Even sceptics stood up and took notice when paranormal experts claimed to have photographed a ghost at the notoriously haunted Woodchester Mansion recently. And if the ancient druids are right, hordes of ghastly ghouls will be creeping about on Monday. Reporter James Davis looks into the background of Halloween, and finds out where to look for fright in the Five Valleys.

HALLOWEEN will see many people dressing up as zombies, vampires and witches, carving frightful faces into pumpkins, ducking for apples and trick-or-treating.

Generally considered a light-hearted affair these days, the celebration of All Hallow's Eve has evolved over the centuries.

Started by the druids, it was thought to be a night when spirits, ghosts and ghouls came back to haunt the living.

The Celts continued the tradition believing that on the night before their New Year - November 1 - the boundaries between the worlds of the living and the dead were at their weakest, and spirits returned to cause trouble and damage crops.

It was adapted further by the Romans, who incorporated the spiritual aspects into their harvest festival celebrations to give us apple-bobbing and toffee apples.

After crossing the Atlantic to America, the tradition mutated further - pumpkin lanterns took over from the English turnip, although both were used to scare away mischievous spirits.

There have been many reports of sightings of paranormal activity in the Stroud area over the centuries.

Here's a run-down of the Five Valleys very own Most Haunted.

Woodchester Mansion

Ever since work on this gothic structure was mysteriously abandoned in the 19th Century, there have been numerous reports of strange goings on.

With claims of sightings of headless horses and floating coffins, as well as wailing, banging sounds and voices, this haunted house is full of eerie activity and is even home to one of the UK's largest colonies of rare bats. As events co-ordinator, Wendy Milner has had more than her fair share of frights.

"I'm a sceptic but on one bizarre occasion something suddenly started pulling my hair," she said.

During a recent visit, Gloucestershire Paranormal Research Group captured CCTV footage of what appears to be a hooded figure.

Chavenage House near Tetbury

Moments after owner Nathaniel Stephens died in 1649, servants spotted a mysterious black horse-drawn carriage driven by a headless coachman pulling into the drive.

Having taken his last breath, the former Gloucestershire MP is then reported to have drifted down the stairs, out of the front door and into the awaiting coach.

Legend has it that every owner dying in the house leaves in the same way.

Owlpen Manor, Uley

Along with apparitions of a monk and a mischievous girl, the floors of this Tudor Manor house near Uley are also home to the ghost of Margaret of Anjou, queen consort of Henry VI.

Karin Mander, who owns the house, said: "It was the last happy night she spent before going into exile in France."

The Ragged Cot, Chalford

One bitingly cold December night in 1760 the pub's desperate and broke landlord Bill Clavers accidentally pushed his wife and child down the stairs in a drunken stupor while rushing out to rob a stagecoach.

The heist was a success, but soldiers caught him by following his footprints in the snow.

They arrived at his home to be confronted by the ghostly apparitions of his wife and child, who are said to haunt the pub to this day.