Bristol named UK’s Most Haunted City in New Research for Halloween

• Bristol crowned the UK’s most haunted city, followed by Belfast then Plymouth.
• 62% of Brits believe in the supernatural, with 30% believing in the existence of ghosts.
• Inbaal Honigman, celebrity psychic, explains why so many Brits believe in the supernatural.

With Halloween season in full swing, Leonardo Hotels has taken a deep dive into Brits’ supernatural beliefs to uncover which cities in the UK are the most haunted. 

Brits’ supernatural beliefs 

Collected data, from Leonardo Hotels, shows that 62% of Brits believe in the supernatural, with a third (30%) believing in the existence of ghosts.  

This is followed by 12% believing in witches, 10% believing in werewolves, 9% in vampires, and 1% believing that zombies do in fact exist. 

A further 15% of Brits have also previously had a supernatural encounter with this figure rising with age from 10% aged 18-24 to 33% for ages 65 and over. 

Over a third of Brits have also taken part in a ghost hunt or visited a reported haunted location whilst a further third would like to take part in such an activity in the future. 

The most haunted UK cities 

Looking at localised Google Searches for ‘Ghost in my house’ and ‘Ghost sighting’, Bristol is the UK’s most haunted city, with 730 searches per 100,000 residents. 

Belfast follows with 601 searches, with Plymouth coming third with 592 searches. Brighton and Norwich round off the top five with 571 and 551 searches per 100,000 residents. 

As for the least haunted cities, residents of Edinburgh can sleep soundly with only 101 Google Searches for paranormal activity per 100,000 residents. Liverpool follows with 162 searches, Oxford with 182, and Southampton with 167. 

Celebrity psychic weighs in 

As for why so many Brits believe in the paranormal, Inbaal Hinigman, celebrity psychic explains: 

“The older generations believe because, in their long lives, they’ve seen stuff that can’t be explained. From spirit presence to miracle babies, the generation of grandparents has the life experience to back up their supernatural beliefs. 

“Younger generations turn to the paranormal because the mainstream world is sometimes quite overwhelming. With the ongoing economic and political challenges sometimes it’s nice to step back and turn to the mystical instead, as a form of escapism.” 

With the rising popularity of ghost hunting, Inbaal commented: “Ghost hunting is such an exciting hobby! It’s certainly growing in popularity and drawing more and more people in recent years.  

“TV programmes such as Most Haunted or Help! My House is Haunted, has made haunted locations appear more accessible and is probably the reason that this is becoming more popular.” 

Delving deeper into the most common types of paranormal experiences, Inbaal reveals: “Some supernatural experiences are bold, and some are very subtle. 

“Amongst the subtle ones, fragrance seems to be very popular. Smelling the perfume or aftershave of the departed, or a cake they were known for baking for example. 

“Amongst the bolder supernatural experiences are lights flashing, objects moving, and the most popular of all – hearing the voice of the person in the afterlife.”