Fremantle Prison

Built by convicts in the 1850s (yep, actual convicts with pickaxes and limestone dust in their lungs), Fremantle Prison stood as Western Australia’s maximum-security fortress right up until 1991. These days it’s a World Heritage-listed landmark and one of the state’s most iconic attractions.

For us locals, it’s always been a bit of a rite of passage. Growing up, whenever family came to visit, you’d end up wandering those heavy stone corridors, hearing the guides spin yarns about history and hauntings. And trust me, the place is absolutely dripping with ghost stories—poltergeists, cold spots, and things that go bump in the night.

Sure, the prison held the big names—imperial convicts, POWs, and dangerous detainees—but it wasn’t all hardened criminals. Plenty of folks ended up inside for far smaller sins: petty theft, forgery, drunken brawls, or just being a little too rowdy in public.

But here’s the kicker: Fremantle Prison wasn’t just about locking people up. It was about punishment—floggings, hangings, and brutal beatings that left scars on the walls and, some say, on the spirit of the place itself. Even when it was still operational, guards swapped ghost stories about figures in the gun towers, footsteps in the shower blocks, and shadows lurking in the cell wings.

Now, with torchlight tours running after dark, those tales have only grown stronger. Guides and visitors alike talk about icy touches, uneasy feelings, and fleeting glimpses of something—or someone—that refuses to leave.

And of all those eerie encounters, three hauntings stand out as the most infamous within Fremantle Prison’s walls…