TRANSCRIPT
York in the northeast of England has long been considered one of England's most beautiful cities, with its famous cathedral and narrow medieval lanes.
It attracts tourists from all over the world who want to soak in the atmosphere of this historic place.
And for some residents, like one Mr Kelly, that means looking at what lies beneath.
"York has an incredibly rich history, very diverse coming from Romans, Vikings, Tudors, Victorians, even right through to the modern times as well. And whenever there's work going on within the city walls, you can guarantee that they're going to unearth some things. I think ghosts kind of sprung up from that sort of idea that as soon as some work goes on, we're going to find some new Roman remains or something."
Halloween, which means All Hallows Eve, marks All Souls Day in Christian calendars - a night when the souls of the dead return to their former homes.
The day's origins go back before the arrival of Christianity in the British Isles to the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain, marking the transition to winter.
In York, many locals claim their city is the most haunted city in Europe - but of course that's a claim that can't be measured.
Still, it certainly has a strong tradition of ghostly hauntings and spooky sightings.
Down the Shambles, York's famous medieval street, there are lots of shops selling wands, potions, brooms and, of course, ghosts.
The most popular shop is the York Ghost Merchants, with queues stretching down the narrow lane, run by the same Mr Kelly.
"The York Ghost Merchants was born about York having an incredible history of storytelling, hauntings, ghosts."
Inside this curious old building are handmade ghosts - the recipe is a secret but the ghosts are tough like stone and each one is handmade in the city and no two are ever exactly alike.
There's a lot of theatre in the store, with secret merchandise hidden behind spooky portraits and all of the staff wear Victorian-era outfits.
But if those cute little ghosts aren't sweet enough for you then how about a chocolate replica from Bettys Tea Rooms, an institution in York that has been serving tea and cakes in the city since 1937.
Branch manager Carol Hanson says this Halloween Bettys have created their own chocolate ghosts.
"When they add the white chocolate, and spin around the moulds and then add the milk, every little ghost is different... They're all handmade, all hand decorated."
Bettys in York even has its own ghost story.
There is a legend that the ghost of Bettys' founder, Frederick Belmont, a Swiss emigrant who established the first Bettys tea room in 1919, walks the corridors of the branch.
Meanwhile, hidden around town are spectral sculptures of ghostly hauntings.
Some eerie wire frame installations appear around York where you least expect them, representing ghostly images from York's history with monks in the graveyard, nuns in the museum garden, even a bear.
The story goes that a bear escaped from York museum and chased the curator around the garden - though both survived the incident.
Carl Alsop is the operations manager for the York BID.
"You can see behind me a Victorian penny farthing rider. He's one of our new ghosts for 2025, making it a total of 60 ghosts in total as part of the York BIDs Ghosts in the Gardens project."
Another way to get into the Halloween spirit is to take a ghost walk.
For 44 years, Mark Graham has been treading the streets of York telling spooky tales and scaring visitors on his ghost walk.
Over the years, Mark has acquired a number of terrifying tales to chill the spines of his clients.
And it seems there isn't a street in town without a haunting.
"It was in there in 1953 that my friend was working. He was up a ladder, working on a pipe - he was a plumber - but from out of the wall in front of him stepped a Roman soldier. He screamed, fell off his ladder, scampered into a corner and watched as at least 20 Roman soldiers walked through this wall. One of them laid on a horse, fast asleep. You could see them in fine detail: round shields, swords, spears. You can only see them though from the knees upwards. You couldn't see the lower leg, the foot."
His friend's story was not believed, but just over ten years after the supposed event, archaeologists discovered the remains of a Roman barracks near the site of the haunting.
