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The Bizarre Story of the Highgate Cemetery Vampire

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The supposed haunted Highgate Cemetery in London left to decay suddenly became the hotspot for paranormal and occult phenomenon in the 1970s, when reports about the Highgate Vampire became a sensation and the hunt for it began. 

Settled in the heart of North London lies a place that’s shrouded in mystery and intrigue – Highgate Cemetery. With its overgrown pathways, eerie Victorian tombs, and gothic architecture, it’s no wonder this place has developed a reputation for being one of the most haunted cemeteries in the world and was certainly one of the most spookiest places in the 60s and 70s. 

From tales of ghostly apparitions to reports of unexplained phenomena, the dark secrets of Highgate Cemetery have captivated the imaginations of many over the years. But what is it about this place that has people so fascinated? 

The Dark History of Highgate Cemetery

Highgate Cemetery was opened in 1839 in Camden and quickly became the resting place of choice for wealthy Victorians and has today over 170 000 people buried there. The cemetery was designed by architect Stephen Geary and was intended to be a place where the rich and famous could be buried in style. However, as the years went by, the cemetery fell into disrepair and began to attract a less desirable clientele. 

Highgate Cemetery: The Cemetery was really made to make a more peaceful place to rest compared to the crowded churchyard graveyards. Today, it can seem like we have come full circle.

By the turn of the 20th century, Highgate Cemetery had become a shadow of its former self, with many of its tombs and monuments falling into a state of disrepair.

Famous Graves and their Mysterious Stories

Highgate Cemetery is home to many famous graves, each with its own fascinating story. One of the most famous graves in the cemetery is that of Karl Marx, the father of communism. Marx’s grave is a place of pilgrimage for many socialists and communists, who come to pay their respects to one of the most influential political thinkers of the modern era.

Another famous grave in the cemetery is that of Douglas Adams, the author of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. Adams’ grave is a popular destination for fans of his work, who often leave tributes and memorials at the site.

Pathways: Green pathways with tombs on each side fills the Highgate Cemetery in London.//Source: Panyd at English Wikipedia

But perhaps the most mysterious grave in Highgate Cemetery is that of Elizabeth Siddal. Siddal was a model and artist who was married to the pre-Raphaelite painter Dante Gabriel Rossetti. After her death, Rossetti buried a manuscript of his poems in her coffin. The manuscript was later exhumed, and the poems were published, but were not a commercial success. Her husband was haunted by his action for the rest of his days. 

The Ghosts of Highgate Cemetery

There have been tales about the paranormal surrounding the cemetery for decades. After WW2 the cemetery fell into disarray and had little to no maintenance for a long time. In 1960 and 70s, it was so overgrown and left to decay that it was a perfect setting for horror movies like Taste the Blood of Dracula from 1970 and Tales from the Crypt in 1972. 

There were reports of locals from 1965 about seeing ghosts around the premises. There were especially two different figures that had been seen. One was that of an older woman wearing all white that was haunting the graves, looking after the graves of her murdered children. Another thing that was talked about was the skeleton that was standing guard by the main gate. 

There were also those that told that occult and even satanic rituals were held in the cemetery, people rising from the graves and other strange phenomena that attracted the attention of seekers of the strange and the paranormal. 

The Grey Figures Haunting the Cemetery

Over the years, there have been countless reports of strange sightings and unexplained phenomena at Highgate Cemetery in addition to the strange case of the Highgate Vampire. Many visitors to the cemetery have reported feeling a sense of unease or being watched, while others have claimed to have seen ghostly apparitions moving among the graves.

Seekers of the Paranormal: David Farrant in Highgate Cemetery caught the attention of the media when he claimed something strange was lurking in the cemetery. Was it a ghost? Was it a vampire?

In 1970 there was a man that wrote to the paper about seeing strange figures at the cemetery. On 24th of December he had passed the cemetery and seen what he described as a “gray figure” and asked if people had seen something similar. 

Read More: Check out all of the ghost stories from haunted cemeteries around the world.

The man was David Farrant, an investigator for the British Occult Society and in his article headlined: “Why do foxes die?” he claimed that the foxes that had been found dead in the cemetery with their throats slit had been killed by the Vampire. 

Vampire Hunter: Sean Manchester in an interview. He claimed that the supernatural thing in Highgate was a King of Vampires.

People replied and told about many different figures that they had seen that they thought had to be of a supernatural origin. There was one tall man in a hat, a ghost of a cyclist as well as a woman wearing all white that was glaring at them through the bars. Another figure had been seen wading through a pond. 

There was then a man named Sean Manchester that claimed that the gray figures they had seen was that of a vampire practicing black magic and even made a claim that this phenomena they were now witnessing was the King of Vampires from Wallachia, the home of Dracula before having being buried in the cemetery but awakened by satanists. 

Manchester was a bishop of the Old Catholic Church, not related to the Vatican, and a self-proclaimed exorcist as well as a vampire hunter. Soon the two men were on a mission to be the first to stop and capture the vampire and restore the peace of the holy ground of the cemetery. 

The Highgate Vampire Frenzie

The legend of the Highgate Vampire quickly spread, and soon the cemetery was attracting visitors from all over the world who were keen to catch a glimpse of the legendary creature.

Storming: Vampire hunters jumping over fences and gates of Highgate for vampire hunts.

Read More: Check out the story of Paris’ Haunted Père Lachaise Cemetery or Poveglia Island — The Most Haunted Place in the World for more stories about vampires.

Farrand and Manchester both claimed they were the one to get rid of the figure and Manchester said he was going to hold an exorcism in the cemetery the 13th of March in 1970 and they were filmed and interviewed about it. 

After they were shown on TV a mob of people that wanted to see for themselves flooded the cemetery. The police tried to control the masses by locking the gates, but they got over the gates and walls in the chaos. They were armed with stakes and roamed the cemetery to find the vampire and opened graves, beheaded and staked the corpses. 

Despite the fact that the vampire was never actually seen, the legend had a profound effect on the cemetery. Over the years, Highgate Cemetery has become synonymous with the supernatural, and many people believe that the cemetery is haunted by the ghosts of those who were buried there.

The Finding of the Staked Body

Months later the case was still widely discussed. On August 1st, a woman’s body was found headless and burnt close to the catacomb by two school girls. It was the body of a woman that had died a 100 years ago, been dragged from her coffin and staked through the heart before being left on the pathway. The police suspected she had been used in some sort of black magic ritual. 

When the police were searching the next couple of days, they found Farrant wandering around in the churchyard next to the cemetery with a crucifix and a wooden stake on the 17th of August.

He had gathered his Society to do an exorcism by holding a seance. He tried to run for the exit when the police arrived, but was caught and arrested, but when the case came to court it was dismissed. 

From BBC 24 Hours in Oct 1970 after Ferrant was aquitted.

It was not the last time Manchester visited Highgate Cemetery either. According to him his psychic helper guided him to a family vault where they broke open the door. He claims he lifted the lid of one of the coffins that he thought didn’t belong in the vault and had mysteriously been moved there from another catacomb. 

Right before he was about to stake the body in the coffin, another one of his helpers stopped him. He reluctantly listened and left garlic and incense in the vault before they exited out from the vault. 

After the Media Circus Died Down

Both Farrant and Manchester kept the legends about the strange satanic things going on at Highgate Cemetery, long after the other moved on. 

Farrant was arrested and jailed in 1974 for vandalism and desecration of the graves and the dead at the cemetery. He kept insisting that it was the work of Satanist’s and not him. He was also involved in politics and ran as the sole candidate for the Wicca Workers Party. His cases were for free nudity and sex as well as establishing state brothels. He was less keen on communism which he wanted to ban as well as leaving the EU Common Market. 

Their feud about what happened at Highgate Cemetery until Farrant died in 2019. They even challenged each other to a “Magician’s Duel” that was supposed to take place on Parliament Hill on Friday 13th in 1973, although that never happened. 

There were rumors that the two were going to sacrifice a cat in front of naked virgins. When a man’s cat never returned home one day after this, Farrant was persecuted by the RSPCA and the media as they thought he was behind the disappearance of the man’s beloved pet. 

Later he did sue News of the World for him being portrayed as a cat killer. And for the RSPCA inspectors, he sent them voodoo dolls with pins stuck in their heads, as well as two of the police officers that were involved in the arrest in 1974.

Staking the Vampire of Highgate Cemetery

Manchester on his end continued to write blog posts about Farrant, illustrating paintings of him looking like a demon and said he had a narcissistic personality disorder. 

On his quest to rid London of what he called the King of Vampires, he claimed to have tracked it down to a house in Crouch End. There he had staked the vampire and burnt the body, finally ridding them of the vampire tormenting Camden Town. 

Dracula A.D 1972 were inspired by the bizarre events:

Trailer for the movie Dracula AD 1972 that were supposedly inspired by the events that happened at Highgate around that time.

Behind the Hunt for Media Attention

What really happened in Highgate Cemetery is up for speculation. How much occult rituals and pagan sex parties with the devil really did happened or was blown up in the media’s satanic panic headlines is uncertain.

Today we don’t really hear much about vampires or ghosts from the cemetery other than hardcore paranormal investigators or curious tourists that wants to have a look at what it’s all about. Because who really knows, it is certainly not the first, nor the last cemetery were a vampire is rumoured to roam.

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References:

Featured Image: Nick Garrod/Flickr

Highgate Cemetery – Wikipedia

Highgate Vampire – Wikipedia 

The strange tale of the Highgate vampire 

The hunt for a vampire in Highgate Cemetery that led to a real magician feud – MyLondon 

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The Drummer of Tedworth

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The story of the Drummer of Tedworth has often been called the first poltergeist in England that has been reported on in writing and the mystery surrounding it stands to this day. 

In March 1661 a man named John Mompesson sued a drummer called William Drury whom he meant made money under false pretenses. Drury was a traveling showman, drumming, juggling, dancing and other forms of “hocus pocus” up and down the entire country. 

Mompesson visited Ludgershall in Wiltshire when he met Drury who banged his drums and begged for money, annoying the people in the town so much that Mompesson took the case into his own hands and turned him in.  

He accused Drury for having false documents that allowed him to drum for cash and decided to sue him. Mompesson won the trial and Drury got his drum confiscated, something that Mompesson would regret dearly after. 

Drury was believed to be a sketchy type of man according to the finer folks in town. He was thought to be hanging out with a group of gypsies and there were rumors that he was involved in witchcraft. Something he would be forever remembered as, long after the drumming ended. 

The Haunted Drumming

Mompesson traveled back home and something strange awaited him there. The drum that were confiscated from Drury, ended up at his doorsteps the following April that year. It was then the strange banging noise started to haunt him. During the night he kept hearing the sound of drums and Mompesson was certain it was witchcraft from Drury. 

The drumming came from everywhere, from the walls, the ground, even from the roof. One night, Mompesson drew his pistol, chasing the sound like a madman, sleep deprived and scared of the haunting of his house. 

“The noise of thumping and drumming was very frequent, usually five nights together, and then it would intermit three. It was on the outside of the house, which is most of it board. It constantly came as they were going to sleep, whether early or late. After a month’s disturbance without, it came into the room where the drum lay, four or five nights in seven, within half an hour after they were in bed, continuing almost two. The sign of it, just before it came was … an hurling in the air above the house, and at its going off, the beating of a drum like that at the breaking up of a guard….”

A month passed and the sound of drums seemed to move from the room where the drum was placed into the childrens bedroom. The bedframes of the childrens bed were beaten, and they kept hearing a scratching sound from under their beds, leaving them shaken and frightened in their beds. 

The Drummer of Tedworth: The devil and the drum, from the frontispiece to the third edition of Saducismus Triumphatus (1700).

The only break the family got from the alleged poltergeist was when Monpessons wife was in labor and the house stopped its drumming beat as she gave birth. But afterwards it came back, even more than before. 

It wasn’t just the drumming sound that haunted the house. Lights kept moving around without anybody touching them, staff and family members alike were lifted from their beds, and weird smells of sulfur came from everywhere and nowhere. And it wasn’t even only at nighttime the hauntings occurred either, but even in broad daylight. 

One time a servant claimed to have seen a moving board in the room. He asked the spirit to pass it to him, and the spirit listened. Then, they continued to throw it between them, back and forward around 20 times until the servant stopped after his master ordered him to. 

This continued for the next two years and the sound of drumming grew louder, not only confined to the house, but nearby villagers were woken from the spectacle from the house as well. And even visits from a priest didn’t help with the hauntings in the long run. 

The Drummer William Drury

So what happened to the original drummer, William Drury? He was arrested and sentenced to deportation in 1662. He confessed to the crimes of tormenting Mompesson and his family and being behind the paranormal stuff happening. But before he was deported and could be charged for any more, he escaped deportation and fled. 

But in 1604, he was brought back to court, this time because of witchcraft were he would once again be trialed as The Drummer of Tedworth. He was acquitted because of the lack of evidence, but because of a prior pig stealing debacle he was sentenced for theft and sent to the American colonies, never to be heard of again. 

The Book of Witchcraft

It was not only Mompesson himself that heard these drumming noises, but also his visitors claimed to have been bothered by the sounds. 

Joseph Glanvil published in 1681 a book of witchcraft after his death called Saducismus Triumphatus where the story of the Drummer of Tedworth is detailed. This was a book where he affirmed the existence of witches and dark magic and looked at any skepticism of this like blasphemy. It is also said that this particular book was a big inspiration and influenced the people during the Salem witch trials. 

In 1661 he visited Mompesson’s house in Tedworth in Wiltshire, England and heard the sounds himself. He also claimed to have heard additional scratching noises under a bed in the children’s room. 

Speculations of Fraud

There have been countless people that have tried to debunk the story of The Drummer of Tedworth since it was first heard of. Charles Mackay wrote about it all being a trick of the mind in Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds in 1841. Instead of it being a poltergeist at work it was simply Mompesson who was easily deceived by someone holding a grudge, something Drury himself confessed to. 

 In 1881 the American skeptic Amos Norton Craft said this about The Drummer of Tedworth: 

We are to remember also, that the house of Mr. Mompesson contained several servants who doubtless possessed a good degree of human nature; Mr. Mompesson had caused the arrest and imprisonment of a member of a band of gypsies, who were intensely enraged at him

Even Mompesson’s own children were believed to be behind the drumming noises and the culprit of The Drummer of Tedworth, especially his ten year old daughter as much of the mysterious sound came from her bedroom. 

“Mr. Mompesson perceiving that it so much persecuted the little children, he lodged them at a neighbor’s house, taking his eldest daughter, who was about ten years of age, into his own chamber, where it had not been a month before. As soon as she was in bed, the disturbance began there again, continuing three weeks drumming, and making other noises, and it was observed that it would exactly answer in drumming anything that was beaten or called for. After this, the house where the children were lodged out, happening to be full of strangers, they were taken home, and no disturbance having been known in the parlor, they were lodged there, where also their persecutor found them, but then only plucked them by the hair and night clothes without any other disturbance….

The Last Drumming Sound

So how did it all end for the family? Apparently it ended after Drury was sent away to the colonies and the drum burnt to a crisp. And the house, after two years of intense drumming by whoever the The Drummer of Tedworth was, go quiet again. 

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References

Drummer of Tedworth – Wikipedia 

The Drummer of Tedworth: Britain’s First Poltergeist – Burials & Beyond

The Drummer of Tedworth: a Halloween tale of witchcraft, demons and an extremely noisy ghost | Special Collections and Archives / Casgliadau Arbennig ac Archifau

https://www.jstor.org/stable/1917046?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents

Drummer of Tedworth | Encyclopedia.com

Curse Of The Demon Drummer Of Tedworth | Spooky Isles

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The Actress Lola Membrives Haunting Madrid’s Teatro Lara

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It is said that a former actress, Lola Membrives, never left the stage, not even after her death. She is said to be haunting the Teatro Lara in Madrid where she had her time in the spotlight she never wanted to leave. 

Step inside Madrid’s historic Teatro Lara, and you’ll feel like you’ve entered another world. This stunning theater has been a mainstay of the Spanish capital’s cultural scene since the 19th century, and its ornate interiors and plush red velvet seats are enough to transport any visitor back in time. But as enchanting as the theater may be, there’s a darker side to its history that many don’t know about. 

Read more: Check out all of our ghost stories from Spain

Over the years, rumors have circulated about ghostly apparitions, strange noises, and unexplained happenings within the theater’s walls. Some say that the spirits of long-dead actors still haunt the stage, while others believe that there’s something even more sinister lurking in the shadows. In this article, we’ll delve into the mysterious world of Teatro Lara and explore the eerie secrets that lie hidden within its ornate facade. 

History of Teatro Lara

Teatro Lara is one of Madrid’s oldest and most renowned theaters. It was built in 1880 by Don Candido Lara, and it has been a cultural icon of the city ever since. The theater has undergone several renovations over the years, but it has managed to maintain its original charm and grandeur. It is also nicknamed La Bombonera.

During its early years, Teatro Lara was a popular venue for music, dance, and theater performances. It was the go-to place for Madrid’s high society, and it hosted many famous actors and artists of the time. 

Haunted Theater: On Calle Corredera Baja de San Pablo, barrio de Malasaña in Madrid, Spain is the supposed haunted Teatro Lara, who is haunted by a former actress.//Source: Zarateman/wikimedia

The small theater had a selected audience of elitist and prestigious people from the upper class and the bourgeois and focused on quality actors and big premiers.

However, as the years went by, the theater’s popularity started to decline in the 1980s and the economic crisis of the time, and it fell into disrepair when it had to close temporarily.

It wasn’t until 1994 that Teatro Lara was resurrected as a prominent cultural institution in Madrid. The theater underwent a major renovation, and it was restored to its former glory. Today, Teatro Lara is once again a hub for theater, music, and dance performances, and it attracts thousands of visitors every year.

Ghost Sightings and Experiences of Visitors

Over the years, many visitors to Teatro Lara have reported strange sightings and experiences. Some have claimed to have seen ghostly figures wandering the halls, while others have heard unexplained noises and footsteps. There have also been reports of doors opening and closing on their own, and of objects moving without explanation.

Read more: Check out all of our ghost stories about haunted theaters like The Mysterious Ghost Stories of The Haunted Dock Street Theater, The Ghost of Theatre Royal Drury Lane, The Friendly Ghost Octavia at Den Nationale Scene or The Legend of the Phantom of Opéra Garnier

Despite its illustrious history, Teatro Lara has a reputation for being haunted. There have been many reports of ghostly apparitions and unexplained phenomena within the theater’s walls. 

There are many theories behind the ghostly activity at Teatro Lara. Some believe that the spirits of long-dead actors still haunt the theater, while others think that there’s something even more sinister at play. Some believe that the theater’s history of tragedy and sadness has created a powerful energy that attracts spirits and ghosts.

Whatever the reason behind the ghostly activity at Teatro Lara, one thing is certain – the theater has a rich and fascinating history that continues to captivate visitors to this day.

One of the most famous ghost stories associated with Teatro Lara involves the spirit of an actress named Lola Membrives.

The Ghost of Lola Membrives

Lola Membrives is one of the most famous actresses in Spanish theater history, and her legacy is still felt today. She was born in Argentina in 1885, and she made her stage debut in 1904 in Madrid at the Teatro Apolo and according to the legend, she never left the stage since, even in her afterlife.

Lola Membrives was a regular performer at Teatro Lara during the early 20th century, and she became a favorite among Madrid’s high society together with Margarita Xirgu, another actress of the time.The theater even has a room named after her today. 

The Ghost of Lola Membrives: The former actress that used to perform on the Teatro Lara is thought to haunt the place after her death.

She was known for her eccentric personality, and she was often seen wearing extravagant costumes and jewelry. Despite her success, Lola Membrives had a tragic personal life. She was married several times, and she suffered from depression and alcoholism.

However, tragedy struck in 1969 when Lola Membrives passed away in Buenos Aires. Many believe that her spirit still lingers within the theater, and that she can be seen wandering the halls and the stage during performances.

Workers, actors and operators claim to have felt her presence through doors slamming or blackouts in the theater, showing her dissatisfaction when an event or play she doesn’t like premieres. 

One of the most haunted areas is the dressing room, where Lola Membrives used to prepare for her performances. Visitors have reported feeling a strange energy in the room, and some have claimed to have seen Lola Membrives’ ghost sitting at her dressing table.

People also claim to have heard her singing voice when the theater is empty and the stage lights are off. And according to the rumors, there are also people that have seen her ghost in Argentina as well, still haunting the Buenos Aires Multiteatro.

When the Curtain Goes Down on Stage

Teatro Lara is a remarkable theater with a rich and fascinating history. From its ornate interiors to its ghostly legends, the theater continues to captivate visitors to this day. 

Whether you’re a fan of theater, history, or the paranormal, Teatro Lara is a must-visit destination in Madrid. So why not take a journey back in time and discover the ghostly secrets of this iconic theater for yourself? Who knows what you might find lurking in the shadows…

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References:

El Teatro – Madrid

Teatro Lara – Wikipedia, la enciclopedia libre

Lola Membrives – Wikipedia, la enciclopedia libre

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The Haunted Metro Stations on Hong Kong MTR’s Island Line

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It is said that more than one station on the MTR’s Island line in Hong Kong are haunted. One of the most well known urban legends are the ghost suicide at the metro in Hong Kong at the Yau Ma Tei Station. It is also one of those rare cases where the urban legend came from a very true story. 

Today the metro in Hong Kong is a convenient transportation method that can take you from Hong Kong Island, Kowloon as well as to the New Territories. 

There are more than one story from the dimly lit underground of Hong Kong that have a more supernatural take. Disappearing train, women in white leaping in front og the trains and construction workers still roaming in the tunnels. 

Read More: Check out all of the ghost stories from China

And one of the stories in this article has yet to be completely debunked. Here is a look at some of the allegedly haunted metro stations on the Hong Kong underground.

The Ghosts of the Construction Workers at Rumsey Station

Rumsey Station: MTR Sheung Wan Station passageway (Rumsey Station reserved platform)

There are more than one stop on the metro that are said to be haunted since the construction on the tracks started in the late 1960s. Like Rumsey Station, an abandoned platform by Sheung Wan station. The Rumsey Stations platforms are located near Exit E, forming part of the passageways between the concourse and the open platforms, and they run perpendicular to the Island line platforms below.

They said that during construction there were so many fatal accidents that they had to abandon the project. Allegedly the ghosts of the construction workers can be seen and their screams can be heard around the East Lobby in the night. 

Another story is that a worker there had seen a woman in white falling off the platform. Even after Sheung Wan station opened in 1986, there were stories of passengers who faced the same fate in the unopened station.

The Mental Patient at Whitty Station

MTR had planned to build Whitty Station as part of the Island Line, but the project was also abandoned. Some say that it was because of all the paranormal things happening during construction. Where Whitty Street Station would have been is now the HKU Station (formerly named Shek Tong Tsui Station). 

There have also been claims that construction workers hear the screams inside of the Whitty Station tunnels. When they investigated the claims, they allegedly found a woman dressed in white on the platform that leapt onto the tracks when they approached her. 

People have since speculated that it could be a patient from the nearby mental hospital, who have also a couple of haunted rumors. It used to be called High Street Mental Hospital, but today it is called Sai Ying Pun Community Complex. For more on this haunted story, check out High Street Ghost House, The Sai Ying Pun, in Hong Kong.

The Train that Disappeared at the Choi Hung Station

At the Choi Hung Station there are three, not two railway tracks like the other stations have and if we are to believe the legends, it is because of something dark. According to one urban legend, when they used the middle railway track, they found out the hard way that apparently this was a track leading directly to hell. 

The story goes that when they constructed it the engineer decided it was time for a test run and brought some people along. They were supposed to drive toward Kowloon Bay Station, but after a good 30 minutes, they still hadn’t arrived and they had lost contact with the train. 

The missing train did arrive at last though, but there was something wrong with the passengers. The people onboard seemed disoriented, some even passed away after they were being sent away to the hospital. It wasn’t clear what was wrong with them other than pure shock and fear. 

When they investigated it they brought along a medium to help them shed light to the strange case. The medium claimed that the track led straight to hell and that the passengers had all seen something they would never recover from. 

Because of this, they abandoned the track and built new ones that would lead to the meant destination and not pass through hell. Although the hellway track has been seen to be used to transport trains to the depot in Kowloon Bay at the end of the day.

The Ghost Suicide at Yau Ma Tei Station

Most of the hauntings in the underground stations can somehow be explained with a more rational and factual origin. But the ghost story from Yau Ma Tei Station is something a little more strange and difficult to explain. In November 1981 things were going fine at the MTR and the Yau Ma Tei Station. Passengers were coming and going as the trains stopped to pick up their passengers and take them away to their destination. 

On this day though, something happened that no one has really been able to explain and even made the news. Passengers on the train reported seeing a young woman falling into the tracks at the station as one of the trains was rapidly approaching and running over her. 

The passengers on the platform as well as the staff claim to have heard her screams as she was hit by the train and the driver of the train remembers the horrible bump as she ended up under the train. 

They called for medical aid and sounded the alarm that a horrible accident had just happened. When the medics arrived to help, they didn’t find anyone. There was no young woman on the train tracks, not even a drop of blood could be spotted. 

A Collective Hallucination in the Dark Tunnels

What was this strange incident about? The investigation couldn’t find anything and the whole thing was called a collective hallucination as more than one present at the station had witnessed it all. 

There is also speculation of it being a ghost of a woman that maybe didn’t die that day, but had so in the past and now relieved her dying moments as a ghost. 

When the story came back in 2012 in internet forums, a writer decided to dig into the story. The writer claims that someone contacted him and said that the person on the tracks back then was really a living 22 year old woman wearing white that fell into the tracks. In this version though she survived it all and is allegedly alive to this day as well.

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References:

Get spooked by these MTR urban legends in Hong Kong | Honeycombers 

Top 10 spooky stories in Hong Kong

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The Exorcisms at the Haunted Murray House

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Haunted by the executed prisoners from the Japanese Occupation of Hong Kong, the Murray House was the site for not only one, but two big exorcisms to put the restless souls at rest.

Today the Murray House is a wonderful retail shopping place with a restaurant where people can marvel at the sea view from the historic building on south Hong Kong Island. 

Read More: Check out all of our ghost stories from China

The place used to be officers’ barracks for the British forces and used to stand at the corner of the Queensway and Garden Road.

The 4000 Executed People Haunting the Building

During the Japanese Occupation, the Japanese forces took the Murray House and used it as a command center by the Japanese military police. It was also a place of execution during the war. 

More than 4000 citizens of Hong Kong were tortured until they were murdered inside of these walls. 

These are the unfortunate souls said to haunt the Murray House. 

The Two Exorcisms of Murray House

After the war the Murray House became a hot spot for paranormal activity, and the haunting of the place got so bad that the Hong Kong government ordered not only one exorcism, but two. One time in 1963 and the last one being in 1974. 

The first time it was apparently an unsuccessful one as workers kept complaining about being harassed and plagued by ghosts. They found their work vandalized and blueprints they put out smeared and modified. 

Another employer claimed to have encountered a ghost in the bathroom that tugged on his sleeve, but when he turned there was nothing there.  

The Non-Buddhist that ordered a Buddhist Ceremony

In the 1974 exorcism, 70 Buddhists monks wandered the Murray House for two hours while chanting and burning offerings and the event was televised with a huge crowd gathered to see it all.

The haunting had kept on and in the 70s the building was used as an office for the Transport Department for the government and people wanted to quit because of feeling uneasy because of the ghosts haunting the building. 

Interestingly the exorcism was commissioned by Brian Wilso, Commissioner for Transport in the colonial Hong Kong Government. Not a Buddhist himself, but a manager that saw he needed to do something that would keep the workflow in the building ghost free. 

He later said this about the whole exorcism ceremony:

“I was required to give three TV interviews and five radio interviews, all with the same question: as you are not a Buddhist, why did you take part in a Buddhist ceremony? The answer was simple. If the Transport Department offices should be infested with rats, I would call in the rat-catchers and, if necessary, lend a hand. In the same manner, if the problem was ghosts, as in this case, I would call in the ghost-catchers, and if this meant my taking part in a Buddhist ceremony, I was happy to do so. But this did not mean that I was a Buddhist. The overriding point was to take steps to ensure that staff of the Transport Department could get back to work without being frightened to death by ghosts.”
source

The Old Murray House at a New Location

Whether it worked or not is up to debate, but in 1982, they decided to dismantle the Victorian building and put it in storage. 

Not until 2000 the Murray House was put up again and restored at the waterfront. With or without the ghosts that used to linger, remains to be seen. But not everyone is so happy about the way the restoration was done though:

“It’s like making a Frankenstein’s monster using an assemblage of body parts from different dead people. It’s not heritage, just a monstrous facsimile of it. The monster may look like a grown human, but it doesn’t have past memory and a soul,” says Lee Ho-yin, director of the University of Hong Kong’s Architectural Conservation Programme.

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References:

https://zolimacitymag.com/hong-kong-colonial-heritage-ghost-of-murray-house/

https://www.britishempire.co.uk/article/ghostsofthepast.htm

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murray_House

9 of the most haunted places in Hong Kong 

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The Many Ghosts of The Langham Hotel in London

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In this luxury hotel in London, there have been talks about ghosts for many decades now. From a murderous doctor, a German Prince and even Napoleon III himself, there are many guests at the hotel who never checked out from The Langham Hotel in London. 

For over 150 years, The Langham Hotel in London has been a beacon of luxury and elegance, hosting some of the world’s most famous guests. However, behind the glamorous façade lies a darker side to the hotel’s past, one that is shrouded in mystery and intrigue. 

From unexplained sightings to eerie noises and unexplained occurrences, The Langham’s reputation as a paranormal hotspot has grown over the years, attracting thrill-seekers and ghost hunters from all corners of the world. Join us as we delve into The Langham’s mysterious past and uncover the secrets that lie within its walls. 

The History of The Langham Hotel

The Langham Hotel is an iconic hotel located in the heart of London. Built in 1865, it was the largest and most luxurious hotel in the city at the time with its Florentine palace style with over 500 rooms. 

Read More: Check out all of the ghost stories from Haunted Hotels

The Langham Hotel was the first hotel to have hydraulic lifts, air conditioning, and hot and cold running water in every room. It was also the first hotel to offer a full-service restaurant, which quickly became one of the most popular dining spots in London.

The Langham Hotel: The old hotel in London houses some very famous ghosts, and especially the room 333 is said to be the most haunted and both guests and staff tries to avoid to stay in the room.//Source: Wikimedia

It used to be owned by the BBC after it was damaged after WW2 and many of the ghostly sightings were done by some of the broadcaster and company staff. 

Over the years, The Langham Hotel has hosted some of the world’s most famous guests, including royalty, celebrities, and politicians. However, behind the hotel’s grandeur lies a darker side to its history. The Langham Hotel has been the site of numerous paranormal incidents over the years, with many guests and staff members reporting unexplained sightings, eerie noises, and unexplained occurrences.

When the Cricket Team Fled the Hotel

It was so bad that in 2014 there were reports that the British National Cricket Team refused to stay in the rooms with their partners they were given at the hotel, because it was supposedly so haunted. As they told the Daily Mail:

“It was so hot in the room I just couldn’t sleep. All of a sudden the taps in the bathroom came on for no reason. I turned the lights on and the taps turned themselves off. Then when I turned the lights off again the taps came on. It was very weird.

It really freaked me out. I ended up asking to move rooms. Bealey (Broad’s girlfriend) was pretty spooked, too, and I know Moeen Ali’s other half won’t stay there because she’s so frightened of the ghosts.

Ben Stokes has had some problems sleeping as well. He’s on the third floor, which is where a lot of the issues are. I’m telling you, something weird is going on.” 

The Haunted Room – Room 333

Room 333 is one of the most famous rooms at The Langham Hotel, with many guests and staff members reporting unexplained occurrences in the room and is a place said people try to avoid. The room is said to be haunted by a Victorian doctor who murdered his wife before killing himself in the room.

Guests staying in Room 333 have reported hearing unexplained noises, feeling a cold breeze, and seeing ghostly figures throughout the night. Some guests have even reported waking up to find their belongings moved or the room rearranged.

The Langham Hotel has embraced the room’s haunted reputation and now offers ghost tours and paranormal investigations for guests who want to experience the room’s paranormal activities for themselves.

The Famous Paranormal Incidents at The Langham Hotel

One of the most famous paranormal incidents at The Langham Hotel occurred in 1973 when a BBC radio producer, James Alexander Gordon, was staying in Room 333. He reported seeing a ghostly figure of a man standing at the foot of his bed. The figure was wearing Victorian evening dress and had no face. According to Gordon, the figure disappeared as soon as he turned on the light.

Another famous incident occurred in 2014 when a guest staying in Room 333 reported seeing a ghostly figure standing at the foot of her bed. She described the figure as a man wearing a top hat and Victorian clothing. The guest also reported feeling a cold breeze and hearing unexplained noises throughout the night.

These are just two of the many paranormal incidents that have occurred at The Langham Hotel over the years, with guests and staff members reporting unexplained sightings and eerie noises throughout the hotel.

The Ghostly Sightings of Famous Guests

The Langham Hotel has hosted some of the world’s most famous guests over the years, including Oscar Wilde, Mark Twain, and Princess Diana stayed there several times.

Napoleon III: Charles-Louis Napoléon Bonaparte; 1808 – 1873 is said to haunt Room 312.

Dickens claimed in 1879 in his guide book that it was the most expensive hotel meal in London that charged 14/6d (or 72½p) for a bedroom, breakfast with coffee and cold meat, and dinner with soup and meat. But for large dinner parties, there was nowhere else to go.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was also one of the frequent hotel guest, and Doyle used the hotel as the setting for several Sherlock Holmes stories.

However, some of these guests have reportedly never left the hotel and are said to haunt its halls to this day.

One of the most famous ghostly sightings at The Langham Hotel is that of Emperor Napoleon III, who is said to haunt Room 312. According to legend, Napoleon III stayed at The Langham Hotel in 1870 while in exile. 

He died in 1873, but his spirit is said to have never left the hotel. Guests staying in Room 312 have reported seeing his ghostly figure standing at the foot of their bed as well as loitering down in the basement area.

The German Prince by the Window

Another high ranking ghost said to haunt the hotel is said to be of a German prince who jumped from a window on the 4th floor. 

This ghost is said to have been seen by the BBC announcer, Ray Moor. He described the ghost as a big guy with short hair and a military jacket that was buttoned up to the neck. 

This ghost is said to also be the most active ghost at Langham Hotel and is seen walking in the early morning through the doors. It is also said that he enjoys hanging out in Room 333.

The Other Ghosts Haunting

But there are not only high ranking military or royals or murderous doctors said to haunt the hotel. There are also seen a butler wandering around in the corridors wearing holey socks as well as a man with a gaping wound on his face. 

There is also said a footman in blue with a powdered wig is roaming in the halls that creates a sudden drop in temperature. 

A Stay at the Most Haunted Hotel

The Langham Hotel has been the site of numerous paranormal investigations over the years, with ghost hunters and paranormal enthusiasts flocking to the hotel to experience its haunted reputation for themselves.

The hotel has even been featured on numerous TV shows, including Most Haunted and Ghost Adventures, which have documented the hotel’s paranormal activities.

The Langham Hotel’s mysterious past and paranormal reputation add to its allure and make it one of London’s most fascinating and intriguing hotels. 

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References:

England cricketers seek change from their ‘haunted’ London hotel – The Hindu 

Room 333: The Most Haunted Hotel Room in London | HuffPost Life 

Our History | Luxury Hotel in West End | The Langham, London 

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The Haunted Dungeon at Rosenkrantz Tower

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The Rosenkrantz Tower in Bergen Norway is one of the oldest buildings still standing and was once the house for kings. Today it is used as a museum and perhaps they also have some of the oldest ghosts still lingering in the dungeon. 

On the old dock in Bergen city you mostly find old buildings dating all the way back to the middle ages when Bergen was the capital in Norway throughout the city’s time as a Hanseatic trading city. Today the fortress the Rosenkrantz Tower is a part of a museum and is considered one of the most important renaissance monuments in Norway. 

One of the old buildings is Rosenkrantz Tower, which still is one of the taller buildings in the city and was once known as “The Castle by the Sea” as it used to be a residence for kings when Bergen was the capital in Norway. 

The Kings Tower

Rosenkrantz Tower was originally built for the king Magnus Lawmender in 1270 and a lot of the original building can still be seen today. King Magnus Lawmender got his nickname after working extensively on the laws in his country, and much of today’s Norwegian constitution comes from his work. 

After the capital in Norway was moved to Oslo and Norway became a part of the Danish kingdom, the keep the tower is part of lost its importance as a royal seat, but was still used as a military keep.

Although the cannons in Rosenkrantz Tower have only been fired one day during war in 1665, the tower has seen its fair share of war. In 1944 during world war two the Rosenkrantz Tower was heavily damaged when a cargo ship with explosives exploded right outside. The upper floors collapsed, but the foundations of the tower still remained, like the dungeon in the tower. And deep down in the darkness of the dungeon in the tower, some former prisoners are said to still linger. 

The Haunted Dungeon

The dungeon in Rosenkrantz Tower was added on to the tower around 1500 and the final tower as we see it today was finalized in the 1560s by Erik Rosenkrantz who was a governor of Bergen Castle during a time when Norway was under Danish reign. He was at the time one of the wealthiest men in Denmark-Norway and work on the tower was done by Scottish builders, explaining the Scottish look from the time. 

The

The dungeon served as a prison where they kept the prisoners who were considered to be very violent and often some of the poorest. These are the prisoners that are rumored to be still haunting the dungeon. 

An architect named Peter Blix reported in 1884 that old people living at the time still remembered the last prisoner in the cell in Rosenkrantz Tower. So perhaps the dungeon was used in the early 19th century? 

You can walk inside of the tower and follow the hollowed and wobbly stairs down to the basement where you can barely stand up straight. The cells are small and the only light is from the cracks in the walls. Still to this day you can see claw marks from the prisoners that were confined into the dark small cells when it was used from the 16th to the 19th century. 

The irony of it all is that so many of the prisoners were convicted by the laws that the original builder, King Magnus Lawmender, made during his reign just a couple of floors above the dungeon they are forever kept. 

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References

Featured photo: Wikimedia/Rüdiger Stehn

The Most Haunted Places in Bergen 

Rosenkrantztårnet – Lensherrenes slott i Bergen sentrum – Bymuseet

The Bergen Map | Rosenkrantztårnet

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The Cursed Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona

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Built on supposedly cursed ground, this theater in Barcelona has faced many tragedies. After several fires trying to close the doors of Gran Teatre del Liceu, people have come to believe that the building is haunted possibly by a curse they have no idea how to break. 

Spain is known for its ancient theaters and the stories of ghosts that haunt them. Many people have reported sightings of strange figures and other paranormal activities in these theaters that just don’t want to let the past go.

Read more: Check out all of our ghost stories from Spain

The haunted theaters in Spain are an interesting subject to explore. They offer a glimpse into the history of the country as well as a chance to explore the supernatural world. From tales of ghostly apparitions to mysterious sounds and unexplainable events, these theaters have something for everyone who is interested in exploring the unknown.

Oftentimes, the cursed places call for attention to the places history, and the street where this cursed theater is located, has a long one. 

The Bustling La Rambla in Barcelona

All the way since the middle ages La Rambla has been a center of Barcelona’s urban life with markets, festivals and sports as well as more serious and sinister things. 

The Haunted Gran Teatre del Liceu: The theater in Barcelona is thought to be built on cursed ground and have gone through many difficulties and mysterious incidents.

According to legend, this old theater in Barcelona was built upon cursed ground in 1847. During the middle ages, it is said that the place was used for executions and was therefore haunted and cursed. 

What we do know is that the gallows in La Rambla, las forca de la Rambla were placed by the entrance to La Boqueria on the same street right around the corner from where the theater is today.

Gran Teatre del Liceu – the Oldest Running Theater in Town

The Grand Theatre of the Lyceum is usually only known as El Liceu located on La Rambla and is the oldest running theater in Barcelona and from its opening  until 1989 the Liceu was the largest opera house in Europe that could seat 2 338 people.

Read more: Check out all of our ghost stories about haunted theaters like The Mysterious Ghost Stories of The Haunted Dock Street Theater, The Ghost of Theatre Royal Drury Lane, The Friendly Ghost Octavia at Den Nationale Scene or The Legend of the Phantom of Opéra Garnier

The theater was built in an unused Monastery and ended up being associated with the aristocracy and upper-middle class. This also drew people to the theater that wanted to end the upper class regime. 

The Killed Monks in the Ground

Long before it turned into a theater, the place was an abandoned convent. The Virgen de la Buena Monastery of the Trinitarian order was built in 1662. 

The Trinitarian order was begun for their mission to free christian that were in captivity by muslims. This was a time with many crusades to the middle east and Spain were also overtaken several places south in Spain by muslims.

There is also a legend that it was the place where there was a convent there with Trinitarian monks that were killed during a riot that happened there. The dead monks were buried under the ground where they were killed. 

Whether this legend is true, is uncertain, but there certainly were riots happening in Barcelona that targeted religious buildings. When there was riots in Barcelona in 1835, the convent was lit on fire and burned and the monks left the place. 

The Trinitarian convent building was then rebuilt into the theater. No matter if the story of the execution grounds or the murdered monks are true, it is used as a base to explain the legend that the theater is cursed and the reason why the building has seen so many tragedies over the years.

The Many Fires in the Cursed Theater

The first major tragedy that happened was when the building was severely damaged by a fire in 1861 that started in the tailor workshop, the people blamed it all on the curse. Was perhaps it from the curse of the monks? Were they fed up by the celebration of something so pagan like the carnival? Were their graves disturbed when they built the building?

It was in the middle of the carnival celebrations and everyone wore masks and it could have been anyone. Among the smoking ruins the police found an ominous note that said: An owl I am, alone I am. If you build it again, I’ll burn it again. 

Could it just be a paper from the many plays in the building? could it be something more ominous and connected to the curse?
Despite the warnings, they quickly rebuilt the opera house and opened again on 9th of April 1861. Only the facade, the entrance hall and the foyer called Mirrors Hall remained from the old theater and the building awaited its curse to hit once again. 

The Bombing of the Anarchist

In 1893 tragedy struck again when 20 people died as they were killed by an anarchist named Santiago Salvador. He threw two Orsini bombs into the stalls and watched it all explode and the bombing shocked Barcelona and became a symbol of the turbulent time of social unrest the country was in.

The theater opened again on 18th of January in 1894, but the seats that those who were killed in the bombing were not used for many years after this. 

Could we really put this terrorist act on the supposed curse of the building? 

The Last Fire of the Theater

In 1994 the building burned to the ground because of another fire. Apparently it happened when a spark accidentally fell on the curtain during a respiration. The theater was once again being rebuilt in 1999 with new and improved facilities. 

During the almost 30 years since its last reopening the theater has had no more damaging scandals and the building has remained intact. 

Is the curse now lifted, or will the place in fact burn down once again? There is an additional legend about the place. During the riots, the nearby convent of Mount Sion shared the same fate as the Trinitarian monastery. According to the legend, the prioress had a ring that was buried in the foundations of the new theater and cast a curse upon the place. 

It is said that the danger will continue to loom over the theater until someone finds the ring of the prioress of Mount Sion in the foundations, and as of yet, there are no one that has found it.  

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References:

La maldición del Liceo

La eterna maldición del Liceu de Barcelona

Estos son los conciertos del Primavera que puede ver gratis (por streaming)

Walking the city. Barcelona as an urban experience

A Brief History of Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona

https://books.google.no/books?id=1t-sDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT195&lpg=PT195&dq=las+forca+de+la+Rambla&source=bl&ots=yhJMDSDGsQ&sig=ACfU3U0TnxC7xEwSZxH4t05q5yaXdof5Yg&hl=no&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiOzK2qkKz_AhUa6CoKHWNIAb8Q6AF6BAgfEAM

13 Barcelona Haunted Houses & Places that will creep you out

Haunted and Mysterious Places in Barcelona | 19 Local LegendsLiceu – Wikipedia

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The Haunted Seven Sisters Road at Tsat Tsz Mui

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A long time ago, there were seven sisters that made a pact to die together in Tsat Tsz Mui, Hong Kong. And according to legend, there were also reports of them haunting swimmers from the depth of the sea.

In North Point there is a road called Tsat Tsz Mui Road (七姊妹道) that means Seven Sisters Road. Today the road is a place of office and residential buildings as well as shopping malls and restaurants. But there used to be beaches there. 

Read More: Check out all our collection of ghost stories from China

The road on Tsat Tsz Mui is built on reclaimed land, and underneath it all, there hides a tragic tale of seven sisters that are haunting the place because they never got a chance to live on their own terms. 

The Seven Sisters Pact of Life and Death

According to legend, there was once a group of Hakka women, a group of Han Chinese people that fled from the north from social unrest in the Qing Dynasty and sought refuge in the Cantonese provinces. 

The seven women who had been playmates all their life decided to become blood sisters and would die on the same day. The sisterhood lived in the same area and all swore a vow of celibacy and would never get married. 

One day, the third sister’s family decided it was time to marry her off. She didn’t want to, but didn’t dare to oppose her parents.   

The sisters were desperate, but saw no way to live their life as they had swore on. All of the seven sisters drowned themselves in the ocean the night before her wedding. 

Tsat Tsz Mui Rocks on the Beach

Their bodies were never recovered, but when the tide receded they found seven boulders in a row. These were named the Tsat Tsz Mui Shek (七姊妹石), Seven Sister Rocks, and the village Tsat Tsz Mui Tsuen (七姊妹村), Seven Sister Village. 

The Ghost of the Seven Sisters

Later the Chinese Recreation Club built the Seven Sisters Swimming Club in 1911 and hosted large bathing platforms that were destroyed during the Battle of Hong Kong in 1941.

Problem was the male swimmers though. Many went for an evening swim but there were so many cases of the male swimmers drowning, even though they were known to be strong swimmers. 

Ever since then, there have been legends that it is the spirits of the seven sisters in the water, taking their revenge on the men that wouldn’t leave them alone. 

In 1934 the rocks were buried under the reclamation for urban development and the seven sisters with it.

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References:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsat_Tsz_Mui_Road

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsat_Tsz_Mui

https://www.localiiz.com/post/culture-local-stories-creepy-urban-legends-hong-kong

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The Ghost of the Hello Kitty Murder

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The Hello Kitty Murder Case shocked Hong Kong and the world to the core when the skull of a woman was found sewn inside of a Hello Kitty Doll. One of the participant in the torture of the victim claimed that she was haunted by her and for years after the murder, the place itself was said to be haunted.

In 1999, a young girl walks into a Hong Kong police station alone, riddled with nightmares and guilt. The 14 year old teenager claims to be haunted by this dead woman for the last couple of weeks, and she truly believes she won’t be at peace until the girl confesses to what happened to the ghost that is haunting her. 

At first the police disregards her statements, thinking she is delusional and making stuff up, but when she tells them about the horrible torture and murder she witness and even took part in, the police couldn’t ignore it. 

Read More: Check out all our collection of ghost stories from China

When the police started investigating the address the girl gave, they came to find something truly shocking and horrible. The apartment had been the sight of a crime were a woman had been held imprisoned, tortured and raped for over a month before she died. The body had been mostly disposed of, but stuffed inside of a huge Hello Kitty plush doll, they found the woman’s head. Therefore the murder case was called The Hello Kitty Murder Case. 

Granville Road in 2016 in the Tsim Sha Tsui area were the gruesome Hello Kitty Murder took place.

The Harsh Life of the Kidnapped Hostess

The place of the Hello Kitty Murder was in a third-floor flat in the downtown area on No. 31 Granville Road (加連威老道) in Tsim Sha Tsui area in the Kowloon district. The inside of the apartment was filled with Hello Kitty memorabilia, including the big Hello Kitty Mermaid Plush Doll. 

Fan Man-yee: The victim of the Hello Kitty Murder Case.

The victim was the 23 year old nightclub hostess and young mother, Fan Man-yee (樊敏儀)who had been missing for a month. 

Her life had never been easy, and it ended in the most gruesome way imaginable. She had been abandoned as a child and grew up in an all girls orphanage in Hong Kong. When she got kicked out at 15 because she was too old to be there, she supported herself through sex work. 

Over the years she turned into a drug addict and barely got by. She ended up marrying one of her clients who also were a drug addict, and lived with him despite their abusive relationship. 

Then she got pregnant and had a child and decided to turn her life around. She got clean, left her husband and quit being a prostitute. Instead she started working as a nightclub hostess at the Romance Villa and hoped for a better future together with her son. 

The Murderous Pimp and Drug Dealer

Her hopes got crushed fairly quickly however as bills were piling up and her nightclub was frequented by criminals, drug dealers and addicts as well as the Chinese crime syndicate, The Triads. 

One of these seedy types she met was the 34-year old Chan Man-lok. He was both a drug dealer and a pimp and had a sexual relationship with Fan-Man. She once stole his wallet that had around $HK4,000 (roughly $500 USD) inside of it, but even if she gave it back at once Chan Man-lok realized she was the thief, he demanded more money from her that she was unable to pay. And because of this, he decided to kidnap her,  thinking he would make money out of her by pimping her out. 

A Month of Sadistic Torture

Instead he ended up rounding up his other accomplices, and ended up just torturing her in what seemed to be for no other reason than perverse and sadistic enjoyment. 

The teenage girl given the cover name Ah Fong because of her young age testified that three men Chan Man-lok, Leung Shing-cho and Leung Wai-lun, all  in their 30s and 20s abducted Fan Man-yee and tortured her until she died over the course of a month. She was the quote on quote: “girlfriend” of Chan Man-lok who also worked as a sex worker for him and she admitted that she even joined in on the beating on occasion. 

Over the course of that month the men got high on drugs while they beating her with iron bars, raped her, burning her by dripping melting plastic on her, pouring chili oil on her wounds, stringing her up hanging from the ceiling for hours and other sadistic acts they came up with. She was even forced to smile and say she enjoyed the torture. If she didn’t it would only get worse. 

The Horror of the Hello Kitty Murder

Hello Kitty: The Hello Kitty Murder got its nickname after where they placed some parts of the body.//Source

After she died they dismembered her body, boiled them and disposed of it as household trash or feeding it to stray dogs. Some of her internal organs were found in the refrigerator. The head they sew in the head of the Hello Kitty doll, although their motive for this is still unclear. 

The exact cause of death is not known because of how little of her remains they found, and therefore there was also too little evidence to sentence the men for murder with intent, although it was clear she had died because of their abuse. 

“Never in Hong Kong in recent years has a court heard of such cruelty, depravity, callousness, brutality, violence and viciousness,” said Hong Kong Justice Peter Nguyen after the trial, who sentenced the defendants to life imprisonment Wednesday after they were convicted of manslaughter. “The public is entitled to protection from people such as you.”

The three men were convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to life in prison without chance of parole for 20 years. Hong Kong does not have the death penalty, but if it had happened on mainland China, they would have likely been executed.  

The Ghost of Fan Man-yee at Court

Who really knew what would have happened to the case if the teenage girl known as Ah Fong hadn’t been convinced she was haunted by Fan Man-yee, and because of her torment and remorse, she ended up walking into the police station and at least helping to find the victim. Because of her young age and corporation she never received any punishment for her involvement in the Hello Kitty Murder case.

Many unusual events have occurred that are regarded as supernatural by the public. And rumors about something paranormal and strange going on started already during trial.

The forensic doctor in charge of the case revealed that when the evidence including the skull of the deceased, the Hello Kitty doll, and the clay pot used to cook the body were presented to the court, the entire court was filled with the smell of the corpse. No matter where the Hello Kitty doll was presented, nearby lights would flicker. The same light disturbance happened when the defense lawyer argued that the only illegal thing happened when they were disposing of the body. An observer of the trial refused this rumor though and said it only happened when the police played the defendant’s confession.

The Haunted Building

The building where the murder happened had strange things going on. A woman rented a unit on the fourth floor without knowing about the murder. Her friend often heard women crying at night, and at that time, there were no people living downstairs. It’s worth noting that this woman had suffered from sleep paralysis while sleeping.

Granville Road: The building were the horror of the Hello Kitty Murders took place in 2010. The murder occurred in Block B on the third floor, which was demolished in 2012 and rebuilt into the Soravit on Granville in 2016.

The hair salons on the first and second floors of the building had discovered Hello Kitty dolls of unknown origin when they came to work in the morning. When looking at the CCTV footage, they even saw that after the salon closed at night, there were figures walking around in the salon. The manager of the hair salon denied that unusual incidents had occurred in the store.

The wife of Hong Kong metaphysician Chen Dingbang said that in 2013, when she was relaxing in a bar on Granville Road, she saw a woman’s head staring at her from the opposite building. Later she learned that the unit was where the case took place.

The apartment building where Fan was tortured has since been demolished as no one wanted to buy or rent the infamous apartment that everyone in Hong Kong knew the backstory behind. It was empty for years and eventually, no one wanted to live in the other apartments in the building either. 

Some claimed that after the Hello Kitty Murder the building itself was haunted by Fan and there were many who claimed to have seen her haunting the area. 

In the end someone bought the empty building and demolished it in 2012. Instead they built a hotel there in 2016 named Soravit. As a memorial to what happened there, they placed three Buddha portraits in the hotel. 

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References:

‘Hello Kitty’ Murder Case Horrifies Hong Kong – The Washington Post

Life for ‘Hello Kitty’ Killers – ABC News

Why the Gruesome Hello Kitty Murder Shocked Hong Kong – and Still Horrifies the World 

https://www.ranker.com/list/hello-kitty-murder-facts/cat-mcauliffe

https://filmdaily.co/news/hello-kitty-murder/

https://allthatsinteresting.com/hello-kitty-murder

Hello Kitty murder case – Wikipedia 

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