This Hungry Ghost Festival, Sevenpie brings you some eerie tales told by Malaysians. Make sure you grab a pal along as you read these true, chilling tales.
Paranormal activities and the spiritual realms had always been a mystery to some of us. Yet, it had always served intriguing to many people. The month of August may very well send down chills to the Chinese community as they celebrate the Hungry Ghost Festival. It is said that this is the time where ghosts and spirits visit the earthly realm as the “Gates of Hell” are widely opened.
Whether you believe in the spooks or not, the team from Sevenpie has braved themselves as they interview 6 Malaysians about their ghostly encounters that you will find completely frightening! From the ever-daunting National Service ghost stories to the lift that failed to function properly, don’t say we didn’t warn you, but it’s best to not read these spooky tales at night, unless, well, you’re brave at heart.
*Fictional names were given to some interviewees who wanted to remain anonymous
1. The Lady In Red
“This was experienced by my mum. We’re from Ipoh and have been staying in the same house for over 20 years now. There has been a rumour around the neighbourhood that the previous owner of the house had committed suicide in one of the rooms in the house. One night, my mum couldn’t sleep well. When she got up and went to the washroom, she saw a pair of feet in front of the toilet door.”
“When she looked up, lo and behold, she saw a lady in a red dress, standing in the front of the washroom.”
“My mum, who needed to use the washroom at that time, had to walk through the “lady” to enter the washroom. When she got out of the washroom, the “lady” was still standing at the door. My mum closed her eyes and reprimanded the ghost. Then she went back to bed, closed her eyes, and tried to sleep.”
“From that day onwards, the “lady” never came back to haunt my mum. It has been rumoured that the previous owner hanged herself after she found out she got cheated by her husband.
“She comes back occasionally to our house to say ‘Hi’.”
“Some nights, we can hear a lady’s voice singing at the washroom. My brother, who is staying in the room where it is said to be the place that she committed suicide, can feel someone touching his skin at night” – Kimberly
2. We’ll be friends forever, right?
“It was a graduation trip that my sister last saw her best friend. My sister has the so-called “Third Eye” ability, which is said to be a gift from gods as the ability to see ghosts. When she was 12, she went on a graduation trip that the school had organized for the top students of the school. My sister and her best friend, who was a boy, were on two different buses. One of the buses got into a bad crash. The students got hurt, but only my sister’s best friend never made it out through that tragedy.”
“The whole school was really down due to that accident. My sister was incredibly sad due to the tragedy, and couldn’t let go of the fact that she had lost her best friend. She always said: “Why did you have to go?”.
“After she enrolled in her secondary school, she would feel that someone is looking at her constantly through the windows at class. One night, at around 3AM, I heard someone knocking vigorously at my room door. As soon as I opened the door, my sister came in and broke to tears. She just kept on crying without telling me any reasons. I was so frightened at that time, thinking that my sister could have been “possessed” at that time.”
“The next day, my mum and I brought my sister to the Chinese temple. It was then that my sister opened up and told us what had happened that night.”
My sister, who sleeps facing the window at her room, saw the ghost of her best friend flying outside the window, telling my sister: “Let’s go together”.
“The temple keeper told my sister that because she couldn’t let go of her best friend, the ghost decided to stay and had thought that my sister wanted to go along with him.”
My sister had also shared that back when they were in primary school together, the boy would always wait for my sister so that they could go home together. The temple keeper that spoke to the ghost and the ghost left my sister. The temple keeper then helped to cleanse my sister and helped to close my sister’s “Third eye”. However, half a year later, the eye opened again. We tried a lot of methods to help my sister to close the “third eye”: going to the bomoh, Chinese temples – but it all did not work. Many religious people have told us to accept the fact that this third eye is a gift from gods to my sister for the ability to see ghosts.” – Rachel Ang
To add to the spook, here’s the real news article reporting of the bus crash.
3. National Service Collection
Part I: The Princess & The Royal Guardians
“I had a lot of spooky experiences during my time at National Service. I was assigned to one of the oldest National Service regions. The usual morning routine for us at National Service was the early morning marches at 6AM. There was a time when I woke up at around 4:30AM and headed to the washroom to prepare myself. As I was minding my own business, I suddenly saw this “princess” head.”
“At that time, I didn’t know how to react. I wasn’t scared, I just felt blank.”
“I looked at it, and honestly, it looked really beautiful. The “princess head” was floating towards me, something like the cat from Alice in the Wonderland. I saw it and just continued finishing what I had to do and I left the toilet. This continued for the next three months continuously. Strangely, none of my friends in the same dorm saw the head except for me.”
“I told my parents about what I’ve experienced and they gave me onions to get rid of that bad spiritual energy. Being a Buddhist at that time, I was told that my “Qi” (spiritual energy) was really low. There was a time when I was resting in a van at 12AM. I saw a head of the so-called “Guardian of the Land” or “Na Tuk Gong”. When I turned to my right, the head appeared on my right. When I turned to the left, it appeared on my left again. The “Na Tuk Gong” looked quite handsome.”
Part II: The Last Dorm
There was also a tragedy that happened at the National Service. One of the students had passed away due to rat urine contamination. The parents of the boy came and cursed the area. It was also the same day that it was my turn to make rounds at the campsite. All was going well until my friends and I reached the last dorm – Dorm 8. As we enter the dorm, it started raining heavily outside. But when we got out of the dorm, it stopped raining. My friends and I did not know how to respond. We also saw a blanket flying up when it happened.” – Michelle*
4. “It’s me.”
“I can’t see ghosts, but sometimes, I hear things I shouldn’t hear. There was one time when I was talking to my friend, Jaclyn*, on the phone. I still remembered that it was Hungry Ghost Festival at that time. While I was talking to her on the phone, I could hear that the background was really noisy. It sounded like someone was laughing and I couldn’t hear my friend well. I hung up and I called her back. I asked my friend why it was so noisy at that time, but she told me that she was in her room and it wasn’t noisy.
“Then I heard a voice replying: ‘It’s me'”.
“I felt really frightened at that time and told my friend to get someone to accompany her that night. Her boyfriend came and stayed with her that night. A week later, when I brought the same experience up, the boyfriend also mentioned that he had heard the same thing.” – Nicole
5. The apartment on the hill
“I was working at a hospitality company. There was a time when we had to arrange accommodation for 30 part-timers for an event. For that event, we booked an apartment, that was on a hill, for the part-timers. One night at about 12AM, I received a phone call from the girls, saying that they felt somebody was watching them through the bathroom window. I immediately drove up and see what had happened. The bathroom at that time was facing the forests, hence, it was impossible for someone to be able to be there and peep on them. I comforted them and assured them that perhaps it was just an illusion and that there was nothing to fear.”
“As I left, I headed on to the lift. Instead of going down, the lift went up.”
“As soon as the lift door opened, I felt a gush of cold wind and saw Chinese talisman sealed on apartment doors. I quickly pressed the button down and drove off from that apartment, never looking back. The next day, the part-timers reported to me that they heard scratching sounds on their cupboard the entire night. I immediately got the part-timers new accommodations.” – shared by Joseph*
Have you ever had spooky encounters yourself? Let us know in the comments!
Header image credits: MPAA | The Verge | Scary Ghost Stories
