Allen Tiller – Award-Winning Historian, Genealogist, Author & Paranormal Researcher | Updates

South Australian Author Showcase - Salisbury

Sat, 8 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000

12 September 2026 from 10:00 am – 2:00 pm

Where

Salisbury Community Hub, 34 Church Street, Salisbury SA 5108

Book lovers, this one's for you! Join the South Australian Author Showcase on Saturday 12 September at the Salisbury Community Hub for a day filled with inspiring authors, book-themed products, community and creativity.

Meet a broad range of talented local authors and book-themed market stallholders from all over South Australia who are heading to Salisbury to showcase their work.

What’s included?

Discover a wide range of books, including romance, fantasy, sci fi, mystery and non-fiction.. Stories and books will range from children's to adult's, with an exciting mix of genres available for all ages.

Enjoy a book-themed market experience, with a mixture of creative stallholders offering art, book covers, merchandise, and much more.

Whether you're an avid reader, aspiring writer, or simply curious about the literary scene in our area, the market will be a great day out for everyone.

With our Hub Cafe open, you can grab a drink and browse through a diverse mix of book-themed market stalls, connect with authors, and get your book copies personally signed.

Connect with the community

Take the opportunity to meet and discover new local authors, book-themed stallholders and people with a shared love of stories, writing and connection.

Treat yourself to a solo day out, bring a friend or come along with the family - everyone is welcome.

Booking Information

Bookings are free and recommended to help us plan for a safe, enjoyable event.

Cost: Free
Tickets: https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/south-australian-author-showcase-tickets-1989441653540

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ASYLUMFEST

Sat, 20 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Australia’s Only Horror Pop-Culture Festival

The last weekend of each October, inside Beechworth’s haunted 1800s asylum, AsylumFest brings horror, oddities, and the macabre to life. Whether you're a horror fanatic, a collector of the strange, or just seeking a weekend of eerie excitement, you’re in the right place.

About Asylumfest

AsylumFest is a three-day horror book and pop culture festival held within the historic Mayday Hills, a former 1800s psychiatric facility in Beechworth, Victoria.

The festival features workshops, dealer's tables, and gaming, along with the Mayday Hills Ghost Story Competition and the Mayday Hills Feature Film Friday. Books, authors, workshops, artists, sculptors, creators of the odd and quirky.

FREE ACCESS to traders, tabletop gaming, weird stuff, all in the main hall of the asylum.

NO TICKETS REQUIRED. JUST TURN UP!

SIDE EVENTS REQUIRE PAYMENT AND BOOKINGS (Details and links coming early in 2026)

WHEN & WHERE

October 30th - November 1st

22 Kurrajong Way, Beechworth, VIC 3747

info@asylumghosttours.com

More Details here: https://www.asylumfest.com.au/

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A Ghost at World's End

Sat, 8 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Near Burra in South Australia’s Mid North lies a place with one of the state’s most intriguing names—World’s End.

The settlement of Lapford, surveyed in 1877, was once located in what is now known as World’s End. Although the township was planned, it never really took off. Even so, the district had a thriving community for many years. A post office operated from 1876 until 1971; a school opened in 1888 and closed in 1941 due to a shortage of teachers; and a Wesleyan church served the community from 1889 until 1975. Today, the ruins of many of these buildings can still be seen along the World’s End driving trail.

The origin of the name “World’s End” has inspired a few stories over the years. One popular tale links it to Goyder’s Line, suggesting it marked the edge of reliable farming country. It’s a romantic idea, but it isn’t true. The name predates Goyder’s Line by 15 years. It was given by Scotsman Donald McDonald, who established the World’s End pastoral station in 1851.[1]

For a Scot, the name “World’s End” would have carried a very different meaning. It recalls the aftermath of the Battle of Flodden in 1513, when the English defeated the Scots. Fearing Edinburgh was left vulnerable, King James IV ordered defensive walls to be built around the city. A pub just beyond those walls became known as the World’s End because it stood outside the city’s protection—the point where the safe world ended. That historic pub still stands today, and the present building exists on the foundations of the original Flodden Wall.[2]

The Edinburgh World’s End was just one of many inns and pubs that adopted the name on the outskirts of Scottish towns. Donald McDonald, who came from Aberdeenshire, would also have been familiar with World’s End House, built there in 1767 and associated with the Scottish folk tale of the Well of World’s End.[3] With such familiar and affectionate associations back home, it’s easy to see why McDonald chose the name for his pastoral run in colonial South Australia.

In 1908, at The World’s End, South Australia, it was reported that multiple ghosts had been terrifying residents. One incident involved a team of horses that took off from their owner after encountering the ghost. The ghost scared the horses so much that they fled. In an interview with the Burra Record (newspaper), the witness explained that it was not a white-robed ghost he witnessed but the ghosts of a little girl and a little boy. He stated in an interview, ‘it was on account of their tender years that he decided to speak to them concerning their early morning travels, and as he did so the forms disappeared, in the most mysterious fashion.’[4]

On another occasion, a woman was doing her laundry. She pinned some white bed sheets to her clothesline. Later that evening, she went out to collect her sheets and noticed one had been removed and thrown some distance away. Rather than being logical and thinking the wind did it, she instantly blamed ghosts! She rallied her family, they armed themselves with sticks and other weapons, and went and beat the bed sheet, as if it were the ghosts, only to find it was just a bed sheet.[5]

Have you been to World’s End? Have you seen a ghost? Let me know in the comments.

www.allentiller.com.au

[1] ‘Late William McDonald’, The Proserpine Guardian, (29 February 1936), p. 6.

[2] About The World’s End, Belhaven, (2026), https://www.belhaven.co.uk/pubs/edinburgh/worlds-end

[3] Joseph Jacobs, ‘The Well of the World’s End’, (1890), https://www.authorama.com/english-fairy-tales-44.html

[4] ‘The Ghosts.’, Burra Record, (25 November 1908), p. 2.

[5] ‘The Ghost.’, Burra Record, (18 November 1908), p. 2.

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Hitchhiker Ghost Between Burra and Morgan

Sat, 8 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Recently, a witness has come forward claiming to have encountered a hitchhiking female ghost on Goyder Highway between Burra and Morgan. The entity is described only as a female in a white dress.

Unrelated to the ghostly encounter, the ‘ghost town’ of Florieton once stood near here. And the murder of Mareek Singh occurred nearby. In 1899, Frank Ward was arrested for murder, accused of having in his possession items belonging to Mareek Singh, who had been found buried in a shallow grave near a camp.[1]

It was proven during an inquest held at Mount Mary that a strike to the head had killed Mr Singh, and then his head had been decapitated. Coroner Dr Ramsey Smith removed the head from the gravesite and took it as evidence to the hearing against Ward.[2]

Ward was found guilty of murder and forced to serve time at the Adelaide Gaol. His release date was ‘at the pleasure of the Governor, for “having murdered the Indian Hawker at Mount Mary on February 21st.

Shortly after arriving at the Adelaide Gaol, Ward tried to commit suicide. This led to him being described as ‘insane’ and serving his sentence at the Parkside Lunatic Asylum.[3]

[1] ‘THE INQUEST’, South Australian Register, (25 February 1899), p. 5.

[2] ‘THE MOUNT MARY TRAGEDY.’, The Express and Telegraph (20 February 1899), p. 2.

[3] ‘THE MURDERER WARD.’, Adelaide Observer, (2 September 1899), p. 29.

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The Water Diviner with Russell Crowe

Thu, 25 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Back in 2014, I was offered the opportunity to be an extra in Russell Crowe's directorial debut, The Water Diviner. My wife and I drove to Burra in South Australia’s mid-north, where the movie was being shot on location at the Unicorn Brewery Cellars. We arrived early in the morning – Karen, my wife, was not allowed to stay, so she spent the day in Burra exploring the town's history and cemeteries.

The underground cellars were staged as a Turkish tea house. We arrived, and I checked in, not knowing what to expect. I was given a costume and some makeup, and then told to sit at a table and wait. After an hour or so, a production person came and took a photo of each and every individual extra. We were then told to wait again.

Around lunch time, a red carpet was rolled out from the kitchen truck, and a very large helicopter landed on the nearby Burra oval. James Packer and Miranda Kerr arrived, as did Russell Crowe, Cem Yilmaz, Yilmaz Erdogan and some of the other main stars. This created an excited buzz, and we were told once Russell and his VIPs had been fed, we could go eat from the vast banquet prepared!
There was a pecking order to the kitchen, and we were last – but that was ok with me – it was a million times better than the crap we put up with when I filmed Haunting Australia (We were given spaghetti bolognaise at Geelong Gaol, but not plates, bowls or cutlery – at Cockatoo Island, we were given Woolworths soup and one sandwich each – this movie was like a glorious banquet compared to that experience).

After eating and sitting around a while longer, we were all taken to the filming set in the Unicorn Brewery Cellar. All the extras were playing Turks getting ready to go to war. I was given a white cap, so I think I was playing a cleric (I don’t actually know). We filmed the same scene multiple times, and from different angles. One lucky extra got to throw Russell down the stairs!

After filming, Russell Crowe came to every person on set, shook their hands, and thanked them – what a great guy!

After we finished filming, we were all lined up, and Russell selected a handful of extras to be in the next day's scene, which was the blowing up of the train carriage on the Pichi Richi railway line. I wasn’t chosen, but that’s ok, I don’t think a fat man would’ve made a convincing Turkish soldier just after World War One.

Anyways, I’ve included some screenshots of my 3 seconds of airtime.

Here’s a little info on the movie:

The Water Diviner was released in 2014 and directed by Russell Crowe, was shot on digital using ARRI ALEXA XT Camera and Panavision Primo Anamorphic Lenses with Andrew Lesnie as cinematographer and editing by Matt Villa.

Starring | Russell Crowe, Olga Kurylenko, Jai Courtney, Isabel Lucas

Directed by | Russell Crowe

Cinematography by | Andrew Lesnie

#Allentiller #russellcrowe #movies #burra #thewaterdiviner

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What is the pinnacle of paranormal investigating for you?

Mon, 22 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000

For some time now, it seems the ultimate goal for many ghost hunters is securing a television show. The familiar progression often looks like this: form a team, investigate cemeteries, gain access to locations, run tours, launch a YouTube channel, and (hopefully) land a TV series. No judgement—people can and should pursue what they enjoy. However, while this path works well as entertainment, it does little to advance the field of paranormal investigation itself.

But what if the pinnacle looked different?

What if it meant gathering empirical evidence and publishing findings? Completing a thesis or dissertation and having it accepted in academic journals? Securing funding for structured, long-term research into anomalous experiences?

What if paranormal investigation was more than entertainment or storytelling—what if it became a pathway to strengthening critical thinking, scientific literacy, and research methodology, ultimately improving how investigations are conducted across the board?

How do we move forward from where we are today?

Progress in paranormal investigation depends on redefining what “progress” actually means. If the aim is to move beyond entertainment and toward more rigorous inquiry, the path forward requires structure, accountability, and shared standards.

First, there needs to be a clearer separation between entertainment and research. There is nothing wrong with ghost hunting as media or storytelling, but it should be clearly labelled as such. When the two are blended, public understanding becomes blurred, and serious inquiry is harder to distinguish from performance.

Second, methodology matters. If investigations are to claim evidential value, they require consistent protocols: repeatable procedures, proper documentation, environmental controls where possible, and transparent reporting of both positive and negative results. At present, the field often suffers from highly variable methods and selective reporting, if anything is recorded at all.

Third, collaboration beyond the paranormal community is essential. Psychologists, physicists, statisticians, historians, and engineers already possess tools that could significantly strengthen research design and interpretation. Even if the phenomena remain unresolved, the investigative process itself becomes more disciplined and credible through interdisciplinary input.

Fourth, there should be a stronger emphasis on publishing and peer review, even if initially through informal or niche platforms. The moment findings are written, scrutinised, and challenged, the quality of thinking improves. At present, much of the “evidence” circulates in closed loops—teams, social media, or television edits—without meaningful external critique, aside from self-appointed sceptics, or in some cases pseudo-sceptics who critique without offering constructive analysis or methodological improvement.

Finally, funding and educational pathways would help formalise the field. Small research grants, university partnerships, or independent study programs could encourage structured inquiry rather than ad hoc investigations driven primarily by content creation.

In short, moving forward means treating the question seriously even if the answers remain uncertain. The real shift isn’t about proving ghosts exist—it’s about raising the standard of how we ask the question in the first place.

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Spooky romance: I met my hubby in a graveyard

Wed, 28 May 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Karen Tiller was looking for spirits but found love with ghost hunter Allen Tiller while visiting a graveyard

Writer: Eva Lewicki May 28, 2025

Karen Tiller, 52, from Gawler, SA, hit the jackpot when she found love with ghost hunter Allen while visiting a graveyard
Allen, one of the world’s top ghost hunters, and Karen married and are still in love after 14 years
Now the pair spend their time hunting ghosts together

Here, Karen tells her story in her own words

Let’s check out St John’s Catholic cemetery in Kapunda,’ a friend suggested one day. ‘It’s meant to be haunted.’

‘Sounds scary,’ I said, but intrigued, I went along.

We soon discovered we weren’t alone – there was a group of people hunched over strange devices. We learned they were a paranormal investigation team, Eidolon Paranormal.

Fascinated, I got chatting to the charismatic founder, Allen. An avid historian and genealogist, he told me he’d started the group four years earlier in 2007 to scientifically investigate all things paranormal.

‘Talking to the deceased is just like talking to anyone,’ he said. ‘Just ask them a question and see if they reply.’

‘Yikes,’ I replied, petrified.

As a bartender, I was more used to talking to drunks! But by the end of the night, Allen had me talking to the dead, too!

I was hooked. Not just on the ghost-hunting, on Allen himself.

St John’s Catholic Cemetery, where Karen and Allen found love. (Credit: Supplied )

So when he invited me to a paranormal meet-up at the abandoned Kapunda copper mine, SA, I didn’t hesitate.

Soon we were investigating haunted locations together – from jails, hotels, museums and shops, to theatres and dry cleaners! I took notes and videoed everything, while Allen and the team set up and monitored the ghost-hunting equipment.

Always a bit of a scaredy-cat, I had to force myself to man up when spooky things happened. Once, at the former Aradale Lunatic Asylum, I felt a menacing presence about to grab me.

‘Argh!’ I cried, but no-one was there.

Checking the film, we saw a flashing, pulsating red orb following me!

Another time at the historic Gladstone Gaol, we saw an investigator enter a cell, followed by a shadowy figure. We sprinted over, but the person was alone.

The figure was clearly a ghostly apparition.

Other times, I was stunned by the beauty we saw. Once at the Kapunda public cemetery, magical sparkles appeared around us, as though shimmery glitter had been thrown in the air.

Source: https://www.thatslife.com.au/real-life/found-love-ghost-hunter-husband-graveyard/

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