Month of the Hungry Ghost

It is currently the 7th month of the lunar calender, or the Hungry Ghost Month according to the more superstitious Chinese. A month whereby the gates of Hell are supposedly opened & spirits wander the world of the living.


During the entire month, you are supposed to go back home early, burn offerings to the deceased on roadsides & staged opera performances for 'them'. The timid ones will be scared shitless during this month as ghost stories and tales of personal encounters are passed around.

Those real encounters are all mostly urban legends with the locations & other details changed liberally to suit the storyteller.

Guess you heard the one about the midnight bus that you are not supposed to board because it was not meant for humans before (even spirits need to rely on public transports these days)


What about discovering the very scary fact that your school was an execution ground during zaman Jepun? Try sneaking into school grounds at night & you might just catch the Japanese soldiers marching around or heard the screams of their victims. (Hmm..but I thought my school didn't even exist during that time)


Then, there is the nasi lemak seller that sells his rice through the outside window. The only problem being the occupant is living on the 4th floor, so the seller must be floating on thin air! (or has a very long ladder)

Also, the story about a guy waking up only to discover a little boy sitting on the top of the cupboard watching him sleep. And the story of a hotel occupant discovering a corpse hidden underneath the bed. And the toilet stall haunted by someone who committed suicide in it etc etc...


I am pretty skeptical about these supposedly 'real' encounters but there is nothing like a good ghost story to liven up the atmosphere. So, I will gladly do my duty & passed the stories around hehe

Happy Hungry Ghost Festival everyone!