DARK secrets are hidden in Newcastle's historic streets and buildings.

Things that go bump in the Toon include tormented Roman soldiers, a shadowy figure who haunts the Theatre Royal and a spectre who throws kitchen utensils at staff in a Jesmond pub.

Many think it's only the foolish, the unlucky or the people who are paid to write about these things who end up wandering around a castle searching for spooks on a cold winter's evening.

Well, I actually fall into more than one of those categories, so when ghost hunter Steve Taylor invited me on one of his spooky expeditions, I jumped at the chance. And I was jumping with fear a couple of hours later when I met Steve and his macabre comrades for a visit to the city's Castle Keep.

"This is Dave The Dark One," says Steve indicating his colleague as I join a group of people shivering in the cold.

A few of us snigger, but we are soon transfixed as Steve takes us on a journey through the darkest legends of Tyneside.

The ghost of a forlorn woman who searches for her murdered children, grave robbers selling corpses and witches burnt buy flames.

Meanwhile, Dave The Dark One, aka David Marshall, is busy scuttling off around corners, only to be found standing ominously in the shadows at the climax of each of Steve's tales. Together, the lads run a ghost tour and paranormal investigations company called Alone In The Dark Entertainment, and this is, apparently, one of the tamer of the expeditions they run.

'This was the very spot where witches were lowered into the fires until they burst into flames with a bloodcurdling scream," says Steve as we stand by the Bridge Hotel, hearing another story.

If this is tame, I'm glad I didn't go along to what Dave The Dark One tells us is the extreme tour.

But there's more to Alone In The Dark than storytelling.

Stopping under the Castle Garth, Steve whips out an electromagnetic field meter, used to detect changes in the atmosphere.

We are asked to watch as it bleeps and it does seem to be detecting something. More live theatre? Tricks? We are asked to make up our own minds.

Dave The Dark One is now frantic with excitement and asks us to form a circle, hold hands and imagine an orb of light.

"Aaaaaaaaargh!" I shrieked, as I remembered I'd left my cooker on at home.

Nothing happens, but I have to admit I feel so cold my hands have stopped working.

Well, it's Newcastle in January. Let's face it - it's cold whether you're holding a seance or not.

But one thing's for certain, these guys are serious about their trade and their website message board is full of accounts from others who have sampled the tours.

Steve, 27, from Gateshead, has run Alone In The Dark Entertainment since last Halloween.

His website invites you to walk with him through time, death and murder on haunted pub crawls, ghost walks and overnight ghost hunts around haunted spots in the region.

The hell-raisers also run murder-mystery parties.

"We bring in real history and try to paint a real picture of what Newcastle must've been like-the bodies, the murder, the stench," says Steve.

On many of the tours the Geordie ghost hunters use equipment such as the electromagnetic field meter.

As Steve explains: "Spirits are energy, that's all they are. The human body is full of electricity and energy.

"If you think about it, spirits are just like fire from a candle. You can see it, put your hand through it and it can disappear.

"But it can burn you," he adds, ominously.

So how does a full-time customer care worker for MFI find himself running paranormal investigations?

"I've always been interested in ghosts, my parents brought me up to understand nature.

"If you look back at the days before cars and TVs were invented, people would have been sensitive to energy.

"My gran and grandad taught me that there are energies that used to be tapped into but aren't anymore."

When he's not scaring reporters, Steve is working on two books. One's about religion and paganism, the other about ghosts and poltergeists.

"I've had a bit of attention from publishers," Steve adds.

Alone In The Dark Entertainment has grown since it's first tour three months ago and the team are looking forward to more spooky shenanigans.

The weekly walks continue, and, in February, the ghosties are planning a stay at the Cooperage pub, one of Newcastle's oldest buildings.

Visit www.aloneinthedarkentertainment.com or call (0191) 440 3196.

Where ghosts roam...

HERE are some of the region's most haunted hot spots.

The Theatre Royal, Grey Street, Newcastle: The Dark Lady. Details are scarce, but it is said she is the phantom of a spurned lover who committed suicide by jumping off the God's Circle balcony.

The Carriage pub, Jesmond, Newcastle: Generations of pub owners have witnessed spooky goings-on in the 19th century building, including flying kitchen utensils and a mystery figure.

Bessie Surtees' House, Sandhill, Newcastle: Bessie Surtees was the daughter of a rich merchant who married a scot against her father's will. It is said her face can be seen peering through the first floor window, where she would wait for her lover.

Haltwhistle: The Grey Man of Bellister: Locals say the area is haunted by a cursed man who was killed by wild dogs on the banks of the Tyne in Border Reiver times. His face is pallid and cut across with wounds.

Chillingham Castle, Northumberland:

The Radiant Boy is said to appear around the fireplace in the castle's Pink Bedroom, often in a blue flash which people mistake for an electrical fault. Years ago, when the fireplace was being enlarged, the bones of a young boy were discovered there.

The Centre For Life, Newcastle:

The centre is built on the site of the old Infirmary, Newcastle's first hospital. When the Centre was built, contractors excavated more than 1,000 human bones. Builders noticed tools going missing and a bad atmosphere around the site, but the incidents stopped when the bones were reburied.