CHILLING city tours are being launched to reveal the darkest secrets of York's 2,000 years of history.

Guide Dorian Deathly is teaming up with York’s sightseeing bus operator to lead a spine-tingling circular tour highlighting the city’s macabre stories just in time for Halloween.

City Sightseeing York will transport fearless visitors around the city, with Dorian providing a commentary covering plagues and pestilence, murders and more, from shadowy snickelways to ghoulish graveyards.

The daily Halloween-themed bus tours begin on Thursday, October 28 and end on Halloween, Sunday, October 31, with each tour departing from Exhibition Square, opposite Bootham Bar, at 4pm. Tickets are on sale now via City Sightseeing York’s website, at www.yorkcitysightseeing.com.

Dorian’s Deathly Dark walking tours are already a hit with visitors to historic York, making him a four-time winner in tourism agency Visit York’s Love York Awards, while York visitors on TripAdvisor rate Dorian as one of the top two guides to the city.

Dorian said: “Together we will travel the darkened streets of this 2,000-year-old city and drive deep into its darkest corners, as I tell tales of tortures and executions, highwaymen and witches.

“For six years I’ve led tours into the chilling past of this magnificently macabre city, so I’m not short of a hair-raising tale or two. For those who dare, I promise you a Halloween bus ride you’ll never forget.”

City Sightseeing York operations supervisor Kel Pizzuti said: “Our specially-themed Halloween tours were very popular in 2020, and after a successful summer – our 21st year of touring York – we’re looking forward slightly nervously to Dorian Deathly’s personally-guided Halloween chiller!

“Dorian’s promised us a unique experience to scare and entertain in equal measure, and we expect demand for tickets to be high. Our advice is to book early to make sure of a place on the spookiest bus tour anywhere this Halloween.”