Emdad Rahman takes the London Ghost Bus Tour.
The London Ghost Bus Tour is a theatrical sightseeing tour, taking passengers of a grotesque persuasion through a chilling history of London while providing a piece of comedy horror theatre on board a classic 1960s Routemaster bus.
The guided tour is both creepy and comical and travels past the Houses of Parliament and Westminster Abbey over to St. Paul’s Cathedral and the Tower of London. Passengers get to witness the city’s sites of murder, torture and execution and learn about the ghosts of London and the ghastly skeletons that lurk in London’s locked closets.
Just off Trafalgar Square we joined other lost souls and stepped aboard the Necrobus to take part in what would turn out to be a dark, morbid, yet quite a funny experience of the darker side of London.
The Ghost Bus Tour is not for the faint hearted and certainly not a dreamy ride around the smiley tourist hotspots of London. If you haven’t stumbled aboard by accident then brace yourself for a taste for the dark and macabre, for the Necrobus is not a vessel for those of immaculate heart and undefiled soul. Darkness lurks within, and the order of the day is grim, grisly and gruesome.
We joined the twisted souls on this carcass coach and set off on our journey. Our host was a quaint, polite but rather strange gentleman who was full of energy and insisted on making close eye contact and rushing up and down the bus to address the passengers. At Trafalgar Square I was convinced I’d spotted Mark Wahlberg and strained my neck round to catch a closer glimpse. The bus moved on and I had lost my chance for a quick selfie.
A few minutes a woman opposite me (part of a family from the Midlands) screeched at the conductor, “someone’s just jumped on behind you!” I too thought I caught a glimpse of a black clad figure shoot upwards but wasn’t entirely certain. Our creepy conductor seemed unperturbed as he wistfully carried on uttering titbits of gory anecdotes and weird facts as we drove along the route.
Someone came booming down the stairs and into the bottom carriage. I was surprised to see Mr Mark Walhberg from Trafalgar Square! On closer inspection I concluded that it certainly wasn’t the Hollywood star – although a squint of both eyes helped my illusion no doubt. It turned out the gentleman was aptly named Mr Hinge and he announced himself as the Necrobus Health Inspector. Mr Hinge was a bit of a star if you ask me. The ride was greatly entertaining and suitable for both adults and children.
We even had a stink up with one person being sick and having to hop off with their group. Though it was sad to lose a few passengers, we certainly didn’t miss the stench. I was assured that this was certainly not a part of the theatrics.
If you have a penchant for the despicable and a craving for the revolting then you could perhaps hop aboard the corpse coach and try your hand at this frightseeing tour of London.
Twisted souls on board the London cadaver carrier will be escorted to a number of chilling sites; scenes of supernatural phenomena, execution, torture and murder are all wrapped up into one of the most ghoulish, yet sidesplitting bus tours the capital has to offer.
We saw The Houses of Parliament, London Bridge, Westminster Abbey, Downing Street, Tower Bridge, St Paul’s Cathedral and The Tower of London. The route included a drive past the fictional demon barber of Fleet Street to the Cross Bones Graveyard of Southwark, the famous tombs of Westminster Abbey to the black dog of Newgate Prison. The capital has had more than its fair share of pain and misery, and the necromantic powers of The Ghost Bus bought that all to life.
Whether it’s Trafalgar Scare, Notting Hell or Earls Corpse, step on board this eerie troupe of the supernatural with its deathlike cart of nightmare, hallucinations and torment. Sit back and allow your hosts to guide you through the dark and gothic side of London. Featuring on-board actors, a creepy conductor, technical trickery and a host of haunted sites, The Ghost Bus Tours transmogrifies the traditional London bus tour into an unholy union of comedy and terror.
The London sightseeing tour lasts approximately 1 hour and 15 minutes (depending on traffic), and you will be dropped off again at Northumberland Avenue. Last minute tickets may be available on board. Call to check for availability at other times. The Ghost Bus Tours are not suitable for young children. Children aged 15 and under must be accompanied by a paying adult.
No one died during the making of this review…
•For more information, go to: www.theghostbustours.com
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