Taking part in a walking tour is one of the best ways to learn more about a city, whether you’re visiting for the first time or have lived there for years. There’s always something you’ve overlooked, and a good guide can transform familiar streets, buildings and laneways into the setting for stories you never knew were there, lurking in the shadows.
Dark Stories is one of the walking tour businesses bringing those stories to life. They have been running true crime tours and dark theatre productions since 2018, operating in major cities across Australia. Their tours explore the darker side of local history through the retelling of crime, scandal and intrigue.
I joined the Perth True Crime Walking Tour, and found it was an entertaining way to spend my evening. Who doesn’t love a little true crime? The tour focuses on cases from Perth’s past, and as we walked through city streets and laneways, our guide revealed the stories connected to each location.
We meet our guide, Amy, at the Horseshoe Bridge, an easy-to-find landmark for visitors to Perth. The tour is deliberately small, which I think makes for a much better walking experience. Everyone can keep pace with the group, while the smaller numbers mean we can gather around Amy and hear her stories without competing with the noise of the city.
Amy is an engaging storyteller, bringing Perth’s dark history to life with photographs of offenders, victims and locations as they appeared in years gone by. The images add another layer to the stories, making it easier to picture the people and places involved and, occasionally, sending a shiver down my spine.
I knew a few of the stories we encountered, but I hadn’t realised just how many high-profile crimes had taken place around Perth. From murders along the train line to scorned lovers and mafia conflicts, the stories reveal a fascinating side of the city.
The walking itself is very manageable, with the pace more of a leisurely meander than a serious hike. We followed a loop through Perth’s streets before crossing into Northbridge. The route is reasonably flat, which makes it accessible for people with limited mobility, although individual accessibility requirements would be worth checking when booking.
We finish at the Perth Museum Boola Bardip, where we listened to stories of the convicts who built and inhabited the tiny prison. Sitting in what was once its execution grounds while hearing about Perth’s colonial past is an eerie way to finish the tour.
The tour is reasonably priced and offers a fun way to see the city from a different perspective. Whether you’re a visitor wanting to uncover Perth’s history or a local looking for something different to do with friends or on a date, the Perth True Crime Walking Tour by Dark Stories offers an entertaining evening of crime, history and local lore. It starts early enough to leave plenty of time afterwards for dinner nearby, which I found to be a fitting way to round out a dark evening in the city.
To book tickets to Perth’s True Crime Tour, please visit https://darkstories.com.au/perth-true-crime-tour/.
