Black Dog Alley, Dunedin
I love this location, and thankfully it still remains mostly untouched by the supposed ‘beautification’ and wave of street art currently sweeping the town.
Two butchers prepared meat for the market at the bottom of this alleyway during the gold rush period (1861–1865). They were concerned that they would be broken into or vandalised in some way, so they created a ghost story as a deterrent for potential thieves. Entering the alley after dark meant that you could potentially have an encounter with the black dog, which, in turn, could lead to unfortunate times or even death for the perpetrator. In the motherlands, the ghostly black dog was also known as the black shuck or black hound, and was recognisable by his red, or in some cases, yellow eyes. I always found the story fascinating on the one hand, and incredibly creepy on the other.
Black Dog Alley [c]
When I first started my tours, I was looking out for a horror story that I could blame on the black dog. Alas, I could not find anything.
Some years after I started the tours, I had a chance meeting with an old friend of mine. Being a policeman, he was quick to inform me that he had seen a lot of strange things during his time in the job. He also went on to tell me that he had attended an unusual accident many years back and was convinced the ghost of a young man had visited him. You can imagine my surprise when he pointed out Black Dog Alley as the location. The following events make for sad reading, and I guess it’s up to you whether or not you believe the black dog was involved.
One Friday evening in 1998, a young student went to visit his girlfriend who lived in one of the apartments above the alleyway. He often made his way to her place via the fire escape ladder on the outside of the building. On this particular evening, he arrived at the back door and found it locked. What exactly happened next remains a mystery, but it is thought he lost his footing on his way back down the ladder. His body was later found by an art dealer who parked her car in the nearby parking lot. Strangely enough, the art dealer appeared on tour one evening and proudly told my group she was the first on the scene. She also delighted in informing everyone that she was the proud owner of two black sausage dogs!
During the investigation, it was determined that the young man hadn’t been drinking, it wasn’t a wet night, and that suicide and murder were also ruled out. The cause of death ... an unfortunate accident.
Was the young man trespassing on Black Dog Alley that evening? Did he see the round yellow saucer eyes of the black dog and fall from fear?
The Kuri lurks in the dark shadows of Dunedin’s Black Dog Alley
What I do know is all who attended that incident changed their opinions on how they viewed the supernatural. My eyewitness said everyone believed the young man’s ghost was hovering over the scene. Recently I had another former policeman attend my tour. His wife was quick to point out that her husband had been there on that fateful evening. Reluctantly he joined the conversation. “It’s hard to put into words, but sometimes you just know that all is not as it seems. It was one of the strangest nights of my career,” he claimed.
Residents of the neighbouring Bracken Court also started to believe in the black dog tale after a spectacular fire in 2005 almost completely destroyed the building. People who had spent time in the building were convinced that it was haunted. Many of them even went as far as to say that the fire was caused by poltergeist activity. The cause of the fire was believed to be a faulty wire.
Recently I was taking a group down Black Dog Alley when a woman in the group turned to me and asked if she could stay at the top of the alleyway. Naturally, I asked if she was ok. She replied, “Yes, I’m fine, but I would rather wait here. I think a young man has died nearby. He’s just passed me on the alleyway now.”
Everyone looked at me somewhat startled. My heart starting pounding. We continued on. Once we reached the bottom of the alleyway, I informed everyone that a young man had fallen from the fire escape to his death. Everyone looked at me then looked up to the top of the alleyway where the woman was waiting.
“Has she been on tour before?” one of my guests asked.
“I'm not sure,” I replied, still slightly shaken.
Once we arrived at the top of the alley, we all asked her how she knew
about the young man’s death. She claimed she hadn’t been on tour before, and was from Western Australia and had just arrived in Dunedin that afternoon.
“I see stuff from time to time. Hopefully, that doesn’t freak you out,” the women replied in a raspy voice.
Dunedin is a Ghost Town-{1999-2024}