Historic: Australia’s most haunted pub, Sydney's The Hero Of Waterloo Hotel in the 1930s.

If you believe the countless eyewitness accounts, the spirits present in the historic Sydney watering hole The Hero of Waterloo aren’t only of the alcoholic variety.

While I enjoy a good horror movie as much as the next man, having my very own first-hand encounter with things that go bump in the night isn’t very high on my wishlist. So an assignment to report on the supernatural goings on at Australia’s “most haunted pub” filled me with dread and fascination in equal measure.

The oldest existing pub in the country has been serving patrons for more than 170 years — and its history is chequered to say the least.

Built by convicts, the hotel was also rumoured to be a go-to for rum smugglers, who used a secret tunnel in the cellar, which ran directly to the wharf, to smuggle their goods.

But the tunnel had another, altogether more sinister use.

Seeing a money-making opportunity, the then-publican slipped unsuspecting sailors a Mickey Finn (a drink laced with a psychoactive drug) before dropping them through a trapdoor into the cellar, from where they were taken through the tunnel to waiting whale ships on which they would endure years of forced labour.

While countless undocumented kidnappings took place, the most famous crime committed in the hotel was the murder of convict landlady, Anne Kirkman, back in 1849 who was thrown down the cellar steps by her brutish husband after she discovered that he was having an affair with a younger girl who was also pregnant with his child.

The Hero of Waterloo today.Source:Supplied

Historic: Australia’s most haunted pub in the 1930s.Source:Supplied

Current landlady, Kazuko Nelson, has owned the Hero of Waterloo for more than 25 years and during this time, both she, her staff and plenty of customers, have had encounters with the ghost of the tragic former landlady.

“I remember 27 years ago, when I first started to work in the pub with my late husband, he said to me, ‘If someone runs screaming out of the women’s toilets, just try to calm them down!’ He went on to tell me that women would look into the mirror and often see a lady behind them, yet when they turned around, no one was there.

“I often stay in the apartment above the pub and — in the middle of the night — I’ll hear the piano playing,” she says.

“We think it’s Anne too. In fact, we had to move the piano down to the cellar because it was happening so much I couldn’t sleep.

“We had a Buddhist monk visit here once by coincidence. He walked into the pub, went to the landing above the cellar and said, ‘She died under here.’ He knew nothing about the history or about Anne dying here.”

Disembodied: The piano is heard playing by itself night after night.Source:Supplied

And it’s not only Anne’s restless spirit who walks the historic drinking den.

Though unidentified, the place is packed to the rafters with spectres and many of the hauntings have a definite pattern.

In the Duke Room, phantom footsteps are heard walking in and out of the room time and time again. Used as a function room, the chairs around the dining table are moved overnight, usually towards the fireplace.

Activity: The haunted ‘Duke Room’ has been the scene for countless paranormal experiences over the years.Source:Supplied

“It happens all the time,” says Kazuko. “Just last week we heard tables and chairs being moved in the empty room.”

The activity is so pronounced that staff often refuse to work in the room alone with many reporting feeling someone — or something — touching or blowing on their necks, leaving them fleeing in terror.

Armed with all the grisly tales, it was time for my very own experience. But I wasn’t about to go it alone in this creepy crib without some company — I’m not crazy! So, I called in some back-up in the form of two of Sydney's top paranormal investigators — medium-clairvoyant, Rayleen Kable and paranormal investigator, Michelle Janes.

Having two decades of experience between them, during which they’ve investigated everything from abandoned asylums and old graveyards to ghost-plagued suburban semis, I hoped the pair would be able to teach this rookie ghostbuster a thing or two.

But forget the proton packs that are part and parcel of a Ghostbusters arsenal; for real-life investigations, often the simplest tools are the most effective.

Despite having cases of slick gadgets, including night vision cameras, digital thermometers and motion detectors, both Michelle and Rayleen admit that a flashlight, a voice recorder and a basic camera, are all you need.

The cellar still has shackles on its sandstone walls, the entrance to the smuggler’s tunnel is still visible and you can still see the trapdoor from which the poor, drugged sailors would be dropped, Sweeney Todd-style, from the bar.

Creepy: The old iron gate that guards the entrance to the now sealed secret smugglers tunnel in the cellar of the hotel.Source:Supplied

It’s while taking pictures here that we get a hint of things to come after a sudden blast of cold air hits us. While I grimace and pull my arms to my chest, Rayleen looks at me and smiles, “oh, it’s busy here!” We’re in for an eventful night it would seem.

An hour later, I’m in the Duke Room. The lights are switched off and we begin. Rayleen introduces herself (and us) to any entities present. “I always talk to spirits as if they’re here with us,’ she explains. “It’s about respect. They want to tell their story - If they’ve been mistreated they want a voice.”

We’ve been in the room for just over an hour and Rayleen’s attention is repeatedly drawn to the fireplace where she senses a male spirit who dominates the room. “Stan or Stanley,” she says. Apparently he’s the culprit behind the nightly musical chairs. She says that the spirits here are pretty “handsy” and while I really didn’t want a close encounter of my own, I swear I could feel heavy pressure on my neck. Casting a sideways look at me towards my position in the corner of the room, she declares that there’s a spirit sitting next to me. Get me outta here!

Descending the steps into the dark cellar, Rayleen pauses and says that she feels dizzy, “like she’s falling”. It seems she picked up on the location where the former-landlady met her demise 150 years ago.

Evidence: Multiple orbs surround Paul and the Hero of Waterloo owner, Kazuko Nelson.Source:Supplied

Rayleen is certain that more than one sailor didn’t get out of this dank and gloomy space alive. “I feel like one of the spirits was stabbed in the chest area,” she says.

It’s 2am and we decide to call it quits. The ghost busting duo pack away their gear and we assess the evening. Rayleen is positive that she connected with at least two different spirits, and Michelle has captured plenty of “orbs” on her camera.

On the way home, I receive an excited text message from Rayleen saying that she went through the EVP (electronic voice phenomenon) recordings and has clearly caught a voice saying “hello” in the cellar. It’s enough to give you goosebumps.

Both investigators have no doubt that the pub is haunted, but they also acknowledge that ghost hunting is far from an exact science. For me, I’m left with plenty to consider. Did I genuinely have a paranormal experience? I’m not sure. Regardless, considering the rollercoaster-like thrills and chills that an investigation brings - kind of like starring in your very own horror flick - I can see how it can be addictive. But could I actually cope if I had seen a ghost? Probably not!

Originally from the UK, Paul has lived and worked in three different continents: from the heady metropolis of Dubai, to North America and - as of seven years ago - Sydney, Australia; a place he now calls home. You can find out more about Paul at www.paulewart.com.