Category: Curio Cabinet

Edinburgh was hot for most of our visit, so the first supernatural benefit of the Double Dead Tour was that the underground vaults had excellent natural air-conditioning.

By the time it began to rain in Greyfriars, the city had finally arranged the weather properly.

We did not see any ghosts. Some American visitors said they had seen something curled in the foetal position in the corner of one of the vaults, alarmingly close to where I had been standing. I saw stone, shadow and absolutely nothing else. My psychic sensitivity is roughly that of a blueberry scone.

Even so, the tour stayed with me. Not because it proved anything paranormal, but because Edinburgh understands how to make a story cling to a place. Give somebody a ring of keys, lead them through a locked gate and tell them what other people claim to have seen there, and an ordinary dark corner becomes very difficult to look at casually.

Old-world character is easy to mistake for quantity. Add another candlestick, another stack of books, another apothecary bottle and, eventually, the scholar’s study becomes a storage problem.

The rooms I am drawn to are rich and layered, but their magic does not come from covering every available surface. It comes from dark wood, softened colour, warm pools of light, trailing plants, worn materials and objects that look as though somebody chose them for a reason. The room suggests a scholar, herbalist, traveller or woodland host without requiring a plastic cauldron or a sign announcing that a witch lives there.

That distinction matters. A fantasy-inspired interior should work much like a fantasy-inspired outfit: establish the silhouette, choose a coherent palette, add texture and finish with one or two memorable details. Stop before inspiration becomes costume.