With a slight tinge of apprehension and a fear of the spiritual unknown, we timidly stepped into the sleek black hearse — yes, that's right, a hearse — for our night-time expedition on Sydney's Weird Ghost and History Tour.

The 1960s classic hearse affectionately dubbed ''Elvira'' was truly a thing of beauty, yet personified an eerie aura as the vehicle of choice for more than 10,000 funerals back in its glory days in California.

Supple maroon suede seats line the insides where coffins once lay — a funeral car miraculously transformed into a roomy seating arrangement for nine thrill-seeking guests.

Riding with ghosts

Greeted by Allan (the ghost hunter extraordinaire) we are introduced to the group, and trusting that if anything abnormal happens, our trusty driver Allan will come to our rescue. The hearse heads to the eastern suburbs to haunted and historical sites, those of scandalous political rendezvous and sites of famous celebrity suicides. So this is where that politician fooled around with his mistress and that was where the ill-fated Michael Hutchence took his life.

The informative commentary gives us good insight into Sydney's supernatural world and certainly raises a few hairs on our arms. The sheer fact that we are driving around in a vehicle that had housed so many coffins was enough for us, but it certainly didn't stop there. Allan shares stories of guests experiencing bizarre side effects from the hearse, such as freezing-cold shivers, severe abdominal pain and extreme nausea. He explains that as the hearse had carried so many deceased people, ghosts are attracted to the vehicle's energy and aura. Feeling a little spooked ourselves, we silently pray that the creaking noise coming from the back of the vehicle is merely our imaginations playing up. We would find out later, that a very small coffin had and still resides there, but the question was, "Who or what was in there?"

The bondage experience

After a few moments of contemplating what it would be like to feel a spirit pass through our bodies, we're relieved when we stop at a tantalising bondage parlour, surely nothing supernatural could happen here.

The parlour is nestled in an unsuspecting street in town (details can only be divulged within the tour) and a stunning young woman named Mistress Katana steps out to introduce us to the exotic and extreme world of bondage. She explains the art of bondage as the separation between the mind and the body, allowing the mind to escape, resulting in an increased pain threshold. As we're shown how the gadgets, toys and cages are used, we acknowledge that there really can be a very thin line between pleasure and pain.

On our tour through the terrace house, we explore the various rooms; which were set up as almost theatrical stages with accompanying props. The rooms, we imagine, act as a stage for the keen clientele to perform their deepest fantasies. The musty rooms filled with toys, women's stilettos and other forms of bordello were where the secret desires of many everyday folk, just like you and me, would secretly unravel.

Heading back to Kings Cross we reflect on the evening having thoroughly enjoyed our exposure to two things we normally wouldn't encounter in our everyday lives: ghosts and bondage.

The tour was an educational snapshot of Sydney's ghostly history and an interesting exploration of Sydney's underground culture. It will leave you asking what lies behind those innocent looking walls you have walked past a million times before.

Related video: Scary Oz

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