Torchlight tours throw light on museum's scary side

A series of tours around the Yorkshire Museum in York are being organised to explore the darker side of collections including Roman gods, pagan spirits and insects. Tours will be taking place at 6pm and 7pm from Sunday until October 31.

Learning manager Amy Parkinson said: "From ancient creepy crawlies to Roman ghost stories, Egyptian rituals to medieval witches, the Yorkshire Museum is the perfect place to get people in the spooky Halloween spirit.

"We are creating a new display of ancient bugs especially for half-term, with one of the stars being a cast of the world's biggest "spider" – the size of a man's head. In fact this was later found out to be a sea scorpion, but it is still a very scary specimen."

She added: "As Halloween is a non-Christian festival, we will also be looking at the rituals and practices of past civilisations, such as those of Romans, Vikings and Egyptians."

The museum's curators or guides will lead the tours and point out artefacts with the beam of the torch, revealing fascinating stories.

Last autumn, the Yorkshire Museum closed its doors to the public for the first time since it opened in 1830 to undergo a 2m revamp before re-opening this summer.

The tours cost 5 for adults and 2.50 for children, although numbers are limited. Tickets can be booked by calling 01904 650333.