Haunted Sussex pub helps spark wacky 'win a ghost' competition

The Brewery Shades pub in High Street, Crawley, maintains that its resident ghost has improved business by 20 per cent.

And now ‘ghost-free’ pubs are being offered a chance to win their own ghost-in-residence in a zany contest by inheriting a haunted item from Britain's most-haunted venue – Chillingham Castle.

Contactless payment provider SumUp (www.sumup.com), has collected data from Britain’s most haunted pubs and hotels to see how having a ghost boosts business.

And, as well as Crawley’s Brewery Shades pub, others around the country have also confirmed that having a spook-in-residence can boost trade by nearly 30 per cent during Halloween.

There is a wide variety of alleged paranormal activities at the 15th century Brewery Shades: a woman and child associated with one room in which a bed was once found alight for no reason; a doorbell ringing by itself during the night; and a man haunting the ladies' toilet. Historically, the word ‘shade’ meant ‘ghost’.

Other pubs who want to emulate the Brewery Shades’ success can now apply to ‘borrow’ a spirit in the form of a possessed plant from gardens at Chillingham Castle allowing them to test the phenomenon for themselves.

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Pubs can register their interest in receiving a plant by contacting SumUp by emailing: [email protected]

But, SumUp adds: “SumUp cannot guarantee the appearance of a ghost in residence to which the Chillingham Castle plants are delivered; nor can SumUp accept any responsibility should a poltergeist take up residence and create damage.”