • Action RPGs
      • Adventure Games
      • Third Person Shooters
      • FPS Games
    • Platforms
      • PS5
      • Xbox Series X
      • PC
      • Nintendo Switch
      • Nintendo Switch 2
      • Tabletop Gaming
    • Franchises
      • Grand Theft Auto
      • Pokemon
      • Assassin's Creed
      • Monster Hunter
      • Fortnite
      • Cyberpunk
      • Red Dead
      • The Elder Scrolls
      • The Sims
  • Entertainment
    • TV Shows
      • TV News
      • TV Reviews
      • Anime Shows
      • Sci-Fi Shows
      • Superhero Shows
      • Animated Shows
      • Marvel TV Shows
      • Star Wars TV Shows
      • DC TV Shows
    • Movies
      • Movie News
      • Movie Reviews
      • Big Screen Spotlight
      • Superhero Movies
      • Action Movies
      • Anime Movies
      • Sci-Fi Movies
      • Horror Movies
      • Marvel Movies
      • DC Movies
    • Streaming
      • Apple TV Plus
      • Disney Plus
      • Netflix
      • HBO
      • Amazon Prime Video
      • Hulu
    • Comics
      • Marvel Comics
      • DC Comics
    • Toys & Collectibles
    • Lego
    • Dungeons and Dragons
    • Merch
  • Hardware
    • Insights
      • Hardware News
      • Hardware Reviews
      • Hardware Features
    • Computing
      • Desktop PCs
      • Laptops
      • Handhelds
    • Peripherals
      • Headsets & Headphones
      • TVs & Monitors
      • Gaming Mice
      • Gaming Keyboards
      • Gaming Chairs
      • Speakers & Audio
    • Accessories & Tech
      • Gaming Controllers
      • Tech
      • SSDs & Hard Drives
      • VR
      • Accessories
      • Retro
  • Deals
    • Game Deals
    • Tech Deals
    • TV Deals
    • Buying Guides
  • Video
  • Newsletters
    • Quizzes
    • About Us
    • How to pitch to us
    • How we score
    • Newsarama
    • Retro Gamer
    • Total Film
  • home
  • Games
    • View Games
      • Games News
      • Games Features
      • Games Reviews
      • Games Guides
      • Big in 2026
      • The Big Preview
      • On The Radar
      • Indie Spotlight
      • Future Games Show
      • Golden Joystick Awards
      • Action Games
      • RPGs
      • Action RPGs
      • Adventure Games
      • Third Person Shooters
      • FPS Games
    • Platforms
      • View Platforms
      • PS5
      • Xbox Series X
      • PC
      • Nintendo Switch
      • Nintendo Switch 2
      • Tabletop Gaming
      • Grand Theft Auto
      • Pokemon
      • Assassin's Creed
      • Monster Hunter
      • Fortnite
      • Cyberpunk
      • Red Dead
      • The Elder Scrolls
      • The Sims
  • Entertainment
    • View Entertainment
    • TV Shows
      • View TV Shows
      • TV News
      • TV Reviews
      • Anime Shows
      • Sci-Fi Shows
      • Superhero Shows
      • Animated Shows
      • Marvel TV Shows
      • Star Wars TV Shows
      • DC TV Shows
    • Movies
      • View Movies
      • Movie News
      • Movie Reviews
      • Big Screen Spotlight
      • Superhero Movies
      • Action Movies
      • Anime Movies
      • Sci-Fi Movies
      • Horror Movies
      • Marvel Movies
      • DC Movies
    • Streaming
      • View Streaming
      • Apple TV Plus
      • Disney Plus
      • Netflix
      • HBO
      • Amazon Prime Video
      • Hulu
    • Comics
      • View Comics
      • Marvel Comics
      • DC Comics
    • Toys & Collectibles
    • Lego
    • Dungeons and Dragons
    • Merch
  • Hardware
    • View Hardware
      • Hardware News
      • Hardware Reviews
      • Hardware Features
      • Desktop PCs
      • Laptops
      • Handhelds
    • Peripherals
      • View Peripherals
      • Headsets & Headphones
      • TVs & Monitors
      • Gaming Mice
      • Gaming Keyboards
      • Gaming Chairs
      • Speakers & Audio
      • Gaming Controllers
      • Tech
      • SSDs & Hard Drives
      • VR
      • Accessories
      • Retro
  • Deals
    • View Deals
    • Game Deals
    • Tech Deals
    • TV Deals
    • Buying Guides
  • Video
  • Newsletters
    • Quizzes
    • About Us
    • How to pitch to us
    • How we score
    • Newsarama
    • Retro Gamer
    • Total Film
Trending
  • Pokemon Winds and Waves
  • New Games for 2026
  • GamesRadar+ Replay
  • Mario Day deals
  1. Entertainment
  2. TV

Get spooked in Stirling

Features
By sfx published 15 May 2009

Why not go on a Ghost Walk this summer?

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.

  • Facebook
  • X
  • Pinterest
  • Flipboard
  • Email
Share this article
Join the conversation
Follow us
Add us as a preferred source on Google
Get the GamesRadar+ Newsletter

Weekly digests, tales from the communities you love, and more


By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.

You are now subscribed

Your newsletter sign-up was successful


Want to add more newsletters?

GamesRadar+

Every Friday

GamesRadar+

Your weekly update on everything you could ever want to know about the games you already love, games we know you're going to love in the near future, and tales from the communities that surround them.

GTA 6 O'clock

Every Thursday

GTA 6 O'clock

Our special GTA 6 newsletter, with breaking news, insider info, and rumor analysis from the award-winning GTA 6 O'clock experts.

Knowledge

Every Friday

Knowledge

From the creators of Edge: A weekly videogame industry newsletter with analysis from expert writers, guidance from professionals, and insight into what's on the horizon.

The Setup

Every Thursday

The Setup

Hardware nerds unite, sign up to our free tech newsletter for a weekly digest of the hottest new tech, the latest gadgets on the test bench, and much more.

Switch 2 Spotlight

Every Wednesday

Switch 2 Spotlight

Sign up to our new Switch 2 newsletter, where we bring you the latest talking points on Nintendo's new console each week, bring you up to date on the news, and recommend what games to play.

The Watchlist

Every Saturday

The Watchlist

Subscribe for a weekly digest of the movie and TV news that matters, direct to your inbox. From first-look trailers, interviews, reviews and explainers, we've got you covered.

SFX

Once a month

SFX

Get sneak previews, exclusive competitions and details of special events each month!


An account already exists for this email address, please log in.
Subscribe to our newsletter

Jock Rankin, Stirling Old Town Jail's Happy Hangman

With summer approaching and the credit crunch being on everyone's minds, an increasing number of people are staying within the UK for a recession-friendly summer holiday. If you're looking for something a bit different from a typical resort holiday or something with a bit of a supernatural twist, then why not take a trip to Stirling and try the Ghost Walk around Stirling Old Town Jail, hosted by the SFX forum's own Happy-Hangman?

This grim gothic gaol at the heart of the Royal Burgh was opened in 1847, five years after the town's original prison, the Tolbooth, was condemned as "the worst Jail in all of Britain". Overcrowded and unsanitary, the older prison was a dismal dungeon: an open sewer passed by the cell windows, and spilled all manner of muck and mire into the chambers when it rained (which it has been known to do in Scotland). The Tolbooth was a favourite stomping ground of the town's 18th-century torturer, Jock Rankin. According to tradition, Jock choked to death on a chicken bone, and his grumpy ghoul was said to plague his old haunt. He became a regular host on the Stirling Ghost Walk, providing comedy, drama, fear, fun and frights for boys and ghouls of all ages – service with a smile, a quip, and a slow and painful death for those who don't laugh at the right places.

Two centuries after he popped his clogs Rankin was still suitably notorious to be chosen to traumatise audiences attending performances at the Old Town Jail, when it was opened as a five-star visitor attraction in the mid '90s – gleefully demonstrating his branding-irons, nose-pinchers, pilniewinks, cashielaws and other curious Caledonian torture tools on unsuspecting patrons. Like Saw, but more family-friendly!

Unsurprisingly, when the credit crunch caused the Jail to close its doors in November last year, it was the Hangman who started rattling chains and threatening to nail nay-sayers to the jailhouse door in efforts to get the place re-opened. It’s rarely a good idea to argue with a homicidal Scotsman – as trolls on the SFX forum who have encountered him can testify - and it was recently announced that the Stirling Old Town Jail will re-open to amuse and abuse its patrons on June 8th. Channelling the spirit of the Hangman, actor David Kinnaird said "Some people thought the Jail was a goner... but that was never going to sit well with Jock. He's been back from the dead every summer for the last two decades, and hasn't run short of ways to terrify audiences yet... so it seems fitting that he should play a part in resurrecting his favourite haunting ground. We'll be adding a crime and punishment theme to this year’s Stirling Ghost Walk, and plan on adding all manner of spectral surprises to the Jail's beastly bill-of-fare. Not even global recession can stand in the way of Ghoul Power!"

Further details can be had by contacting info@oldtownjail.com .

Sign up to the GamesRadar+ Newsletter

Weekly digests, tales from the communities you love, and more

By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.
sfx
sfx
Social Links Navigation
Magazine

SFX Magazine is the world's number one sci-fi, fantasy, and horror magazine published by Future PLC. Established in 1995, SFX Magazine prides itself on writing for its fans, welcoming geeks, collectors, and aficionados into its readership for over 25 years. Covering films, TV shows, books, comics, games, merch, and more, SFX Magazine is published every month. If you love it, chances are we do too and you'll find it in SFX.

Latest in TV
Charlie Cox as Matt Murdock in Daredevil: Born Again season 2
Daredevil: Born Again season 2 sees New York City turn against Kingpin in explosive new TV spot
 
 
Invincible season 4
Invincible season 4 release schedule: what time is episode 1 releasing on Prime Video?
 
 
Gen V
The Boys prequel show Vought Rising will feature the return of a major Gen V season 2 villain
 
 
Jamie Bell as Niall and Richard Gadd as Ruben in Half Man
Baby Reindeer creator's upcoming show gets new look featuring his drastic physical change
 
 
Frieren: Beyond Journey's End
Frieren actor says the response to "wholesome" low angle Frieren meme was "beautiful"
 
 
Doctor Who Maureen O'Brien
Lost Doctor Who episodes, featuring the early Dalek appearances, have been found after 60 years - and they will air soon
 
 
Latest in Features
A still from Kiki's Delivery Service featuring Kiki and her feline familiar Jiji flying on a broom with some seagulls, with a Big Screen Spotlight logo ini the corner
Kiki's Delivery Service's return to theaters proves we need hand-drawn animation now more than ever
 
 
In Collector's Cove, the collector protagonist who has short brown hair and wears a jumper with cherries on it hugs the Fable Fin companion who wears a witch hat. GamesRadar+'s Indie Spotlight series logo can be seen in the top right-hand corner
If you're feeling Pokemon Pokopia FOMO, this farming adventure lets you explore on the back of a Lapras-like companion
 
 
Curse of Strahd bust and crest lying on a leather notebook
Running the Curse of Strahd D&D campaign? I highly recommend these additions
 
 
A human ditto taking a picture with a Ivysaur and  Venusaur in Pokemon Pokopia.
After 48 hours, I've realized Pokopia is my ideal Pokemon game and humans were the problem all along
 
 
Super Meat Boy 3D gameplay on Switch 2 showing the protagonist, a red cube of meat, running between lasers and blades
Super Meat Boy 3D frustrates me just as much as the original – in a good way
 
 
A screenshot of a man holding red fire in his palm in Elden Ring Tarnished Edition on Nintendo Switch 2
I played Elden Ring Tarnished Edition on Nintendo Switch 2 and rolled through the Lands Between as the new Knight class
 
 
LATEST ARTICLES
  1. Nicole Kidman as Dr. Kay Scarpetta during the new show, Scarpetta
    1
    3 new to Prime Video shows I recommend you binge-watch this weekend (March 13–March 15)
  2. 2
    Resident Evil Requiem fans are taking a break from thirsting over Leon Kennedy to imagine all of the quips he'd say in other games: "'Guess that's The Last of Him'"
  3. 3
    "Slay the Spire 2 has been out for merely a week and we have already hit 3 million units sold with more than 25 million runs," says a stunned Mega Crit after becoming Steam's biggest roguelike
  4. 4
    "What if we could just drop 30 new heroes into Overwatch?": Marvel Rivals "definitely had an impact" on Blizzard, says Overwatch boss, and a big factor was the response to new heroes
  5. 5
    Overwatch director celebrates no longer being "the lowest-rated game on Steam," but admits he's "not sure what it would take for us to move up to a positive score at this point"

GamesRadar+ is part of Future US Inc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Visit our corporate site.

Add as a preferred source on Google Add as a preferred source on Google
  • Terms and conditions
  • Contact Future's experts
  • Privacy policy
  • Cookies policy
  • Accessibility statement
  • Careers
  • About us
  • Advertise with us
  • Review guidelines
  • Write for us
  • Accessibility Statement

© Future US, Inc. Full 7th Floor, 130 West 42nd Street, New York, NY 10036.

Please login or signup to comment

Please wait...