ENTERTAINMENT// Many Gippslanders are unaware of the region’s rich history. Tegan Dawson wants to change that.
How does the tale of Crime in the Brown Coal Mine sound? Or what about a walking ghost tour of Traralgon and Yallourn North? The stories are little-known, but thanks to Tegan’s extensive research and storytelling ability, they have been brought back to life.
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Tegan started Haunted Hills Tours, named after the mystery-riddled area at the western edge of the Latrobe Valley, as a way to tell her stories. Showing adventurous locals and visitors around key sites as part of carefully woven walking tours, she also takes them back in time. Stories of startling hauntings, historical crimes, and other big events of the past are retold and discussed as the sun sets.
The tours are well researched – Tegan has trawled through countless old newspapers and other historical documents to find her material.
While ghost tours were the start of her venture, Tegan has recently started expanding the scope of Haunted Hills Tours to include new topics and different kinds of interaction.
“Recently I have developed an interactive crime tour, called Crime in the Brown Coal Mine, where the participants play judge and jury, discover the penalties, the mysteries and the skeletons in the hills in and around Yallourn North,” Tegan told the Baw Baw Advertiser.
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Crime in the Brown Coal Mine is billed as including the story of “Yallourn North’s Norman Bates,” in reference to the villain of Alfred Hitchcock’s classic film, Psycho.
“I have also recently commenced an interactive cocktail show – also known as dinner theatre – as another way to tell stories about our area and engage people in different ways. This is why Haunted Hills Tours is adding an event called History, Mystery or Felony? It’s a modern take on a murder mystery. Your decision: is it a felony, mystery, or history? Every event is better with a little drama, the only problem is most dramas at gatherings have ongoing consequences.”
Tegan and a wider cast can be booked to tell the tale at your own home, which will make for excellent winter party entertainment.
Sound exciting? Check the tour dates below and call 0473 945 639 to book. You can also book online at hauntedhillstours.com.
