Three signs you're meeting a supernatural end in the Scottish Highlands

Thousands head for hikes to the Highlands every year, but while many walk away carefree some may be in for a more grizzly time haunted by a run-in with the supernatural.

As with many other places in Scotland, the Highlands is home to some varied and vicious folklore from pipe-playing ghouls to haunted horses, tales of spirits and ghosts are rife.

One such story that will send fear down anyone's spine is the Baobhan sith. Legend has it that if you encounter an enchantingly beautiful woman, extremely out of place in the bleak depths of the Highlands you may be in for trouble. Meaning fairy witch, the Baobhan sith seduces their victims before attacking and killing them in a vampiric-like way.

READ MORE: Dad leaves everything behind to live in van and travel around Scotland

READ MORE: Elon Musk a bigger disinformation threat to UK than Russia, expert warns

If you manage to avoid the Highlands witch you may have to watch out for the Phantom Piper. The piper is thought to wander across the hills playing his bagpipes to unsuspecting victims. The first sign of the piper is the noise but the victims are never able to see him. According to Ross Cairney, from My Scottish Journal, "the music slowly gets closer to his victim as it's said that those that get close to the phantom are never seen again."

If you're lucky enough to escape the two ghouls you may be fooled by the final supernatural surprise which lures victims in by looking like an innocent horse when it is in fact a kelpie - a mythical shape-shifting spirit inhabiting lochs. They are usually described as grey or white horse-like creatures, able to adopt human form before dragging their victims into the water to kill and eat them.

Kelpie myths usually describe a solitary creature and much like werewolves can only be killed by being shot with a silver bullet. Almost every large loch in Scotland has had stories of kelpie associated with it but one of the most widely reported places is Loch Ness. Fighting for room with the monster, the loch may be one to stay away from if your scared of the mystical.

So if your planning you next trip to the Highlands it may be time to gear up with a Rabbit's foot or four leaf clover to try and warden away any of the nasty spirits.