Sue Goes To Hell

'Hey Sue! Let's go and watch a late night movie to celebrate! My parents wouldn't mind if I go back late tonight. After all, who goes home immediately after an examination without celebrating?' The exuberant Min asked her friend shortly after their last preliminary paper. 'Well, I'm not sure...' Sue replied hesitantly. 'It's the Hungry Ghosts Festival now, and my mother doesn't like me to stay out late. She's afraid that I might run into unclean things.' 'Come on, stop being so superstitious! Ghosts don't exist. It will be so fun to have you around.' cajoled Min.

Not wanting to disappoint her friend, Sue relented. When Sue called home, her mother was reluctant to let her go. However, knowing her daughter needed a break from studying hard for the last few weeks, she agreed to extend her curfew. The evening proceeded enjoyable for Sue and Min. After dinner, they went to a movie theater near Sue's house to catch the late night show. It was already two thirty am in the morning when the movie ended. Min took a cab home since she lived in another town. As Sue's home was near the theater, she decided to save on the cab fare and walk home instead. Stepping out into the cool night, Sue walked silently, keeping to a leisurely pace. The crickets were bothering her with their sounds. Lit by the amber lamps, the street and the surrounding shrubs looked drained of all colors. Except for the occasional cab passing by, she was alone on the street. That was what she thought. Left alone to her thoughts, Sue started to miss he deceased grandmother. before the elderly lady passed away in April that year, She was Sue's best friend. All the relatives knew that Sue was her grandmother's favorite among all her grandchildren. Sue liked listening to her grandmother's stories of her younger days, reflecting a rich and fulfilling life. What Sue enjoyed most were stories of the supernatural that her grandmother would tell her.

Caught up in her reverie, Sue did not notice the pile of paper ashes ahead, nor the big rock on it. Sue stepped right on top of the ashes and the rock, and fell. Picking herself up from the ground, Sue noticed a large white circle drawn around the pile of ashes. her grandmother once told her that the white circle reserves the offerings for a particular spirit, and prevents other spirits from getting it. Her grandmother also told her to avoid stepping on paper offerings at all costs, especially during the Hungry Ghosts Festival, because it might offend the spirits. Realizing that she had accidentally removed part of the chalk drawn circle when she fell, Sue suddenly felt frightened. Muttering a hasty apology to the spirits under her breath, Sue quickly resumed walking. However, as she walked, she noticed that the crickets had quietened and an unnatural silence had descended around her. Sue picked up hr pace. Her footsteps became louder as she walked faster and faster.

A bell rang out in the middle of the night. It broke the silence and then she began to hear strains of Chinese Opera coming from the distance. The eerie voice singing became louder and louder, as if the opera was just for her. It was 3 am and it was very dark. Sue strained her eyes but saw nothing. The hairs on the back of her neck stood on end. The wind had begun to pick up. Terrified, Sue ran all the way home. Upon reaching the safety of home, Sue went instinctively to her grandmother's ancestral altar. Offering some incense, Sue prayed to her grandmother. Gazing upon her grandmother;s picture, Sue suddenly felt a sense of peace sweeping over her. In her mind, she chided herself for being so cowardly. Exhausted from the day's examination and a traumatic night, she went to her room and dozed off quickly. Sue found herself awake in a different room.

The room was filled with burning candles, and the walls were lined with skulls. The stench was unbearable. Instinctively, she sat up. Getting off the bed and walking to the door, Sue found out that it opened into an elevator. There is someone waiting for her inside. 'Hi, I've been waiting for you.' The person inside said, smiling sinisterly at Sue. 'I am Pey Yin. I've been sent by your grandmother to get you. Come with me.' 'My grandmother? Where is she?' Sue asked eagerly, as she stepped into the elevator. She was in a daze. She noticed that Pey Yin was dressed in a red Chinese cheongsam, buttoned right up to her neck. Her complexion was pale, and that made the crimson lips stand out, lips as red as blood. She smelled rich of jasmine, so thick so that Sue was almost choking it. 'Just follow me and you will see your grandmother.' Pey Yin replied as the elevator door closed before them and the elevator descended. 'And remember, do not tell anyone about me in there. Not a word. Some people are trying to stop you from meeting your grandmother, so follow me quietly if you want me to bring you to your grandmother.'

The elevator door opened before Sue with a creaking sound, revealing a crowded room. Pey Yin gripped Sue's arm hard and led her into the crowd. Sue felt that Pey Yin's hand was icy cold. The coldness made Sue frightened but she decided to keep it to herself and not to show her weakness. As they meandered through the crowd, Sue took a closer look at the occupants of the room and realized that they all looked pale. As Pey Yin lead her towards the door at the end of the room, Sue also noticed that they are all icy to the touch, as she had to squeeze past some of them in the crowded room. Suddenly, two fearsome looking creatures appeared in front of her. It did not take Sue long to know that they were Niu-Tou (Ox-head) and Ma-Mein (Horse-face), the internal law enforces of hell. They were holding halberds as their weapons. ;How did you get here?' asked Niu-Tou. Sue kept in mind what Pey Yin has just told her earlier in the elevator, so she shook her head and shrugged.

'Do you want to tour the place?' Niu-Tou asked. Since Pey Yin was nowhere in sight, Sue nodded in response and went off with Niu-Tou and Ma-Mein, hoping to find her grandmother somehow. They crossed a bridge before coming to an old lady whose name was Wan-Qing Po (Forgotten-Past Granny). She was busily scooping some soup for the people who had stopped on the way. 'This soup would enable these souls to forget their past.' Ma-Mein told Sue. Suddenly out of nowhere, two figures materialized in front of them. One was wearing an all black suit while the other one was in white. With long lolling tongues that touched the floor, the duo were known as Hei Bai Wu Chang (Messengers of Hell). On their hats were inscribed two Chinese verses. One was 'Yin Jian Fa Cai' (one who looks prosperous) while the other was Tian Xia Tai Ping (Peace in the world). They were the 'Police' in Hell who had to catch ghosts committing bad deeds in the mortal world. They then continued the tour and came before a large weighing balance. There was a 'judge' standing by it, taking down the 'readings'.

'Those souls were supposed to be weighed here. Those who are light weight would mean that they have sinned lightly while they were alive and the heavy ones would mean that they have sinned heavily and that they would be sent to hell for their punishment,' Ma-Mein said. Then, further down, Sue saw a red robed fierce looking guy with beard like the whiskers of a tiger busily slaughtering some imps. 'He is a local 'hero'. His name is Zhong Kui, head of the 'Ghostbusting' department. His job is to capture spirits committing crimes in Hell and even earth.' Niu-Tou then introduced her to him. Despite his fearsome expression, Sue found Zhong Kui quite friendly. As they walked along that particular path, Sue could hear howls and sobbing. Then Sue saw this man who resembled a King sitting on a throne in the middle of the path. 'He is Yanluo Wang (King Hades). He is a merciful lord who tries to mete the least punishment on all spirits.' Niu-Tuo explained.

They continued walking and soon, they came to two doors. Niu-Tuo and Ma-Mein turned and said to Sue, 'We have to go back to work soon. Take the left door on your left to return to the mortal world. Do not take the right door, okay?' Sue nodded and waved farewell to her kind guides until they were out of sight. She was walking towards the left door when Yin suddenly materialized in front of her. 'Where have you been? I have been looking all over for you.' Pey Yin said impatiently. 'Hurry up, your grandmother is waiting.' She laughed menacingly and led Sue through the right door, which opens into another elevator. Stepping inside, Pey Yin hit the button '18' and the elevator began the downward descent. As the elevator moved down from level to level, Sue heard all kinds of strange noises. There were heavy sighs of regret at first. Slowly, they grew into moans and sobs. By the time the elevator stopped, the noises had escalated into screams of pain and suffering. The elevator had become very hot, with the smell of sulfur hanging oppressively in the air.

The elevator door opened to a red hell. It was like another world altogether. The sky was stained red; the color was reflected everywhere, in the barren surroundings and the burning fires. Inside the elevator, Pey Yin's cheongsam, and her lips never looked redder. Sue can't get her eyes off Pey Yin's lips, when she said, 'Your grandmother is waiting for you out there. Hurry along now.' Pey Yin smiled evilly at Sue. Suddenly, Pey Yin with all her might pushed Sue out of the elevator. Something inside Sue warned her. Sensing that something was wrong, Sue resisted. There was no platform for her to step on when she got out of the elevator. Looking down, Sue realized that the elevator was suspended over a huge cauldron of melted fire. Looking closely, she saw figures swimming and writhing in it. The screams were also coming from there. 'Aren't you coming with me?' Sue asked suspiciously. 'I'm not needed. Besides, I wouldn't want to disturb your 'happy reunion.' Pey Yin said as she shrugged her shoulders.

'How am I going to find my grandmother if you don't lead me there?' Sue rebuked, getting frustrated at Pey Yin's unwillingness to accompany her. 'Just get out, and you'll find her.' Pey Yin frowned. 'No.' It took Sue a bit of effort to say it. No matter how badly she missed her grandmother, she knew that spirits don't usually volunteer without any ulterior motive. 'No/' Pey Yin asked, her eyes glowing with menace. 'No!' The urge to give in was overwhelming by now. 'Fine! Still, you have to die anyway!' Pey Yin took a step back and laughed, as she metamorphosed into an evil creature. The reddish glow from her lips had spread to her eyes. Now they were looking like burning coals in hollowed sockets. No matter how Sue tried, she could not look away from them. The eyes were magnetic and evil.

Against her will, Sue found her feet stepping towards the edge of the elevator. Looking back, Pey Yin had transformed into a hideous beast. With her skin peeling from her face, the only feature faintly resembling Pey Yin was her lips. But even it was marred with blood dripping from the side of the mouth. 'Curse you! Die!' Pey Yin snared, as she raised her claws in Sue's face. 'Join your grandmother in hell!' Unable to stop herself, Sue was caught between a devil's creature and a boiling cauldron. In the meantime, it seemed the figures in the boiling cauldron below were screaming more shrilly to welcome a new companion in their eternal swim. Sue stood at the door of the elevator, ready to plunge to eternal hell. Her mouth opened in a voiceless scream as she made that final step... Someone appeared all of a sudden into the elevator. It was her grandmother who silently held her hand and floated up, out of the elevator. As they were floating up, her grandmother told her that it was only a dream. It was time to go back home to the real world.

A moment later, Sue's mother came into the room with a glass of water containing the ashes of a burnt talisman. 'Are you alright? I heard you screaming in your sleep. Here, drink this.' She gave Sue the glass of blessed water. 'I'm fine. It was only a nightmare. I thought I went to hell.' Sue reassured her mother. 'Don't talk nonsense. That's why I tell you not to wonder at night during the Hungry Ghost Festival.' Sue could only stare at her mother in shock as the realization dawned on her.

Miss You

Lena and Allan used to be a couple, and no one could separate the duo no matter where they went. Their parents had disapproved of the relationship, but the two stayed true to each other. After his 'A' levels, Allan did exceptionally well and won a scholarship to a prestigious university overseas. Afraid that their relationship might affect his studies, Allan's parents approached Lena, wanting her to break off with him. For the sake of Allan's future, Lena agreed to it. It was a heartbreaking moment, as Lena walked away from Allan after telling him the news.

He was devastated. A few days later, she heard from Allan's sister that Allan had left for London. Months passed, and Lena did not hear from Allan. Sometimes, she could not bear it and would call his sister to find out more about him. Apparently, Allan was doing well in his studies and he had found a new girlfriend. The sister even told Lena of Allan's plans to marry the new girl after his graduation. Lena was shattered, but she knew that it was for the best. She tried to forget him, but found that she could not. Gradually, she grew depressed and started to think about committing suicide more and more often. One night, she received a phone call from Allan. 'I missed you. I will be coming to visit you soon. Wait for me,' and he hung up. That night, she dreamt about Allan. In the dream, he told Lena that he was very happy to see her. When she asked him about his new steady, he denied having one as tears spilled from his sad eyes. However, before she could ask further, he vanished right in front of her. 

The next day, Lena called Allan's sister and told her about the dream. To Lena's surprise, the sister burst into tears. 'Sorry, I have been lying to you all along about Allan. The truth was that my brother was already dead. He was killed in an accident six months ago,' 'Why did you lie to me?' 'I had hoped that this would make you forget him. Allan would never want you to be sad. he couldn't bear it.' As if Lena knew that he would call again, she went home and waited for his phone call that night. True enough, at around the same time, the phone rang. 'You should know where I am calling from.' 'Yes.' 'I could not forget you.' 'Neither can I.' 'Would you still have me as your boyfriend? I can't be there with you physically, but we can still talk like this.'

'I would love to.' 'How did you manage to fix the phone so fast? Lena was talking on the phone the whole of last night.' Lena's mother asked her husband, as he came in through the door. 'The phone's still spoilt. What are you talking about?' In horror, the parents looked at Lena who was still talking on the hall phone.

Seeing Red

Whether if it was a ghost I saw, nobody will ever know. That strange, unexplained encounter had lingered in my mind all this while. Now I'm sharing it with you. It happened on a Friday. I had just came home from classes. It was a boring night; all my friends had their own programs for the evening. Bryan, my boyfriend, had something on in the earlier part of the evening. I lazed around the house. After a while, I could not stand it. The television had some boring movie on, even though it was Friday night. Fortunately, Bryan called and told me that he could get away earlier. We arranged to meet in the nearby park.

I went to the park and waited. Bryan came soon after. We went for a walk, hand in hand, and started telling each other about our days. Throughout the whole walk, I felt uneasy, as if someone was following us. Whenever I looked around, I saw no one. Something just did not seem right. Suddenly, my shoelaces had come undone and I was bending down to tie them when I noticed a red light, rather glaring, just behind me. When I turned, there was nothing. Initially, I thought my contact lenses were a little blur and decided to go on with the walk. Out of curiosity, I took another glanced behind. The red glaring light was directly behind me! Was it just a light or a shadow of some sort? I took another step forward and on further glances behind, realized that the 'light' had moved too, and closer! My pulse rate took a spontaneous leap and I decided to reconfirm my 'sightings' with my stead. Bryan gave me a'come on, you must be kidding' look, but still turned behind on my insistence.

He did not see anything. We had walked into the darker part on the path. I began to feel frightened. As it was getting late, there were no one besides us. Half dragging Bryan, I began to walk really fast, until I reached the outskirts of the park. Bryan, by then, was quite irritated because he thought I was being timid. Still, I did not linger long. I kissed Bryan good bye and headed home immediately. On second thoughts, it was not that scary, and I did not hear anything. Could it be the funeral going on nearby...? I never knew the explanation to that strange red light.

Shivers

It was my friend's birthday. My classmates and I went to his semi detached house to celebrate his birthday. His house was situated in an 'ulu' area near Sembawang. His parents had just bought it three months ago. The house had three stories with the highest floor vacant. The whole house was well furnished and all the furniture in his house were made of teak wood. It was a fun party. By the time it ended, it was already eleven forty five pm. Since I was staying at Bukit Purmei Road, my friend allowed me to spend the night at his house. My other friends had their parents drive them home. However, my parents were overseas then. Not wanting to go home along the dark and eerie road outside, I agreed immediately.

My friend asked me to sleep in the vacant room at the highest floor. It was the guest room. The place was very dim and quite dusty. I was the first guest in the house. When I finally settled down in my bed, it was past 12 midnight. I tried to sleep, but found that I could not. 'Its probably due to the new environment,' I thought, as I missed the familiar scent of my pillow. Still, I could not brush off the uneasy feeling. I jumped out of my bed and looked out of the room. The air outside was cool and still. The sky was very dark. I could hear the sounds made by crickets and other insects. I closed the window and then looked around the whole room. Suddenly, I saw a white dress lying on my bed. The white dress did not have a body. I just saw it in a split second and then it disappeared. I was stunned and could not believe my eyes. I wasn't sure whether it was my own imagination or not.

I immediately ran out of my room to my friend's room on the second storey. Banging on his door, I dragged him out of bed and told him what happened. He then told me that three months ago, the owner of this house had committed suicide in the guest room. So once in a while, one could see the ghost. He did not want to scare our friends, so he told me to keep it to myself. That night I slept in the same room with my friend. Although I was frightened, I fell asleep soon as I was totally exhausted.

Phantom

There were a lot of little cakes and pastry left over at home that night. We had a cozy little family gathering earlier. Uncle Lim could not make it because he had to work late. I was told by my parents to bring them down to my uncle's workplace, Uncle Lim worked as a factory supervisor in one of the factories located along the same stretch of road as my HDB flat. Initially, I was rather reluctant as it was about ten forty five pm and I was yawning away. Since my Uncle Lim was a favorite of mine, I soon gave up on my hesitation and made my way to his workplace.

At the workplace, it was rather quiet and the surroundings seemed shrouded in mist. I soon saw Uncle Lim s he walked around the corner, after coming back from the gents. He was about to go home while all his other colleagues had already left. The reason why Uncle Lim was still around because he wanted to check the factory before he locked it. He looked tired after a long day's work. Still, he was curious about the gathering he just missed. I was talking ti Uncle Lim when something had apparently diverted his attention. His focus was on something else. Too sleepy to turn around, I laid out the cakes for him. As he turned back, he was pale and his cheeks had lost color. Was it the cold wind...? He said he had seen a hideous figure stroll past us and it was headless! I was petrified and figured that with head or without head, all I wanted to do was to dash home as fast as I could. I left immediately, so did Uncle Lim. We left the cakes there, untouched. Uncle Lim quickly locked the gates and I returned home only to find the rest of the family members fast asleep.

The next day, I found out from my uncle that someone had taken a bite at the cakes we left at the factory. No one could explain it, except us.

Birthday Scare

We were celebrating Ivan's birthday. It was a big party, with eleven of us attending. All of us were from the same school, and thus lived around the same district. The party was held at one of the void decks along Potong Pasir Ave 1. It was a Saturday late night and all of us were in the party mood. It was a wild party, with lots of games and fun. Although we got amused looks from curious passerby  most of us were too engrossed in having fun to notice it. It was nearing one am when the party ended. While cleaning up the place, Roy suggested paying a visit to a so called haunted house nearby. The haunted house was located at an isolated corner near Potong Pasir Drive. Being in the party mood, all of us accepted Roy's suggestion.

As we walked towards the building, it seemed like any normal bungalow to me. Others began to feel nervous. I was, however, beginning to feel excited for I had never visited an haunted house before. Roy pushed open the door and the first thing that greeted us at the doorway was a rope hanging down. Blood stains were spotted all over the floor. The girls screamed and the screams echoed through the empty house. Suddenly, the party mood disappeared and stark reality descended upon me. I began to subconsciously wipe off beads of sweat rolling down my cheeks. I absorbed the dark and scary atmosphere before me. Even the fact that my friends were around did not stop me from feeling afraid. I began to think of my parents. 'What if I don't make it back home? My papa... My mama...'

I had started thinking about my impending end. Too terrified to go further, I completely abandoned my friends at that point in time and ran out of the house. I hired what must have been the last taxi around and rushed back home. Never again would I be adventurous enough to visit a haunted house.

Burial Ground

This story was told to all the students in my school generation after generation since 1987. My school is situated in Chua Chu Kang. There is a small open ground between my school and a Chinese temple. Many have wondered why the ground was not utilized for school facilities, but left there untouched. This is why... In 1987, the government had initially decided to build my school on the open ground. Construction work had already started for the new school building. Everyone was excited about the new school as there were no other schools in Chua Chu Kang yet.

Their hopes were soon crushed. Whenever the school was built up to the second storey, the building collapsed. Pillars after pillars of foundation were laid into the ground, but no matter how, the building collapsed every time the construction on the second floor was about to begin. The construction company suspected sabotage, and planted security guards around the site to make sure that no one other than their workers could work on the site. Still, the building never went above the first storey. everyone was flabbergasted and surprised. No one could explain the strange phenomenon facing them. Luckily, a priest who was staying nearby provided some answers. He told the principal that the open ground was once a graveyard. When the exhumation was done, some rituals were missed and so the spirits were still lingering around the area. They were the ones interfering in the construction of the school. All of them were shocked to hear about it

After that, my school was rebuilt behind that open ground. The priest had perform some rituals to pacify the spirits, and to stop them from disturbing the construction of the new school. He had suggested the building of a Chinese temple next to the ground. Even now, the open ground and the Chinese temple can be seen from my open school compound.

Camp Fright

Two years ago, during our school holidays, my classmates decided to spend the holidays in an adventurous manner. We wanted it to be a memorable outing too. All of us came up with all sorts of suggestions. Finally, we agreed to camp on Kusu Island for about three to four days. The place was weird and scary at night. Fortunately, there were other campers on the island. On the first night, my group of friends including myself gathered outside a bid hall and took turns to tell ghost stories throughout the night. The sky was dark and I could feel cool wind passing by my neck. Soon it was my turn to tell a ghost story.

While I was thinking about what story to tell, my eyes went past a power station which had its lights on. I saw a figure inside the room. For a while, I thought that I was imagining things. However, screams soon came from my friends, telling me that they saw it too. It was a black figure with very long hair. Horror engulfed everyone there. All of us were very frightened and did not know what to do. I could not see the other campers. I immediately told my friends to stop telling the stories and get back to our rooms. I jumped onto my bed and covered my whole body with the blanket. Murmuring my prayers, I covered myself with my blanket and tried to forget the whole thing. Luckily, I managed to get some sleep. The next day, all of us decided to go home. Although our camp only lasted for one day, it was an adventurous and memorable holiday indeed.

Crying Baby

I heard about this encounter at a recent family gathering. Uncle Samad was the one who encountered this strange incident. Uncle Samad had just been employed as a security guard in a new hotel. One night, while he was making his rounds before he locked the hotel's carpark, he heard the sound of a baby crying from the basement's carpark. This carpark, being on the lowest basement was totally isolated. Uncle Samad looked around, he was the only one there. Nevertheless, he went to check out the sound. He traced it to a parking lot. There was some dark liquid spilled onto the middle of the lot. When he touched it with his fingers, he realized that it was blood. The baby's cries intensified around him. Terrified, he ran out of the basement carpark quickly to inform the other security guards.

When they came back together with him to the lot, the sound of the baby's crying had disappeared. Uncle Samad insisted on the other security guards checking the lot, but when they did, they found it to be the motor transmission fluid. None believed Uncle Samad's story. However, the oldest security guard of them all was off duty that night. When he found out about Uncle Samad's story the next day, he went and told Uncle Samad about the tragic accident that happened at that parking lot years ago. Apparently, a lady had left her baby in a pram at the back of the lot. After she finished loading her groceries into her boot, she entered her car, forgetting about her own baby. To make things worse, she reversed her car further into the parking lot, crushing the pram and killing her own baby in the process. Since then, on certain quiet nights, a baby could be heard crying from that parking lot.

Haunted Toilet

I am actively involved in the girls squash team in my secondary school. Something happened during one of my training this year that made me fearful of my school. The season of tournaments had just begun. Our coach wanted us to do the school proud and made us stay back late on Saturdays to practice. After one such training season, I was feeling hot, tired and sweaty. Not wanting to fight with my friends for a toilet cubicle on the ground floor, I made my way slowly up to the second floor girls toilet.

By then, we were the only ones left in school, for all other ECAs had ended and the students had gone home. In fact, I was glad that the surrounding was rather quiet as it suited my mood. As I entered the toilet, mops were lying all over the floor. Rolls of toilet paper laid all over the sinks. Dismissing any peculiar thoughts, I was about to enter the first toilet cubicle, when it started to flush all by it self. I looked inside carefully, thinking that the school had installed an auto detection unit, but the toilet looked the same as before. It had to be flushed by the user himself. Telling myself that the toilet was probably spoilt, I took another step into the cubicle. Just then, the adjacent toilet began to flush. I remembered that I was alone in the toilet when I entered. Strangely, another flushing sound soon followed. When I rushed to the last cubicle, I could actually witness the downward movement of the flush handle! I looked into every cubicle, but it appears that I was the only person in the toilet. Not wanting to stay any longer, I ran out of the toilet in my fastest speed. As I went down the stairs, I could still hear toilets flushing behind me. I wished to get out of the place as soon as possible.

When I reached the canteen, I was very relieved to have escaped unscathed. Never again would I venture alone!

BBQ Fright

I had seen a ghost two years ago. My friends and I were a bunch of sixteen years old, just graduated from our secondary schools. Immediately after our GCE 'O' Level exams, we booked a pit at the West Coast Park for our BBQ. Pit 13 was allotted to us. The number 13, known very well by now for its unluckiness, brought us along with everything else, trouble! After a mini barbecue, twelve of us settled down at bare spot surrounded by bushes. We arranged ourselves in a circular manner and had white candles surrounding us. Actually, we had intended the use of candles for creating a mysterious effect. When all were seated within the circle of candles, everyone kept quiet.

Then, Siu Ling, started the ball rolling by telling  ghost stories, or in our own language, 'true stories of our encounters'. Occasionally, I could hear dogs howling. The wind had picked up and when I looked up, it seemed that a storm was moving in. The others were too engrossed in the ghost stories to notice it. As the number of stories increased, so did my fear. After a while, my friend and I needed to go to the washroom badly. We were chit chatting and commenting on the ghost stories shared earlier on before entering the toilet, when we observed a strange couple walk past us. The lady, dressed in red and heavily made up, literally seemed dressed to kill. She had a rather fierce expression on her face. As they walked past us, her cold eyes seemed to pierce through our minds. Puzzled at such a behavior, I turned back and to my dismay, the lady disappeared. The man continued to walk alone down the track.

Surrounded by a dark and deserted area, my friend and I were so terrified that we ran all the way back to the pit to join the rest. On reaching the pit, I tried to calm myself thinking that it was all my imagination. However, the rest of them had also witnessed it! They saw the same lady ghost as I had.

Midnight Studies

I was having my preliminary examination when my eighty year old grandmother passed away. For the next four days, the house was shrouded in chaos. I could not study then, as I mourned the loss of my grandmother. When I could put my grief aside, I found that I was quite far behind in my revision, and had to stay up late every night to study. Forty nine days after my grandmother's death, everyone had accepted the fact that grandmother was gone, and slowly, life began to return to normal. For me, I still had to stay up late to study.

That night, after studying for my Chemistry paper the next day, I went to sleep at about twelve thirty am. It was a cool night. It was so cosy to lie under my thick blanket. I was about to doze off when I heard the sound of familiar footsteps. At first, I did not notice them, being so tired from all that studying. However, the footsteps got louder and louder, jolting me from my tired rest. To my astonishment, the rhythm of the footsteps were familiar. It seemed that I had heard those footsteps before. Suddenly, I realized that they resembled the footsteps of my deceased grandmother, the irregular rhythm of her limping walk. The footsteps were walking all around my house, as if the person was looking for something. I was alone. Alone in my dark room, I did not know what to do. My heart began to beat faster and faster. I began to pray hard that the steps would go away and not bother me. To protect myself, I covered my whole body, including my head with my blanket and tried to sleep with my eyes half opened. It was in the wee hours of the morning that I finally fell asleep due to sheer exhaustion.

After about two hours of rest, I went for my Chemistry examination. It seemed that no one in the house had heard those footsteps except me.

Deserted School

My friends and I decided to have a campfire one day. One of them had found a place in an old abandoned school nearby where we could have our campfire. The school was not in use, and the place was in ruins. I could see the school from my kitchen window, and it would be engulfed in darkness. We thought that it would be great. It was such a different place, different from where the other students would normally go to. And we would have the whole place to ourselves. No other campers was around.

Although the group that gathered at the campfire was small, we were all good friends. All of us had fun. We sang songs as we barbecued our food, and chatted the time away. In no time, it was 11 pm. The fire had burned the wood down to glowing embers, and we sat there in darkness, cozy and warm. I thought of calling my mother to tell her I would be home late and went off alone to search for the phone. I found it at the far end of the building. When I picked it up, I was so relieved that it was working. While dialing home, my eyes darted around the surroundings. It was dark and silent all around me. Brushing away the nervous thought, I tried not to think of it. It was then that I heard the sound of chains being dragged. There was no one but the sound of dragging chains grew louder and louder. It was coming towards me. I yelled out to my friends, thinking that they were playing tricks on me, but no reply came. Then, I heard a sinister laughter from behind me. I lost my nerve then, and immediately put down my receiver and ran back to the campfire.

I told my friends about the incident, but no one believed it. I was so frightened by what happened that I left immediately, leaving them behind. The next day, however, they were pale when I met them. Apparently, they have had encounters of their own the night before. They left soon after I did.

Spooky House

We spent our March holidays in 1997 at the East Coast Park Chalet. It was a big chalet, and eleven boys and 4 girls attended. All of us had a fun time. On the last night of our stay, though all were tired, none of us wanted to sleep yet. Some of my friends were playing cards while the rest were watching TV. Suddenly, my close friend suggested exploring the white house near the beach. Some of us were timid but not wanting to be a spoilsport, all of us agreed to go. When we reached the place, we realized that the house was not open to trespassers.

The house looked very beautiful from the exterior. Luckily all the 15 of us managed to sneak in without being noticed. It was very dark and eerie in the house. We went prepared with our torches and had to switch them on to see. Everything within the house was very old. The furniture were covered with a thick layer of dust. Standing still, we could hear the sound of footsteps on the wooden floor, but we saw no footprints in the dust on the floor, except for ours. Drops of sweat began to form on my forehead. The seed of fear was planted into us and we beginning to grow, minute by minute. Nevertheless, we stayed as a group and continued exploring the house. Suddenly, we heard someone crying followed by a laughter. Looking at each other, we knew that the voice did not come from anyone of us. Too terrified to stay, we immediately ran away from the house, even forgetting to close the door on the way out. When we were some distance away, we heard the door of the house bang loudly, as if someone slammed the door in a huff. Some of the girls among us screamed and started to cry.

I was very frightened and felt like crying too. However, I managed to keep the tears at bay, as I ran for my life. When we reached our chalet, all of us were breathless. No one dared to talk about the incident. All of us merely wished each other goodnight and went straight to bed. While I was sleeping at night, I could hear some of my friends praying. It was the last night someone ever suggested exploring a haunted house.

Hair Raising

This happened at my best friend's birthday party. There were 2 girls and 4 guys among us. We had booked barbecue pit number 42 at East Coast Park. It was a rowdy affair because my friends loved to joke, and we were the nosiest group on the beach that night. After we finished barbecuing, my friends and I went to the bench to rest. All of us were tired but none felt like going home yet. In the end, we started chit chatting. I was not a great conversationalist, and soon I was looking out to the sea waves and admiring the stars in the sky, while listening to their conversation.

Looking around, I realized that our pit was dimly lit. Only the 'mamashop' billboard light was on. The other people barbecuing around us earlier had packed up and gone home. Suddenly, the surroundings around us was very quiet. Suddenly, my friend froze. She felt a hand touching her legs. She scolded some of the boys, thinking that they were trying to get fresh at her but all the boys denied it. She looked down with fear, but saw nothing. The hand had disappeared. As I was sitting next to her, she gave me a disgusted look, thinking that I was the culprit. It happened to Alex next. This time, he saw a hand under the bench. The hand was hairy with very long fingernails. Alex was flabbergasted. He dared not utter a single word, but pointed his finger down at his legs. Again, when we all looked down, we saw nothing. The hand had disappeared. I had began to feel frightened, and beads of sweat were forming on my forehead despite the coolness of the night. We picked up Alex's green jacket, for fear of finding the hand there.

Fortunately, it was untouched. A man in red T-shirt had suddenly come to our barbecue pit and had seated himself on our bench. He looked quiet young, about 25 years old. We suspected that he had something to do with the incident, but realized that his fingernails were short. Still, there was something in his look that frightened us. Not wanting to stay there any further, all of us got up quietly and left. None talked until after we reached the car park.

Classroom Ghost

I had encountered an apparition in my school. It was a cloudy Saturday morning. Except for the sound of a few water droplets emanating from a slight drizzle, everything else was in total silence. I woke up late and could not get to school on time. It was 10 am. When I got there. The rest of the class had already left for a Sentosa excursion. Two of my classmate were also left behind, as I saw them seated at the canteen, complaining away miserably. Not knowing them too well, I did not feel comfortable joining them. My parents would not come for the next few hours as they were busy at work.

With so much time to kill, I decided to explore the school. I had never really done so since I joined the school two months ago. Looking around, I realized that the school compound was interestingly situated next to the chapel and a funeral parlor. I went to the block furthest from the canteen. It was also the block nearest the funeral parlor. I wanted to play a prank on the students in those classes when they came to school on Monday and decided to write something on their classroom's blackboards. It was then I swear I saw it, if I am allowed to say 'it'. I was standing outside the first classroom. At first, there was a flash, and then I could make out a rather misty, white silhouette. It was certainly in a world of its own, floating in the air behind the class door. I froze outside the classroom. The silhouette floated around the room. Physically, I appeared rather calm and composed but the idea of having witnessed a white silhouette floating in mid air precipitated a certain degree of fear within me.

Shivers ran down my spine and I crossed my fingers, hoping to get out of the classroom immediately. After a silent prayer, I scurried down to the first floor and bumped into friends from other classes. I told them what I saw and discovered from them that other eerie encounters had been witnessed. On a chalkboard in one particular class, scribbles of a teacher's handwriting were observed one minute and on second glance, the board was clean. I tried to recompose myself on the assumption that everything could be due to my imagination but the fact that a funeral was going on just opposite simply added to my growing fear. i t was said to be 'privileged' to be able to observe spirits and ghosts. As for me, the encounter only brought me ill luck. I was hospitalized at the Tan Tock Seng Hospital two weeks later, for typhoid! At times, I still wonder if the funeral opposite have any connections with the white silhouette?

Ghouls

It happened in November 1997. Our promotional examinations had just ended and all of us were in the mood for celebrations. My friends and I decided to arrange for a few days getaway in Changi Chalet. The surroundings of the chalet were quiet as the colonial style chalet was located some distance from the rest. We could not see other chalets as tall trees blocked our sight. Despite the uneasiness we felt about our surroundings, we abandoned all reservations and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. We had a barbecue late into the night.

Engulfed in excitement, we hardly realized that it was midnight until fatigue arrived and drained us all of our energy. Tired and sweaty, each one of us decided to have a good shower even though it was past midnight. However, weird things started to take place. Everyone of us who bathed after midnight had slipped in the bathroom. I was rather fortunate as I had bathed earlier before midnight. I was washing the barbecue equipment in the sink just outside the bathroom when I heard my friend, Mei Ling, slipped. by that time, she was already the fifth person to have slipped in the bathroom consecutively. Though two other friends were also helping me to wash the equipment, i could not help feeling afraid and disturbed by what was happening. I frantically muttered a prayer, wishing that everything was just a coincidence. As I ended the prayer, Heng Peng, the daredevil had slipped in that same bathroom!

He had just entered for his shower as Mei Ling slowly limped out from there. At that moment in time, I wanted badly to go home. But the best thing I could do then was to stop what I was doing. I gathered with all my friends in the bedroom. That night, we slept with the lights on. Nothing happened to any of us. I supposed 'whoever' it was in the bathroom is quite harmless though.

Sightings

On the third of August 1996, one of my favorite uncles had passed away suddenly. He died of coronary heart disease. I was shocked and very depressed to hear the bad news. I still could not imagine that he had died. His dead body was placed at the void deck of the Ang Mo Kio Block 121. many relatives and friends attended the funeral. He was well loved by all. One afternoon, at about three pm, while I was folding the joss papers at the altar with my parents and relatives, I heard someone crying in a pathetic manner. My aunt told me that the cry sounded like that of my uncle.

We were stunned for a moment. I felt goosebumps bursting out all over my body. Suddenly the cry stopped. Those who heard it were extremely relieved. getting up, we went immediately to my uncle's altar to offer him more joss sticks, praying hard that his soul would rest in peace. My aunt, who had heard my uncle cry, was trying not to cry. Her eyes were red with unshed tears. Others, upon seeing her so distraught, went to console her immediately. As for me, I was so relieved that I did not see my uncle's ghost.

Total Darkness

My friends and I decided to spend our holidays in Jakarta last year. While there, we stayed in a five star hotel. The hotel was very clean and had all the facilities, even a Karaoke lounge. On the first day, my friends and I went to the karaoke lounge and enjoyed ourselves. Brightly lit, it was a hot favorite among the tourists and businessmen alike. All of us took turns to sing in our best voices. By the time we left, it was already past midnight. Some of my friends were hungry and decided to go off for supper. As for me, I was too exhausted and decided to go back to my room first. 

The first thing I did in my room was to collapse on my bed and fell asleep. Soon, I was awakened by sounds coming from the bathroom. Someone was drawing the shower curtains. Looking around, the room was still empty. Thinking that a friend was in the shower, I ignored it. Soon the strange noise stopped. I could hear the sound of the bathroom door opening and closing. My whole body was sticky and I smelt of sweat. Dragging myself out from bed, I went slowly to the bathroom. It struck me as strange when I did not encounter anyone coming out from the toilet. Brushing off the nervous thought, I slowly went to the bathroom and had quick hot shower. As I was drying myself, I heard the television outside being turned on, and the volume switched on high. 'My friends must be back,' I thought. When I went back to the living room, there was no one there. The television was switched off. Something was wrong. I felt frightened, and did not know what to do. Just then, all the lights went off, leaving me in total darkness. I immediately dashed out to my friend's room and stayed there.

Mysterious

'Good evening, Uncle Prasad. Why you look so pale. Are you alright? Do you need my help?' I said to the man coming up in my direction. I had just come back from dinner, and was crossing the basketball court to reach the library. Of Indian origin, Uncle Prasad was one of the three security guards employed by the polytechnic. Streaks of white were visible in his hair, but Uncle Prasad was still going strong. His sharp eyes was a reflection of his intelligence, showing off his keen mental alertness. The school had often called on him to deal with the more mischievous students, and Uncle Prasad was an intimidating man where he was stern. I had always admired him.

Today, Uncle Prasad seemed out of sorts. His eyes were darting around everywhere he went and he seemed afraid, even of his own shadow. This was not the Uncle Prasad I knew. Something was definitely wrong somewhere. Uncle Prasad did not even notice me or hear me. 'Uncle Prasad... Uncle Prasad?' 'Huh? Oh, its you, Sivagami. You are still in school? Its already seven o'clock. Listen to me. Never stay in the campus grounds beyond eight o'clock at night. Never.' 'Uncle Prasad, hey, what's wrong? Are you not feeling well? Anyway, I have to stay back to finish my project tonight.' 'Sivagami, don't ever say I never warned you. After I leave, who is going to keep an eye on you, girl...' There was something in his look that told me something was amiss. 'Leave? To where? Uncle Prasad...?' I questioned. 'Leave this place, my child. I cannot work here anymore. I... this place... or well, I'm just getting old,' Uncle Prasad ended abruptly.

I knew there was more to it. 'Why are you leaving, uncle?' I persisted. 'Alright, I shall tell you. This place is haunted... No, believe me. Yesterday, I had to stay on the campus grounds for night patrol. After locking up the campus gates at seven o'clock, I was stationed at the guard post behind the basketball court and was all alone. At about nine o'clock, I was walking around this basketball court when...,' Uncle Prasad had stopped talking. He seemed nervous. He looked around to see whether if anyone was watching. 'When? What?' I was curious, eager to know. 'When..., when I heard sounds of basketball tapping on the ground from behind. But I had already locked the gates at seven o'clock! I turned, and caught a blurred vision of something tapping the basketball. For a while, I thought I was seeing things, and yelled at that person to go home. Then, the hand turned and came towards me. I screamed and ran. Suddenly, everything went black. I think I must have fainted. This morning, I woke up and found myself in the drain next to the basketball court. When I turned to look at the court, a basketball was lying there!' Uncle Prasad's voice became shrill.

'I quit. I am leaving this place, now.' He said and left. 'Uncle, uncle, wait, wait...' My calls fell on deaf ears. I watched him go, leaving by the school gates. Poor Uncle Prasad. he must have worked too hard. I heard that he lost a lot of money in shares recently, the shock must be too much for him. Turning around, I continued my walk to the library. As I stepped off the basketball court, I thought I heard a basketball bouncing. When I turned around, I saw nothing.

Funeral

Nothing happened on the first night of the Chinese funeral. My mother and my aunt were burning paper money to my grandmother. As for the others, they were either playing cards or Mahjong. Everything seemed fine. The death of my grandmother was a shock to all of us, especially me. Although she was eighty three years old, she was still very healthy and had not suffer from any lingering illness. I was very sad as my grandmother had taken care of me since I was a kid. My grandmother was a chatty person. She loved to talk. People in the neighborhood knew her as a chatty and lovable person, and would crowd around her to exchange stories. Her sudden death was really a great blow to us especially to my mother who was very close to her.

At that time I was already seventeen years old. The day my grandmother died, my mother could not stop crying. For days after, she still cried. She even fainted several times at the funeral. Not wanting her to suffer a mental breakdown, we decided to let her rest at home. Sometimes, it was better to be away from the funeral and forget about the pain. On the last night of the funeral, we were walking around aimlessly and idling our time away. Suddenly, a gust of strong wind blew across us and it made the hell notes fly all over the place. After a while, the wind stopped. That was when we heard a woman sobbing besides the coffin. At first, we thought the cries came from my mother but we remembered she was at home resting. When we looked around the coffin, there was no one there. For a while, most of us thought that our imaginations were playing tricks on us. We decided to take a break and went for supper.

After supper, my relatives and I crowded together at the side of the funeral, and gossiped. halfway through, we heard the noise of a chair dragging. We turned around and saw a chair moving towards us, on its own. It continued as we stared, stopping finally beside me. At that moment, the silence was almost unbearable. Most of us had turned pale, white as a sheet of paper. All of us sat there like stone pillars and wondered what our next move should be. Then a familiar voice laughter was heard. It was definitely that of my grandmother's. I was even more shocked when the bubbly voice said in Cantonese, 'Why so quiet? Talk some more.'

See No Evil

This strange incident happened to me  a few months ago. It took place at a haunted basketball court next to my flat in Chua Chu Kang. It happened on late Sunday night. I was going home after seeing my girlfriend home. As she was living near my block, I could walk home easily from her house. Before heading home, I thought that it would be nice to take a slow walk in the breezy night. Upon reaching the basketball court, it was already two in the morning. Before reaching my block, I had to cross over the basketball court.

Suddenly I heard someone playing basketball. It sounded like a group of people running about. I turned my head and saw a group of lifeless and pale looking people playing basketball. Suddenly, they stared at me and started running in my direction. I screamed, but not a single voice came out of my mouth. Suddenly, a strong wind blew past me. I tried to run, but my feet was rooted to the ground. I could not move. I could see that they were hideous. Some of them was missing an eye, while others had worms crawling out of their nose and mouth. I was terrified. They came upon me, and I raised my arm to shield myself from their attack. However, that attack never came. One by one, they merely passed through me, and I felt chills running down my spine. Feeling very cold, I had began to shiver violently. Suddenly, I discovered that I could move. Not wasting a minute, I ran home as fast as I could. I suffered from a high fever for a week after that. That was the last time I ever walked across that basketball court late at night.

Missing Child

Guo Wei, Liang and Kai Ming were very good friends since they were six years old. Although they were only in primary five now, they took each their friendship seriously, and treated each other as sworn brothers. One day after school, the three boys meet up and decided to play hide and seek near their kampong before going home. It was a lot of fun playing in the plantation, and they chased each other for over an hour, quite forgetting about their dinnertime. It was Guo Wei's turn to be the catcher. Liang and Kai Ming went to hide but Guo Wei managed to catch Liang in less then ten minutes. Kai Ming was nowhere to be found. After a while, they began to look for him. It was getting late. Thinking that he had already gone home, they left without him.

At night, Kai Ming's mother went to Liang's house to look for her son. When Liang knew that Kai Ming had not returned home, he began to feel uneasy. Together, they decided to go to Guo Wei's house, thinking that he might be there. However, Kai Ming was not at Guo Wei's place either. Everyone was very anxious over the disappearance of Kai Ming. They decided to call the police. However, the police told them that they would conduct a search only if Kai Ming was missing for more than twenty four hours. The next day, only Liang and Guo Wei went to school together. They did not speak to each other much; both were very sad over the disappearance of their good friend. In school, Liang was alone in the toilet washing his hands when he saw Kai Ming's reflection in the mirror.

elated, Liang turned around, but saw no one. He looked back in the mirror. Kai Ming's reflection was still there. He was totally drenched and his face looked pale. 'I'm dead, in the well. Quick! Find my body before it rots...' Kai Ming said sorrowfully, and vanished. Liang ran as fast as he could to tell Kai Ming's mother about the incident. True enough, when they reached the well, they saw a bloated corpse.