Tag Archives: asia

Ukategorisert

The Haunted Legends of the Rose City, Petra in Jordan

1 Comment
Advertisements

Dubbed the rose city because of the red rocks it is carved out of, the mysterious Petra in Jordan has captivated the local Bedouins as well as the tourists across the world for centuries. But what ghosts and ghouls are haunting the place?

Petra, Jordan, is a city steeped in mystery and intrigue. Known as the Rose City, Petra is home to some of the most impressive ancient architecture in the world. But behind the stunning facade lies a dark and haunted history. From tales of curses and lost treasure to unexplained apparitions and eerie sounds, Petra is a place where the paranormal and the historical collide. 

From the ghostly whispers of ancient spirits to the curses of long-dead pharaohs, there’s no shortage of spine-tingling stories to be found in Petra, often called Rose city because of the reddish sandstone cliffs. 

Haunted Ancient City: The stunning Al-Khazneh, or the Treasury, carved into the rose-red cliffs of Petra, Jordan. A lot of strange things and legends about the place have made many think that the city is haunted.

The History of Petra

Petra is an ancient city that was once the capital of the Nabataean kingdom. The city was founded in the 6th century BC and was a major trading hub for spices, incense, and other valuable goods. Petra’s location at the intersection of several important trade routes made it a wealthy and powerful city.

The Nabataeans were skilled architects and engineers who carved their homes and temples out of the sandstone cliffs that surround Petra. The most famous of these structures is the Treasury, a magnificent temple that was carved into the rock face and served as the tomb of a Nabataean king.

There are huge Hellenistic structures carved into solid rock that served as a mausoleum for the wealthy dead. 

Petra’s glory days came to an end in the 2nd century AD when the city was conquered by the Roman Empire. There were also earthquakes that changed the trade route that contributed to the decline of Petra. Permanent residency of Petra essentially ended in the 6th century CE, when water access was diminished for the city’s 20,000 inhabitants and regional competitor Palmyra took the reins of the trade between the Persians and the Romans.

Over time, Petra was abandoned and fell into ruin. It wasn’t until the 19th century that Petra was rediscovered by Western explorers in 1812, when Swiss explorer Johann Ludwig Burckhardt made the locals bring him there, and it became a popular tourist destination. Despite its ancient origins, Petra’s history is not all sunshine and roses. The city has seen its fair share of tragedy and bloodshed over the centuries, which has given rise to some of the most chilling ghost stories in the world.

The Forgotten Treasury Al-Khazneh

One of the most famous legends associated with Petra is that of the lost treasure of the Nabataeans called Al-Khazneh, or the enchanted Treasury. According to this legend from Bedouin folklore, the Nabataeans were incredibly wealthy from spice and silk trade and amassed a vast fortune over the centuries. When the Romans invaded Petra, the Nabataeans were forced to flee, leaving their treasure behind. It is said that the treasure is still hidden somewhere in Petra, waiting to be discovered by a brave and lucky adventurer.

Al-Khazneh: The stunning Treasury of Petra, a testament to Nabataean architecture carved into the rose-red cliffs. It is thought that Al-Khazneh was built as a mausoleum and crypt at the beginning of the 1st century AD during the reign of Aretas IV Philopatris.

One legend about the treasury is that to protect the treasure, a pharaoh put a curse on the place. According to the story, an Egyptian pharaoh and some in his army escaped when the Red Sea closed when they hunted Moses. They created the treasury with magic as a safe place before they continued to hunt Moses down. And those willing to break the rules and search for the treasure, will feel the wrath of the curse. 

Some think that the treasury was more a place of worship or a burial chamber, more than a place of hiding away treasures. Many of the sculptures are of various creatures from mythology that were associated with the afterlife. 

Petra is also home to several mysterious and unexplained phenomena. Visitors to the city have reported hearing ghostly whispers and moans coming from the ancient ruins. Some have even claimed to have seen apparitions of long-dead Nabataean warriors and priestesses wandering the streets of Petra, still protecting their home.

The Haunted Stories of Petra

Visitors to Petra have reported a wide range of paranormal activities. Some have reported seeing orbs of light floating through the ancient ruins, while others have claimed to have heard disembodied voices and footsteps. Some have even reported feeling a cold breeze or a sudden drop in temperature, even on the hottest days.

The Siq: The narrow sandstone gorge leading into Petra, known as the Siq, offers a glimpse of the stunning red rock formations characteristic of the Rose City. The Siq literally ‘the Shaft’, is the main entrance. Also known as Siqit, it is a dim, narrow gorge (in some points no more than 3 metres (10 ft) wide) and winds its way approximately 1.2 kilometres (3⁄4 mi) and ends at Petra’s most elaborate ruin, Al-Khazneh.

Some say that the ghosts haunting Petra are Nabatean merchants or Roman legionnaires who died in battle. There are also those saying that the place is haunted by a group of school girls. 

In 1963, a sudden flood killed 23 Lebanese schoolgirls. According to some, their spirit is haunting the halls and you can hear their laughter turning into screams after night echoing through the red walls in the mile long gorge or Siq, leading into Petra. 

The Djinn Blocks

When you walk down the Street of Facades you will come across three enormous obelisks called Djinn Blocks. The blocks are probably from the 2nd century B.C and according to bedouin legends, they were the dwellings of the djinns, an Islamic legend about the Djinns, made from smokeless fire. 

Source: Flickr

They appear to visitors as a flash of light or as a blowing whirls of wind. Djinns are said to appear at night and are said to be behind the nightly haunting when they came from the burial chambers and dark corners of Petra.

The Monastery Ad-Deir

Getting to higher ground, you will find the Monastery, or the Ad-Deir. This monumental building was probably carved out from rock in the mid-first century AD. It is perhaps the second most known building in Petra after the Khazneh. 

The Monastery Ad-Deir: a stunning architectural marvel carved into the rock, stands majestically against the backdrop of Petra’s rugged landscape. The building is believed to be haunted by someone guarding this sacred ground.

According to stories, the ghost of a guard is haunting this location. There are also those saying they have seen someone looking like wearing ancient robes like a Nabatean monk, disappearing around behind the walls. 

Like someone is still protecting their sacred ground. 

The Mystery of Petra’s Lost City

Despite its haunted history, Petra remains a popular tourist destination. Visitors flock to the city from all over the world to explore the ancient ruins and experience the rich history and culture of the Nabataean people.

In fact, the surface of Khazneh has receded by 40 mm in less than ten years from people touching, leaning or rubbing against the walls. 

Perhaps the greatest mystery of Petra is the city itself. Despite years of archaeological research, much of Petra remains shrouded in mystery and intrigue. The city is home to several hidden tombs and underground tunnels, many of which have yet to be fully explored. Some believe that these tunnels lead to secret chambers where the lost treasure of the Nabataeans is hidden.

Newest Posts

  • A Vrykolakas Vampire in Sunny Mykonos
    A vampiric Vrykolakas from Greek folklore was said to terrorize the inhabitants on Mykonos island. To stop the haunting, they exhumed, burned and buried the remains of the body on an inhabited island. But did it work?
  • Manananggal: The Night Splitter of Filipino Folklore
    As part of the shapeshifting Aswang demons of the Phillipines, the Manananggal was soaring the sky in her bat-like appearance on her hunt for human blood.
  • The Atoning Vrykolakas Vampire in Santorini
    After a man died before atoning for his crimes, he came back from the dead as a vampiric Vrykolakas when his wife failed to follow his final wishes. What followed was a month full of terror and haunting.
  • The Vrykolakas Vampire in Patmos
    After terrorizing his village, the Vrykolakas Vampire from Patmos in Santorini were taken to an inhabited island and set on fire. The question is, did it really work?
  • The Churel: The Vengeful Vampire Woman of South Asian Folklore
    Fueled by anger and vengeance, the vampiric Churel of South Asian folklore, is said to haunt down men to drain their blood as a vengeful spirit brought back from the dead.
  • The Shoemaking Vrykolakas Vampire from Pyrgos Castle
    After a humble life as a shoemaker on Santorini in Greece, a man was said to have come back as a Vrykolakas, the vampire of Greek folklore. But for this Vrykolaka, it wasn’t to devour human life that kept him going.
  • The Sea Draug: The Ghostly Fisherman of the Norwegian Coast
    Thought to be haunting the dark seas of the north, the Sea Draug is a ghost of the drowned fishermen’s and other unfortunate souls who perished on the waters.
  • The Haunted Jane Street Hotel: Echoes of the Lost Sailors
    After tragedy struck and the Titanic sank to the bottom of the Atlantic ocean, the surviving crew members were sent to The Jane Street Hotel in New York. According to stories, they are still haunting the rooms, where the trauma of their tragedy lingers.
  • The Silent Music Haunting Hald Pensjonat
    Who can be haunting the old Hald Pensjonat in Mandal? Playing soft piano music in the afterlife, and rumours about the footsteps of a Norwegian pirate seems to linger.
  • The Mandurugo Vampire Bride of Philippine Folklore
    Hidden among human society, the vampiric Mandurugo creature is slowly draining her unassuming husbands of their blood and life to sustain her eternal youth and beauty.
  • The Ghostly Guardian of MS Nordstjernen
    The MS Nordstjernen spent decades bringing passengers north across the arctic sea, and although the waters can be brought this far north, it always seemed to reach port unharmed. Some think that it could be Ernst, the ship’s ghosts.
  • The Cabin in the Woods where the Forest Watches Back
    The DNT Cabin Flisberget deep in the mystical forest of Finnskogen, bordering Norway and Sweden has a lot of strange tales coming from it. So much so, that it was voted the scariest cabin in the country.

References:

The Backstory Behind Petra, Jordan’s Ancient Ghost City

Echoes in the Rose-Red Stone: Petra’s Haunted History as Jordan’s Desert Mirage | Horror 

Block tombs, Bab as-Siq, Petra. Art Destination Jordan

Ukategorisert

Aka Manto (赤マント): Japan’s Nightmare in the Bathroom Stall

Leave a comment
Advertisements

The question about red or blue paper has scared Japanese students for generations now. The spirit of Aka Manto (赤マント) is still haunting the toilets of schools to this day, and is still a mystery of where the legend comes from. Was he a bloodsucking vampire? Serial killer? Perhaps an ancient god? 

You’re in a dimly lit school bathroom in the remote and old part of your school. You are the last one in the building, and you just needed a moment of peace. Then, from the stall next to you, a deep, unsettling voice asks a simple question:

“Would you like red paper or blue paper?”

You have already heard the stories and you know you’re about to die in one of the most gruesome ways possible.

Let’s talk about Aka Manto, Japan’s most murderous toilet ghost.

The Legend of Aka Manto: The Wrong Answer Could Kill You

Aka Manto: This is an artistic rendition of Aka Manto by Matthew Hoobin. Source: Wikimedia

Aka Manto is not your average ghost, but often described more of a demonic entity or yōkai who lurks in public restrooms, particularly school bathrooms. Very often it is in elementary schools in a specific stall in an older or not often dark and forgotten toilet, especially the older squat toilets. It is often the fourth stall that is the cursed one as the number four is associated with death. 

The legend of Aka Manto goes something like this:

After Aka Manto asks if you want red or blue paper, you only have bad choices. If you say “red paper” (赤い紙, akai kami), Aka Manto will slice you apart, drenching the walls in your blood. You die in a pool of your own gore, forever staining the stall red.

If you say “blue paper” (青い紙, aoi kami), Aka Manto will strangle you to death, draining your face of blood until you turn blue. Some versions say he sucks the life out of you, leaving nothing but a pale, cold corpse.

Trying to be clever and bring your own paper? Bad idea, as it will vanish mysteriously. If you ask for a different color like yellow, Aka Manto drags you into the underworld, and you are never seen again. If you try to run away? The stall door won’t budge, and your fate is sealed. If you stay silent? He kills you anyway. Basically, once Aka Manto asks the question, you’re doomed, in most cases.

Origins: Where Did This Nightmare Aka Manto Come From?

Like all great urban legends, Aka Manto’s origins are murky. He’s been around for decades, at least since the 1930s in Nara City, terrifying generations of schoolchildren and unsuspecting restroom-goers. In 1940, the legend spread to Kitakyshu and even reached the Korean Peninsula under Japanese rule because of Japanese students. At least the legend of the red paper and the blue paper was a well known legend, but when did the red cloaked man appear in the story? 

Read More: Check out all ghost stories from Japan

One theory is that Aka Manto was once a man—maybe even a student—who wore a red cloak and a mask. Some say he was handsome, but so obsessed with his looks that he wore a mask to keep people from seeing his face. Today, the word manto mostly means a cloak or cape and he is often depicted as this. But back when the urban legend first started spreading, manto referred to a shorter, sleeveless kimono jacket. 

Others say he was a vengeful spirit, hunting down those who disrespected him in life. Whatever the case, he died tragically—and now he haunts bathrooms, forcing his victims to “choose their fate.”

The Unsolved Murder Creating Aka Manto

In some versions he was a serial killer and Ako Manto is said to be connected to The Aogetto Murder Case in 1906 in what is today Sakai city in Fukui Prefecture. A man in his 30s wearing blue, in some variations red, came to a shop as a messenger and asked Kaga Murayoshi (30) to follow him to help his sick aunt in Shinbo village. Murayoshi trusted him and followed.

The man used the same method to lure his mother, Kiku (59) and his wife, Tsuo (25) as well. He tried to take the two year old daughter as well, but the mother had asked a neighbor to look after her. The woman refused to let him in when he came to the door, asking for the daughter. The eldest daughter was spared as well, as she was babysitting another house. 

They never returned, and the relatives in Shinbo village said they were not sick and had not asked for a messenger. Behind the Murayoshi family home, they found bloodstains in a boat by the Takeda River, finding Tsuo and Kiku’s bodies floating in the river, but never finding Kaga’s body. 

Although they believed this murderer must have had a strong hatred for the family, they could never find any motives for it or suspects. The case is still unsolved.

Was this a true murder case however? For most it’s considered a legendary one more so than a true murder mystery, as most details of the case changes every retelling as well there have been no original sources or documentation about the case. 

Inspired by Paper Doll Kamishibai Play

There is also a theory that the story of Aka Manto came from a mix of several real crimes mixed with popular media at the time.. One being the rape and murder of a young girl in Yanaka in Tokyo, although proof of a specific case has not been found. The other one comes from a harmless story from a popular kamishibai play at the time called Aka Manto by Kōji Kata. It told the story about a gentleman wizard in a red cloak that takes a shoeshine boy as his apprentice. 

Mixing these two stories together created fear and a commotion in Osaka and the kamishibai was confiscated by the police because of it. There are however different tales about what year it was confiscated, if it was in 1936 or 1940. 

Kamishibai: Meaning (紙芝居, “paper play”) is a form of Japanese street theater and storytelling that was popular during the Great Depression of the 1930s and the postwar period in Japan until television took over. Kamishibai were performed by a kamishibaiya (“kamishibai narrator”) who travelled to street corners with sets of illustrated boards that they placed in a miniature stage-like device and narrated the story by changing each image. Many think that the legend could have been inspired by this. Source: Flickr

Bloodsucking Vampire Tales from a Socialist Banker

In Ōkubo, Tokyo, the legend form tells of a vampire during the Shōwa era in the early 1900s. Corpses started appearing after being attacked by someone in a red cloak. 

This vampire theory is most likely connected to another story. Some say the urban legend is actually from a socialist banker in the 1930s to unsettle people and that he was arrested because of it. The motive is uncertain and a little bit random. If this actually happened is uncertain though, as it’s just a memory from a novel by Nobuo Ozawa. There are however real news clippings talking about a similar case about a communication employee, not a bankman. 

“Crackdown on rumours/Communication employee detained” “
In the wartime imperial capital, there have been many malicious rumors circulating, such as rumors that are disrupting politics and the financial world, and the story of the “Red Cape Hunchback” who is sucking blood that spread from Oji to the entire city, which are causing fear. The Metropolitan Police Department Intelligence Division has decided to carry out a thorough crackdown on these rumors to eradicate them from their source. On the 25th, it notified each police station under its jurisdiction to carry out strict inspections and internal investigations, while the Second Investigation Division also cooperated with this, and since the 23rd, a certain communication employee, Tomonori Tsune (38), of 3363 Oikurata-cho, Shinagawa-ku, has been detained and interrogated by Inspector Kobayashi. Since the middle of this month, he has been spreading rumors in the financial world that Prime Minister Hiranuma has been assassinated, which is said to have caused considerable shock in the banking world. Since these types of rumors are often spread for personal gain, the Metropolitan Police Department is also closely pursuing his background.”
– Published in the Yomiuri Shimbun in the evening edition of February 25th (dated the 26th) in 1939. source

Other Theories Behind the Red Cloaked Man

One theory of the ghost of Aka Manto comes from a rumor from Osaka around 1935. It said that a man in a cloak would appear in a dimly lit shoe locker in the basement. A year or two after this it spread to Tokyo and further and turned into the urban legend we know of today. A similar legend circulated in Kobe in the 70s and 80s about someone, or something, wrapping children in a red blanket and abduct them into the demon realm. 

The Toilet Ghost Phenomenon: Why Are Bathrooms So Haunted?

If you’ve noticed a pattern, you’re not alone—Japan has way too many bathroom ghosts.

Because bathrooms are liminal spaces—places where people are alone, vulnerable, and isolated. Plus, back in the day, Japanese toilets were dark, creepy holes in the ground. If anywhere was going to be haunted, it was the bathroom. There are also the cases of toilet gods from more ancient times that used to be worshiped. 

Toilet Gods from Older Days

To understand why there are so many legends of spirits haunting the toilets in Japan, we must understand the folklore that existed before the ghost stories. In Japan, as well as many other cultures, Toilet Gods and deities were popular and worshiped from the Edo period until the early Showa period. This is in large part because of the association between human waste and agriculture, therefore making the toilets a fertile ground so to speak. Toilets were often dark and unpleasant places where the user was at some risk of falling in and drowning. The protection of the toilet god was therefore sought to avoid such an unsanitary fate.

According to a different Japanese tradition, the toilet god was said to be a blind man holding a spear in his hand. The Ainu people of far northern Japan and the Russian Far East believed that the Rukar Kamuy, their version of a toilet god, would be the first to come to help in the event of danger.

Most often, it was a benevolent god, but it happened, like in Okinawa, that the God could become a place of haunting evil spirits. The fuuru nu kami, or “god of the toilet” from the Ryūkyū Shintō of the Ryukyu Islands is the family protector of the area of waste. The pig toilet, lacking this benevolent god, could become a place of evil influence and potential haunting because of the accumulation of waste matter, rejected and abandoned by the human body. This version of the spirits residing in toilets is more reminiscent of the Korean Cheuksin (厠神): South Korea’s Vengeful Toilet Goddess. 

Read More: Cheuksin (厠神): South Korea’s Vengeful Toilet Goddess 

Toilet Gods and Colored Papers

In Kyoto, it is said that if you go to the toilet on the night of Setsubun, a monster called Kainade (Kainaze) will appear who will stroke your buttocks, and that if you chant “Red paper, white paper,” you can avoid this supernatural occurrence; there is also a theory that this evolved into a school ghost story. In Makabe County, Ibaraki Prefecture, it is said that blue and red, or red and white, paper dolls are offered to the toilet. 

Such stores of a spirit and colored papers being offered in the bathrooms have plenty of old tradition in Japan.

Originally, the act of offering to the gods changed to “I’ll give you some paper, so don’t behave suspiciously,” and the toilet god became more of a yokai over time, with people asking, “Shall I give you red paper, or blue (or white) paper?” 

After the war, there were a lot of old traditions that were left behind, and created the foundation for new ones. Gods and goddesses became ghosts and spirits, and only the skeletons of the legends reminiscent the old tales. 

Can You Survive an Encounter with Aka Manto?

Aka Manto is one of Japan’s deadliest urban legends, a spirit that proves you’re never truly safe—even in the most private places. But is there an end to the legend where you actually will survive?

If asked about what paper you want, there are two choices recommended.

You say, “I don’t need any paper.”

 You say nothing and calmly leave the stall.

If you’re lucky, Aka Manto lets you go. If not… well, you’ll be another restroom horror story.

So the next time you step into a restroom, especially one with a suspiciously empty last stall, ask yourself:

Do you really need to go?

More like this

Newest Posts

References:

Aka manto | Yokai.com

赤マント – Wikipedia 

青ゲットの殺人事件 – Wikipedia

赤い紙、青い紙 – Wikipedia

青ゲット殺人事件――都市伝説となった事件 – オカルト・クロニクル

http://snarkmori.blog.fc2.com/blog-entry-136.html 

Ukategorisert

The Legend of Toire no Hanako-san: The Ghost Haunting School Toilets in Japan

1 Comment
Advertisements

For decades now, students have been terrified of the encounter with Hanako-san, the toilet ghost said to haunt the bathrooms in Japanese schools. Said to have died in one of the stalls, she now lures students into their death. 

In the dimly lit bathroom on the third floor in the school building, there is a third stall believed to be haunted. No one ever uses it, but someone dared you to go to it. It’s just a game, they said, and curious, you wanted to see for yourself, if the story is really true. If you knock three times on the third door and ask “Hanako, are you there?” you will hear a faint voice answering from the inside. “Yes,” the voice says. 

The door opens and a girl with short hair and a red skirt drags you into the bathroom, never to come out again. 

Urban School Legends: Japan have a rich universe of urban legends and ghost stories set at their school, on their way to school. Many of them are the product of a specific fear in society, some are remnants of old folklore and tradition. The tale of the toilet ghost, Hanako-san looks to be a bit of both.

The Legend of Hanako-san

Hanako-san’s origins are a mystery wrapped in a horror story. There have been many versions of the school ghost story of Toire no Hanako-san (トイレの花子 (はなこ)さん), meaning Hanako oof the toilet, over the years. 

Unlike some ghosts that belong purely to folklore, Hanako-san’s story has adapted to the times. She appears in horror movies, manga, anime, and video games, keeping her legend alive and well. In fact, she’s so famous that even outside Japan, people know her name. She’s been compared to Bloody Mary, Slender Man, and even the Girl from The Ring—but Hanako-san came first, and she’s still one of the most feared spirits in Japan.

Read More: Check out all ghost stories from Japan

Toire no Hanako-san is often described as a young girl with a short bob and wearing red, often a red suspender skirt or school uniform with a white dress shirt, making her visual constant figure throughout the many variations of her legend and origin.

School Uniform: Although not explicitly stated, the appearance of Hanako-san is most likely a school uniform, naturally so as she was said to be a student dying in the school bathrooms. Her colors of red and white however seems to be from much older times and is the same colors they used when worshiping the ancient toilet gods.

The Victim of Bullying

The modern version of the toilet ghost in Japanese girl’s schools bathrooms paints Toire no Hanako-san as a victim of relentless school bullying. Through the many versions of Hanako-san, it seems the way she died reflects a real threat the current society focuses on and fears. Is this the students biggest fear in modern times?

Humiliated and tormented, Toire no Hanako-san sought refuge in the bathroom, where she ended her life. Now, she haunts the very place where she was last seen, waiting for someone to notice her.

The Girl Killed in the Bathroom

Another version suggests Hanako-san was the victim of a violent crime, perhaps another fear that really took hold of parents and students in the more modern era of Japan, after the war ended. Toire no Hanako-san was hiding in the bathroom from someone out to hurt her. 

In some version it was from an abusive parent and she had her hair bobbed like that to hide the scars from the beating. 

Some say that she was hiding from a deranged killer. No matter who it was, they found her. Some say she was stabbed, others say she was strangled—either way, Toire no Hanako-san never made it out alive.

The World War II Bombing Tragedy

One of the most widely accepted tales places Hanako-san’s death in the 1940s, during World War II and is perhaps one of the earliest iterations of the urban legend. In 1944, the alarm went off and she was hiding in the school bathroom during an air raid. In some versions she was too afraid to leave the bathrooms. Some say that the children were playing hide and seek and she was hiding in the toilet and didn’t even hear when the alarm went off.

A bomb hit the school building, with most children having been safely evacuated. But Toire no Hanako-san was trapped, and the bomb killed her in the stall as the school burned down. Her spirit never left the toilet.

Other Origins Stories From Around Japan

Who was Toire no Hanako-san originally? What was her true name and where does she come from? There are origin stories from all over Japan, all claiming that this is where it all started. Some say that the legend started after a young girl fell to her death from a library window in Fukushima. Or an elementary school student who fell through an open drainage hole and died. 

In a television program, 巷のウワサ大検証!それって実際どうなの会, aired in 2025 investigating urban legends, they claimed that she was a ghost by an evacuated girl who went missing in 1944 and a boy saw her ghost in the third toilet. The following year on 3rd of March snow blocked the toilet and somehow killed several students. Some say that she is buried in a garbage dump at a school in Saitama Prefecture or behind the gymnasium at a school in Tokyo.  

Hanako is also not only haunting toilets, as there is a story called Hanako of the Persimmon Tree. This story tells about a young girl picking persimmons and giving them to a nursery home. But on the way, she died in a traffic accident and became a ghost, haunting the Persimmon Tree. 

When Did the Legend Start?

The Legend has been around for a long time now, and is traced back to at least the 1950s. Along with many urban legends at that time, it gained popularity in the 1980s and 1990s when children spent a lot of the time at school and an occult revival boom swept over Japan, making people particularly interested in urban legends and ghost stories. 

But what happened in the 1950s that created this legend?

The Power of Toilet Ghosts: Hanako-san Isn’t Alone

To understand why there are so many legends of spirits haunting the toilets in Japan, we must understand the folklore that existed before the ghost stories. In Japan, as well as many other cultures, Toilet Gods and deities were popular and worshiped from the Edo period until the early Showa period. This is in large part because of the association between human waste and agriculture, therefore making the toilets a fertile ground so to speak. Toilets were often dark and unpleasant places where the user was at some risk of falling in and drowning. The protection of the toilet god was therefore sought to avoid such an unsanitary fate.

According to a different Japanese tradition, the toilet god was said to be a blind man holding a spear in his hand. The Ainu people of far northern Japan and the Russian Far East believed that the Rukar Kamuy, their version of a toilet god, would be the first to come to help in the event of danger. Most often, it was a benevolent god, but it happened, like in Okinawa, that the God could become a place of haunting evil spirits. The fuuru nu kami, or “god of the toilet” from the Ryūkyū Shintō of the Ryukyu Islands is the family protector of the area of waste. The pig toilet, lacking this benevolent god, could become a place of evil influence and potential haunting because of the accumulation of waste matter, rejected and abandoned by the human body. This version of the spirits residing in toilets is more reminiscent of the Korean Cheuksin (厠神): South Korea’s Vengeful Toilet Goddess. 

Often the gods were given red or white girl dolls and flower decorations in the toilets. Today the tradition of worshiping toilet gods more or less gone, although toilets are often still decorated with flowers. This has also been a theory as to why Hanako is said to wear white and red clothes. Also her name, Hanako (花子), which consists of two Japanese letters meaning “Flower” and “Child” is said to come from this belief.

Toilet Gods: Often leaving little dolls or idols for the toilet dolls, they have also connected this tradition when the legend became a ghost story. Here from the movie, Hanako-san of the Toilet from 2013 about the urban legend. Watch here

Although most toilet gods are of a very masculine figure, there are examples of an old goddess from China that might have influenced the legend as well. The story of The Lady of the Privy, the Purple Maiden or Zigu as she is called, was said to be a concubine who was killed in the toilet, coming back as a toilet ghost. 

Read More: Zigu (紫姑): The Lady of the Latrine – China’s Most Unsettling Restroom Ghost and Goddess 

After the war, there were a lot of old traditions that were left behind, and created the foundation for new ones. Gods and goddesses became ghosts and spirits, and only the skeletons of the legends reminicents the old tales. 

Other Toiler Ghosts

Believe it or not, Hanako-san isn’t the only terrifying restroom spirit in Japanese folklore. Bathrooms, especially in schools, seem to be prime ghost real estate. Maybe it’s the isolation, the eerie silence, or just the general creep factor of public restrooms, but whatever the reason, Hanako-san has some supernatural company.

Other Bathroom Horrors in Japan:

Aka Manto (赤マント, “The Red Cloak”)

A male and malevolent spirit that appears in school restrooms and is said to preferre the last stall in the women’s toilet in school and public restrooms. Once you sit down for business you hear a male voice and asks you a simple question:

“Do you want red paper or blue paper?”

Pick red? You’re slashed to death, covering the walls in blood.

Pick blue? You’re strangled until you turn blue.

Pick neither? You can try to run, but many say he kills you anyway.

Kashima Reiko (加島礼子) or Teke Teke

A ghost with no legs who haunts school restrooms. She lost her lower half in a train accident, and now she crawls around, asking people where her legs are. She is also haunting urban areas and train stations at night, often then called Teke Teke, the sound she makes by dragging herself on her hands and elbows.

If you don’t answer correctly, she’ll cut off your legs and take them for herself.

Clearly, Japan takes its bathroom horror very seriously.

Summoning Hanako-san: A Dare You’ll Regret

In later years, a game was created around the legend of Hanako-san. If you’ve got a death wish (or just an unhealthy curiosity), you can summon Hanako-san—but be warned: not everyone who calls her walks away unscathed.

Popular Media: As a popular story, Hanako-san has been adapted into plenty of movies, animes, books and even one Japanese music artist is emulating her. This helps keep the legend of her alive. Here from the movie, Toire No Hanako San Shin Gekijyo Ban. Watch here

Here’s how it works:

Find a school restroom—specifically, the third stall of the third-floor girls’ bathroom.

Knock three times on the stall door.

Ask: “Hanako-san, are you there?” (花子さん、いますか？, Hanako-san, imasu ka?)

And then?

If she’s not there, congratulations, you live another day.

If she is there, you might hear a soft giggle, a faint whisper, or the distant echo of a child’s voice saying, “Yes, I’m here.”

If you’re really unlucky, the stall door slowly creaks open, revealing… something you should never have seen.

What happens next depends on the version of the legend:

Best-case scenario? Hanako-san just disappears. Worst-case scenario? A pale hand reaches out, dragging you inside the stall—where you vanish forever.

In some legends you can ask her to play a gay, and she agrees, asking what to play. If you say “Let’s play choking”, she will actually be choked to death… again. 

In Yamagata they probably have the most bonkers version of the legend where you call out Hanako when you leave the toilet. If she responds in a displeased voice, you know something bad will happen. They also have a variation of the legend where Hanako-san actually is a three meter long lizard that eats anyone when it lures them towards it with its girly voice. So that is that…

In Yokohama in Kanagawa Prefecture there is Hanako san in the girl’s toilet and a Yosuke-san in the boy’s toilet. If you walk around the toilet three times in the boy’s toilet and call out for Hanako-san, a bloody hand will appear from the toilet. If you call out his name, you have three seconds to run away, or you will be killed.

Why Is Hanako-san Still So Popular?

Despite being a legend that dates back decades, Hanako-san refuses to fade into history. She still haunts schools today, with students daring each other to summon her, and rumors of real sightings still circulating.

So, let’s be honest: if you ever find yourself alone in a Japanese school at night, standing in front of the third stall on the third floor…

Are you really going to knock?

Maybe. Maybe not.

But if you do, and you hear a soft giggle from behind the door, I suggest running. Fast.

Because Hanako-san is waiting.

And she never left.

More like this

Newest Posts

References:

トイレの花子さん – Wikipedia 

A-Yokai-A-Day: Hanako-san (or “Hanako of the Toilet”) | 妖怪シリーズ：トイレの花子さん | MatthewMeyer.net

Toilet god – Wikipedia 

Ukategorisert

Teke Teke: The Terrifying Urban Legend of Kashima Reiko

Leave a comment
Advertisements

The urban legends of Teke Teke and Kashima Reiko are often so similar, they are thought to have merged or started together. Both of them warn about a vengeful spirit without legs, crawling her way to her victims, only letting you go if you can answer her riddle. 

Japan has no shortage of eerie urban legends, but few are as unsettling as the story of Teke Teke, (テケテケ), a ghostly entity known for its horrific appearance and chilling modus operandi. This tale, often shared among schoolchildren and horror enthusiasts, tells of a vengeful spirit, also classified as an onryō, whose origins are rooted in tragedy and whose presence is marked by a haunting sound—the ominous “teke-teke” noise she makes as she drags her mutilated body in search of victims.

Read More: Check out all ghost stories from Japan

The name given to the ghost is often said to be Kashima Reiko, although she is only one of the many variations of the legend. The urban legend has many variations and the spirit goes by many names, almost making the story of Teke Teke a type of ghostly fate for many different people across Japan. In almost all of the legends though, seeing her apparition, will most likely seal your own fate. 

Kashima Reiko: The urban legend of Kashima Reiko and Teke Teke are often told together. In 2009 a movie based on the urban legend of Teke Teke came out.

The Legend of Teke Teke

The story of Teke Teke centers around a young woman who met a gruesome fate, often said to be the ghost of a school girl. While variations exist, the most common version tells of a girl who fell—or was pushed—onto the tracks of an oncoming train. The impact severed her body at the waist, leading to her untimely and agonizing death. Being far north in Japan on a winter night, the extreme coldness made her veins freeze and the bleeding to stop. She was kept alive for a while like this, calling out for help, clawing her way up from the rails. 

In some versions she could have been helped, but the station staff and onlookers did nothing, or at least not enough and she died of her injuries. In some versions, the staff saw her and covered her with a tarp where she died slowly. 

Unable to find peace, her restless spirit is said to wander at night, often said to haunt old train stations and dark alleys. dragging her upper torso with her hands or elbows, making a distinct “teke-teke” sound against the ground.

It is believed that anyone who encounters Teke Teke is doomed to die. Many say she will appear to you three days after hearing the story if you don’t forget. She is said to move at unnatural speeds, capable of chasing down even the fastest runners and even cars. Her fingernails turned into claws she drags herself around with. When she catches her victim, she slices them in half, mirroring her own grisly demise. Some versions of the legend suggest that she carries a scythe or other sharp weapon, ensuring that her revenge is as brutal as her death.

Background for the Legend of Teke Teke

Teke Teke: (テケテケ) is a 2009 Japanese supernatural horror film directed by Kōji Shiraishi and written by Takeki Akimoto with a sequel following it. Based on the Japanese urban legend.

Teke Teke is often said to have been a school girl from Northern Japan, mostly said to be Hokkaido. Although very cold in the winter, there is no way it’s so cold to hold a decapitated person alive for a long time. Also, the way a train hits and injures a person, will most likely not result in this type of injury anyway.

It could be however, that this part of legend comes from an actual suicide at Akabana Station in Tokyo back in 1935. A woman threw herself in front of the trains and her legs were cut off but didn’t die because of how they were crushed under the train wheels. She was talking with the train conductor, but died after being taken to the hospital

In some variations Teke Teke is a school student, sometimes she is a grown woman. Often her ghost story is morphed to mirror the age and surroundings of those telling the story. Stories told about Teke Teke being a student are often connected with school bullying, and that she ended her life by leaping in front of a train. This way the legend exists as a sort of cautionary tale of bullying, although her vengeance is seemingly not only limited to bullies.  

She is often classified as an Onryō, a type of vengeful spirit of Japan that are often considered to be some of the most dangerous spirits in Japan, created out of hatred and coming back back for revenge to those who wronged them in life

Read More: Onryō — the Vengeful Japanese Spirit

The story of Teke Teke has been around for decades now in many variations and points of origin. Seemingly a merging of many stories that predates the current one. It seems like it could be inspired by, or at least connected with the tragic story of Kashima Reiko haunting public bathrooms, especially in schools.

The Connection to Kashima Reiko

Teke Teke is sometimes linked to another well-known Japanese ghost, Kashima Reiko, more connected with school bathrooms and toilets. Kashima Reiko’s story shares similarities with Teke Teke, as she is also a vengeful spirit with a severed body. It looks like the story of Kashima Reiko predates Teke Teke, although it looks like today, more people know about the Teke Teke version perhaps. Because of the bathroom connection, her story is often told together with the ghost of Hanako-san.

Read More: The Legend of Toire no Hanako-san: The Ghost Haunting School Toilets in Japan 

According to legend, Kashima Reiko is the ghost of a woman who died in Hokkaido, sometimes in Muroran, suffering a similar fate of being cut in half by a train. Most stories start at the end of World War II, or the period after. She was said to be an office worker and attacked and rape by an American soldier stationed there after the war. Some say that the attack happened in a public restroom and that 

The assault was severe, a doctor found her and saved her life, but she had to amputate her arms and legs. Her vanity made her so shocked by her new body, she jumped in front of the train to take her life. In many variants of the legend, she wasn’t an amputee, but the shame and depression after the assault made her take her life.

Today it is always told to be a woman, but when the stories first circulated, the story of the amputee was also said to sometimes be a male military veteran. This is often connected with the shrine in Kashima City where many soldiers visited to pray for victory during the war. Many yokai’s, or ghosts, are often forgotten gods and that this could be one of these instances of the war of God, Takemikazuchi. The shrine was also relocated in 1972 in Hokkaido, about the same time the Kashima story started spreading. 

There are also those claiming that Kashima Reiko is a version of the Slit-Mouth-Woman, scaring children since the 1970s and that the name of this ghost was actually Kashima Reiko. Before 1970, the story often went: A creature came knocking on the door, asking the one opening the door if they needed a leg. If you answered no, it would cut off one and carry it away. If you answered yes, an extra leg would grow on your body. 

Read More: Kuchisake-onna – The Urban Legend of the Slit-Mouthed Woman

Unlike the other variants of Teke Teke, her spirit is believed to haunt bathrooms exclusively, where she asks unfortunate victims questions about her death and where her legs are. Although not said to have died in the toilet, ghost stories of spirits haunting them are fairly big and many in Japan. 

How to Avoid Teke Teke and Kashima Reiko

In some versions, you can survive the encounter with Kashima Reiko if you answer with the phrase: “I need them right now”, where she will follow up with: “Who told you my story?” A riddle, you’re supposed to answer with: “kamen shinin ma“, or “mask death demon” which may be the phonetic root of Kashima’s name. People also say that if you answer that her legs are on the Meishin Expressway, the main way between Osaka and Nagoya.

If they fail to answer correctly, she kills them in a manner similar to her own demise. Some believe that Kashima Reiko and Teke Teke are actually the same entity, or at least different interpretations of the same tragic ghost story.

Like many Japanese urban legends, there are superstitions about how to avoid an encounter with Teke Teke. Some claim that she can be warded off if one answers her questions correctly, while others insist that saying certain protective phrases can save potential victims. In Kashima Reiko’s case, it is said that answering her question about where her legs are with the phrase “They are on the Meishin Expressway” can appease her spirit and spare one’s life.

The Cultural Impact of Teke Teke and Kashima Reiko

Kashima Reiko and Teke Teke’s legend is one of many yūrei (ghost) stories that permeate Japanese folklore, demonstrating the country’s long-standing fascination with spirits, death, and vengeance. Her story has been adapted into movies, manga, and even video games, keeping her terrifying presence alive in popular culture. Some say that if she catches you, you will turn into Teke Teke yourself. 

Teke Teke or Kashima Reiko is not just a tale meant to frighten children—she represents the fear of sudden, tragic death and the idea that spirits can return with unfinished business. Her legend continues to be passed down through generations, evolving with each retelling but always keeping the same terrifying essence: once you hear the sound of Teke Teke, it may already be too late.

More like this

Newest Posts

References:

テケテケ – Wikipedia

Teke teke | Yokai.com 

カシマさん – Wikipedia

Ukategorisert

Cheuksin (厠神): South Korea’s Vengeful Toilet Goddess

2 Comments
Advertisements

One of the most evil house deities in Korean Folklore is the spirit said to haunt the toilets. If you don’t enter respectfully, Cheuksin will wrap her long hair around your neck and strangle you to death when you are at your most vulnerable, at the toilet.

Ah, public restrooms—the universal hotspot for supernatural nightmares. If you thought Japan had a monopoly on haunted bathrooms with Aka Manto and Hanako-san, think again. South Korea has its own toilet deity, and she is angry, violent, and living in the filthiest stall with a grudge and murderous intent.

Read Also: Check out all ghost stories from Korea

Cheuksin (厠神), the goddess of outhouses and one of the most terrifying spirits in Korean folklore from a time when the toilets were darker, colder and outside of the family home. She doesn’t ask you cryptic questions like Aka Manto, and she doesn’t just make eerie noises like some wimpy poltergeist. No, Cheuksin takes her haunting to a whole new level—with murderous rage, long snake-like hair, and an explosive temper.

Feature Image: Sammi Sparke

The Legend: The Goddess of the Outhouse

Long before modern indoor plumbing, Korean households relied on outhouses—small, isolated structures separate from the main house. People have always felt rather vulnerable when sitting on the toilet, more exposed and afraid. And because old-school Korean outhouses were dark, eerie, and full of filth, naturally, something terrifying had to live there.

Enter Cheuksin, the guardian of restrooms, the queen of the latrine, and the nightmare of anyone with a weak bladder. Her worship is a minor part of the Gashin cult, and she is not the best known household deity. There were no gut, or shamanistic rituals dedicated to Cheuksin, unlike the other household deities. This was because she was said to be an evil and malevolent spirit, more like a toilet ghost than a goddess, really. 

The entity is said to have several names throughout the years and places. She was called Cheukganshin (측간신), Byeonso Gwishin (변소 귀신), Dwitgan Gwishin (뒷간 귀신), Buchul Gaxi (부출 각시), Chikdo Buin (칙도 부인) and Chigwi (치귀) among other things.

She is said to appear as a young girl, something she is said to have been once, her hair 150 cm long and she is said to spend her time counting her strands of hair, furious to be exiled to live as a toilet ghost in the outhouse. In the original texts it was said she was pictured as a concubine in fancy clothing, but today Cheuksin is mostly pictured as a ghost in white like the Korean Virgin Ghosts.

Read Also: The Korean Virgin Ghost

The bloody version: The virgin ghost has evolved into a more bloody and violent ghost than before. She is also said to be the visual image people picture when describing ghosts like Cheuksin as well. // Source: Screengrab from Hometown Legends: Gisaeng House Ghost Story.

When the toilet ghost appeared, Koreans tended to avoid the toilet for three days during the year, when the date had a number six in them. Like on the sixth, the sixteenth and twenty-sixth day in the lunar calendar. Or when someone dropped a shoe or a child fell into the pit toilet. Or even when she was just angry for some reason. 

When this happened, Koreans held a ritual called jesas dedicated to the toilet ghost, often offering Tteok, meaning dung rice cake or nonglutinous rice, all thought to banish evil spirits. This also happened when a pig got sick or when they built the outhouse. 

Jesa Ceremony: The ancestral rituals known as Jesa in Korean, have been practiced since the legendary Dangun era in ancient Korea. Today, Jesa functions as a memorial to the ancestors of the participants. Jesa are usually held on the anniversary of the ancestor’s death.

She was a dangerous Gashin, or household deities and hated children. She liked to push them into the pit toilet. If a jesa wasn’t done at once to appease her, the child who was pushed into the pit would live to grow up. 

Cheuksin was believed to embody a trip of cloth or white paper on the outhouse ceiling. She lurks above, watching and waiting for foolish mortals who dare to enter. 

When entering the outhouse, you should cough three times. Cheuksin was known to use her long hair to attack the intruder if not, her snake-like hair slithering down from the ceiling. She waited until her victim was at the most vulnerable and wrapped her long hair around the neck and strangled those who offended her to death. If she touched you with the hair, you would grow sick and die, and no mudang or shaman could help you. 

If you somehow escape her initial attack, don’t think you’re safe. Cheuksin can curse you, ensuring you suffer horrific misfortune after leaving her domain. People who mock her or forget to show respect often find themselves falling mysteriously ill or suffering from severe accidents.

Origins: Where Did This Nightmare Come From?

Cheuksin is deeply rooted in Korean shamanism and folklore, dating back centuries. She was once considered a household deity, part of the Gasin (家神), the family guardian spirits that protected different parts of the home. They each had their rites and their purpose and was worshiped for a long time. Today however the tradition is mostly died out, although there are some traces of it still lingering, mostly as ghost stories.

“Female Mou-dang (shaman) dancing for deities”(무녀신춤)

The Genshi gods is found in The Munjeon Bonpuri (Korean: 문전본풀이), meaning ‘‘Book of the Door’, and is a myth of Jeju Island regarding the deities that are believed to reside within the house. In this story, the whole lists of household deities are presented as they were once human, alive and well, until they ended up as lingering spirits.

Read Also: The Haunting on Jeju Island

And what about Cheuksin? Who did she use to be?

How a Woman Became The Toilet Goddess – The Munjeon Bonpuri

Noiljadae is the ultimate villainess of this tragic Korean folktale, and let’s be honest—she’s as cunning as she is cruel. She starts as a charming innkeeper’s daughter who seduces the gullible Namseonbi, convincing him to squander his wealth on wine and gambling. She doesn’t know it yet, but she will end up becoming the famed toilet spirit of the nation. When her lover is broke and useless, she kicks him to the curb, leaving him to go blind and starve in a filthy shack—a classic case of “used and discarded.”

But Noiljadae isn’t done yet. When Namseonbi’s devoted wife, Yeosan Buin, comes to rescue him, Noiljadae lures her to a bottomless icy lake and drowns her. She then assumes Yeosan Buin’s identity, thinking she’s about to live a lavish life with Namseonbi’s family. Unfortunately for her, the youngest son, Nokdisaengin, is no fool. He quickly sees through her lies and sets a clever trap: when she demands his liver as a cure for her fake illness, he tricks her into eating a boar’s liver instead. When she pretends to be miraculously healed, her deception is exposed, and her fate is sealed. Cornered, she hangs herself in the bathroom.

For her wickedness, Noiljadae is cursed to become Cheuksin, the vengeful toilet goddess, forever banished to the filthiest corner of the household. Being exposed by a child, field her hatred for them. Her enmity with the resurrected Yeosan Buin, now the kitchen goddess Jowangsin, creates a divine grudge match, leading to a long-standing Korean taboo: never place the bathroom next to the kitchen. Because even in death, Noiljadae’s spite lingers.

The Toilet Goddess in the Modern World

While other spirits, like the Jowangsin (kitchen god) or Seongjushin (house god), were worshiped with offerings and prayers, Cheuksin was more of a necessary evil. You didn’t worship her—you feared her.

Her job? To maintain order in the filthiest part of the house. If people disrespected the restroom, she would punish them. If they followed the rules, she would simply remain unseen.

Cheuksin has a lot of similarities with the Chinese Toilet Goddess, although the Chinese poets treated her legacy a little bit kinder. In both the stories, she was a concubine, or mistress, and died in the toilet, forever to haunt it. Except that in China, the goddess was worshiped and revered, while in Korea she was just… well. feared. 

Read more: Zigu (紫姑): The Lady of the Latrine – China’s Most Unsettling Restroom Ghost and Goddess 

But as Korea modernized and outhouses became a thing of the past, Cheuksin faded from common belief to a mere whisper of a good ghost story. Still, some old buildings and rural areas are said to be haunted by her, especially in places where old traditions still linger.

More like this

Newest Posts

References:

Cheuksin: The Chilling Tale of Korea’s Outhouse Goddess — The Kraze

측신 – 위키백과, 우리 모두의 백과사전

정랑각시 – 나무위키 

Munjeon bon-puri – Wikipedia

Ukategorisert

China’s Mystical Writing: Fu Ji (扶乩) – When Spirits Pick Up the Pen

4 Comments
Advertisements

Since ancient times, Fu Ji was a way of communicating with spirits in China. Not only to get in contact with your dearly departed, but also to get medical advice and spiritual guidance from the other side. 

If you thought the Ouija board was the pinnacle of spine-tingling communication with the dead, buckle up—because China had already mastered this art centuries before anyone even whispered “Goodbye” over Parker Brothers’ infamous talking board. 

Read More: Check out all ghost stories from China

Enter Fu Ji (扶乩), an ancient form of “spirit writing” that Taoist monks, mystics, and the spiritually adventurous used to summon messages from beyond. Cryptic, unsettling, and often wrapped in layers of poetic metaphor, Fu Ji was believed to be a direct line to the deceased, celestial beings, and even Taoist deities.

Fu Ji Planchette Writing: Illustration of the fuji technique during the Qing period, in the book China and the Chinese (1869) by John L. Nevius. Under it, the caption “Writing with a forked pen an oracle on sand”. Two mediums hold the pencil over a sand tray, where characters are written allegedly under spiritual guidance.

A Stroke of the Supernatural – The Origins of Fu Ji

Dating as far back as the Song Dynasty (960–1279 AD), though some sources trace it even earlier to the Tang Dynasty. Perhaps going as far back as 400 CE. The Daoist practice was also called Fu-Luan (扶鸾) or Jiang-Bi  (降筆) and is still done in Taoist temples in Taiwan and China. In comparison, automatic writing to contact the dead was perhaps first started in Europe by  the 1600 by those practicing Enochian magic.

Conversely, most spirit-writing altars promoted the syncretic nature of Chinese religious beliefs and ritual practices, combining Confucian morality, Daoist concepts of immortality, and the Buddhist liturgical method for the universal deliverance of the dead.

Read More: Check out all ghost stories from China

Fu Ji was a divination practice that blended mysticism with the written word. The technique involved a suspended wooden or bamboo stylus (often in the shape of a Y or T) held by one or two participants—think of it as an ancient planchette with a mind of its own. The stylus would then be guided across a tray of sand, or later, over sheets of paper, forming symbols, characters, or even full messages allegedly dictated by spirits.

Unlike the Ouija board’s eerie one-letter-at-a-time approach, Fu Ji sometimes delivered entire sentences in intricate calligraphy—because, apparently, ghosts in ancient China had excellent penmanship.

Summoning Lady of the Privy

Planchette writing began as a method for summoning the Lady of the Privy ( 異苑 Yiyuan ) during the Six Dynasties, and flourished in the Tang and Song dynasties. 

She was said to have been a concubine and the head wife hated her, always making her do the hardest and dirtiest jobs. 

Most likely murdered, she died on the fifteenth day of the first month. Every year that day, people honored her by making her an idol and worshiping her in the washroom or beside the pigsty. If the idol they had made her got heavier, it was a sign she was there. People offered her juices, fruits and the idol allegedly started to move. 

She was said to foretell the future and people asked her about their good and bad luck. 

People think that she was the first spirit they tried to contact with planchette writing because there were writings where they only noted down how they worshiped her. Although it started to only be on the 15th of the first month, it ended up being possible to summon her every day. It was used for years in Chinese folk religion before finding its way into Daoist scriptures.

Read the Whole Story: Zigu (紫姑): The Lady of the Latrine – China’s Most Unsettling Restroom Ghost and Goddess 

Who Was on the Other End of the Line?

The belief was that various spirits could communicate through Fu Ji, but not just any wandering ghost could hijack the stylus. Taoist monks and practitioners often summoned:

Celestial beings and Taoist deities – if you were lucky, you might get words of wisdom from an enlightened immortal rather than some spectral troublemaker. This practice was used by a lot of Daoist practitioners to write down important Daoist books and scriptures. Some instructions were even said to have come from the Lady of the Privy. 

Works like the Complete Works of Patriarch Lü ( 呂祖全書序 Lüzu Quanshu Xu ) and Today’s Infinite Precious Repentance of Patriarch Lü ( 呂祖無極寶懺 Lüzu Wuji Baochan ) were some of the scriptures said to have come through automatic writing. 

Deceased ancestors – because sometimes, the family just won’t let you go, even in the afterlife.

Ghosts of the restless dead – this was where things get dicey. Messages could range from heartwarming reassurances to chilling warnings or vengeful curses.

The Ritual – A Delicate Dance with the Dead

Fu Ji was never just a casual game you pulled out at parties—it required a carefully constructed ritual, often performed within Taoist temples for answers, divination and poems. Usually, the séance takes place in the inner sanctuary of the shrine, an area before a central image of the deity, fenced off with a low wooden railing.

“Feiluan xin yu”; in the illustrated magazine Dian shi zhai hua bao (1884-1889). It represents the technique of fuji (pranchette spirit-writing) during the Qing period, also called “descending of the phoenix” (feiluan), with the pencil being held by two mediums over a sand tray, in which characters allegedly directed by the spirits (in the cloud above) are written.

The space was purified, incense burned, and participants (often a medium and a scribe) entered a focused, meditative state. Through chanting, prayers, or specific incantations, the spirit was invited to take control of the stylus. The stylus, seemingly guided by unseen hands, moved fluidly to inscribe messages in sand or ink. A scribe would then transcribe and interpret the cryptic responses.

Once the session ended, the spirit was respectfully dismissed (because you don’t want lingering guests from the afterlife), and the messages were analyzed for deeper meaning.

And if you think people didn’t take this seriously—historical records suggest that Fu Ji was even used in imperial courts to consult the gods on political matters. Yes, there were actual emperors out there making national decisions based on ghostly pen pals.

The Banning of Fu Ji

The Fu Ji has not the same scary connotations like the Ouija Board have today. Things might have been different for the Ouija Board tradition as well hadn’t it been for the movie, the Exorcist and how the church deemed it to be the work of demons. 

The Fu Ji writing however had other issues, as it was outright banned for other reasons. 

For a practice so intertwined with Taoist spirituality and folklore, you’d think Fu Ji would remain a permanent fixture in Chinese culture. But by the late Qing Dynasty (1644–1912), authorities began cracking down on spirit writing, seeing it as a threat to social order. The fear? That people could fake messages from the beyond to manipulate others.

Later, during the Communist era, Fu Ji and other mystical practices were outright banned as superstition. All types of superstition were forbidden, ghost stories, religion and communicating with spirits. After the founding of the People’s Republic in 1949, these sectarian communities were stigmatized as “reactionary secret societies” and forced to desist from all public activities. Therefore, spirit-writing has

long been abolished in mainland China. 

In contrast, spirit-writing altars (jitan 乩壇) or phoenix halls (luantang 鸞堂) still spread across many Chinese communities in Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, and North America with the Chinese diaspora.

Is Fu Ji Still Practiced Today?

While Fu Ji is no longer mainstream, especially after the ban on supernatural practices, remnants of its influence can still be seen in certain Taoist ceremonies and spiritual communities. In Taiwan and Hong Kong, there are reports of practitioners using modified versions of spirit writing to seek divine guidance.

Fu Ji in the modern era

In modern Hong Kong, The Planchette Writings of Marquis Zhuge ( 諸葛武侯乩文 Zhuge Wuhou Jiwen) have been very popular. This was a collection of predictions written down in the 1930s, many thinking a lot of them have come true. Whether it’s true or was mostly vague in meaning is up to debate. 

Final Thoughts – A Message from the Past

Fu Ji wasn’t just a supernatural parlor trick; it was a deeply spiritual practice that people genuinely believed connected them to the beyond. Whether you see it as a fascinating cultural relic, a legitimate mystical art, or just an ancient way to freak yourself out, one thing is certain—China’s mystical writing carries a legacy that refuses to be erased.

So if you ever stumble upon an old Taoist temple with an ink-stained wooden stylus resting eerily still in a tray of sand… maybe think twice before picking it up. After all, some messages are better left unread.

More like this

Newest Posts

References:

TAOIST SORCERY: Chinese Planchette / Spirit Writing – Fu-Ji (扶乩)

The Strange Tale of How China Lost Its Ghost Stories 

Ukategorisert

The Girls in Manila and the Ghost Photo

1 Comment
Advertisements

A strange picture with almost no backstory has been circulating the internet for years by now. The mystery of who and where this is as well as what really happened when The Girls in Manila and the Ghost Photo was taken, is still not solved. 

A lot of the old analog photos taken of these alleged ghosts can easily be explained by the double exposure explanation. But as we have entered into the digital age and this no longer happens by itself, what then is showing up in the corners of our pictures?

Read More: The Mystery of the Cooper Family Falling Body Photo is Solved for more stories of the investigations on alleged ghost photos.

This was the debate going on about a strange photo that quickly became one of the more famous ghost pictures in the modern era. The Girls in Manila and the Ghost Photo has been circulating on most top creepy photos lists for decades, but what really happened when it was taken? However viral the image itself ended up becoming, the background of the image as well as the true story of it seems more elusive. 

The legend behind the picture is that it happened in Eastwood City in Manila in the Philippines sometime in 2003. Two girls out in the city at night asked a stranger to take a picture of them. The camera was with a smartphone, or as smart as a phone could be back then and being a Nokia 7250. 

The Girls in Manila and the Ghost Photo: One of the famous ghost photo’s online. It’s difficult to say what’s really going on in the picture, as the background for the image is still a mystery.

At the time the picture was taken, none of the girls noticed anything strange or the hand that showed up in the picture, grabbing one of the girl’s arms.

Now, the legend of The Girls in Manila and the Ghost Photo has traveled far, and a lot behind the legend has been lost through time as well as translation. 

Investigation into the Photograph

The first posting of the photo was made in 2003 and the Nokia model it was said to have been taken with was also released in 2003, so there is little chance that the image existed online for much longer than that. That is if we are to believe that this phone was the actual phone that took the picture in the first place. 

Although we don’t often think about it, digital pictures often lose quality when it’s been copied and pasted as well as being edited and uploaded in different places. According to some, they claim that the phone could have taken a better photo than this, and it seems to have been tampered with after being digitized and spread online.  

There is also the trend of “adding ghost templates” into pictures in apps and websites. But despite the similarity with many pictures from these apps, did something like this in 2003 that would be an exact match? Even though things look similar, there has yet to be found this. Besides, what came first, the apps doing this or the fame of the ghost picture?

The Mystery Behind the Girls in Manila and the Ghost Photo

When searching for the image, the earliest publications of the image seem to have been taken down. Most posts about it are short lists without many sources and in English. There is strangely little info about this image in the Philippines, something you would have imagined as it is so often posted globally. This begs the question, is the image even from the Philippines and Manila?

Who are the girls in the photo, do they even know about how the picture have creeped out people trying to find the answer to the hazy shadow of the third person?

More like this

Newest Posts

References:

Earlier Postings of the picture found by: http://anomalyinfo.com/Source/manila-ghost-photo-sources . Seems to be the one behind most of the research of the photo.

“The Unexplained,” post in the JR Video Spel Film website, posted 12-31-2000, viewed 10-17-2016. Online at: http://www.jrvideo.se/?m=200012  – This post is odd because it claims to have posted a picture from a Nokia 7250 three years before that phone was released.

“The Latest Internet Photo Claimed to be a Ghost Photo,” page in the Castle of Spirits website, posted ca. 2003 [Google sourced], viewed 10-17-2016. Online at: http://www.castleofspirits.com/handphone.html 

“Ghost in the Photo,” post in the Ghost Files website, posted ca. 2004 [Google sourced], viewed 10-17-2016. Online at: http://ghostfiles.toxicsnot.com/full-bodied-apparition/ghost-in-the-photo/ 

Ukategorisert

Zigu (紫姑): The Lady of the Latrine – China’s Most Unsettling Restroom Ghost and Goddess

1 Comment
Advertisements

Coming with many different names, Zigu or the Lady of the Privy is said to haunt only one place, the toilet! Although her story started and perhaps ended as a ghost story, there was a time she was worshiped like a God. 

If you thought horror stories were confined to haunted houses and cursed forests, think again—because in Chinese folklore, even the bathroom isn’t safe. Meet Zigu (紫姑), also known as Maogu (茅姑), the Lady of the Latrine or the Third Daughter of the Latrine or the Purple Maiden. She’s China’s resident toilet ghost, a tragic spirit lingering in the most unglamorous of places. Calling her a simple ghost is not correct either, as she has been worshiped as a goddess in Chinese folk religion. 

Read More: Check out all ghost stories from China

While some ghosts haunt grand temples and eerie mansions, Zigu took up residence in the latrine—because apparently, even the afterlife has a dark sense of humor.

And before you write this off as some obscure legend, let’s be clear: toilet ghosts are a whole thing across many Asian cultures. From Japan’s Hanako-san to Korea’s Cheuksin, restrooms seem to be prime real estate for supernatural squatters. But Zigu? She’s one of the oldest, most sorrowful, and eerily venerated toilet ghosts in the game. Perhaps even being the spirit all other toilet ghosts are based on?

The Toilet Goddess of China: Zi gu shen (紫姑神, Chinese Goddess of the toilet) from the “三教源流搜神大全” (Chinese book)

Toilet Gods Across the World

The concept of a toilet god is not as rare as it seems today perhaps. This was a common household deity in both modern and ancient cultures. In Japan it was called Kawaya Kami, often said to be an old man holding a spear. In Korea the toilet god was Cheukshin, known as the young lady of the toilet with a perverse sense of humor. 

In New Zealand you had the atua spirits, focusing on the village latrine as the excrement was seen as the food of the dead. In ancient Rome there was Cloacina, the goddess of Rome’s sewage system, invoking her if the sewers became blocked. 

They are often associated with health, well-being and fertility. This is because of the history and association of human waste and agriculture. The toilets also used to be a dark and unpleasant place to be and there was a high risk of falling in and drowning, therefore a deity that would protect you was nice to have. 

The Legend of Zigu: A Tragic Spirit in the Most Unlikely Place

But unlike many of the other toilet Gods, the Chinese goddess could read like a classic ghost story. Zigu’s story, like many ghostly tales, is steeped in betrayal, suffering, and injustice. Some believe that her cult started in the Shanxi region in North China before spreading during the Tang dynasty (618-907). According to legend, she was a concubine in ancient China, caught in a tragic love triangle that ended in murder.

The Concubine’s Curse

Once upon a time, Zigu was a beautiful and kind-hearted young woman who became a concubine to a high-ranking official or, in some versions, a wealthy nobleman. But as you might expect, his first wife was not amused. The two women lived under the same roof, with Zigu as the younger, more favored companion. Naturally, the wife, seething with jealousy, decided to remove the competition—permanently.

One fateful day, the wife accused Zigu of misconduct, disobedience, or witchcraft, depending on the version of the story. The punishment? She was brutally murdered—but not in a grand hall or a hidden chamber. No, the first wife chose the latrine as the site of her demise, a final act of humiliation meant to degrade Zigu even in death. Her body was either drowned, strangled, or left to rot there, ensuring her restless soul would forever be bound to the filthiest corner of the household. Some versions say that she died of anger. 

And bound she was.

From Tragedy to Worship: The Rise of the Latrine Goddess

But here’s where the story takes a turn. Unlike most vengeful spirits, Zigu didn’t stay confined to whispered ghost stories—she became a deity. Toilet gods have been worshipped since the Six Dynasty Period, from early 3rd century AD to late 6th century AD in China. The toilet gods were very popular during the Tang and Song dynasty but have today almost disappeared. 

She was not the only toilet goddess, but she was certainly the most popular one. Over time, people began to worship her as a toilet goddess, seeking her blessings for cleanliness, good health, and even fortune-telling.

Yes, you read that right—people used to summon Zigu for divination. This was often done through Fu Ji, often called the Chinese Ouija Board. 

On the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, women, especially servants and concubines, would perform rituals to contact her spirit, hoping she would answer their questions about the future. She was a relatable goddess for commoners, and women under the patriarchal society. Some believed she had the power to predict misfortune or reveal hidden secrets. 

These rituals often involved lighting incense in the toilet, offering food, and chanting her name. They would make homemade dolls for her and pray to the doll. The motions of the doll were often manifested as automatic writing and used ad fortune telling. 

As far as the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), women were putting faces and skirts on figurines and cleaning the outhouse to welcome here in Beijing. Her rituals died slowly, mostly in the 1930’s in the big cities, then in the 50 and 60s in the more rural areas. 

The Lantern Festival: Also known as Shangyuan Festival and Cap Go Meh, is a traditional Chinese festival celebrated on the fifteenth day of the first month in the lunar Chinese calendar, during the full moon. It usually falls in February or early March on the Gregorian calendar and marks the end of the Chinese New Year celebrations. As early as the Western Han dynasty (206 BC–AD 25), it was already a significant festival.

In Search of the Lady of the Privy’s True Story

Some believe that the true identity of Zigu was Consort Qi of the Han dynasty (221-206BC). She was born in Dingtao, Shandong and gave Emperor Gaozu a son, Liu Ruyi, who would become Prince of Zhao. The emperor tried many times to replace Liu Ruyi with the crown prince, Liu Ying unsuccessfully. This made the empress Lü Zhi, her mother, furious. 

Qi was said to be beautiful, a great songwriter and weiqi player, a game she played with the emperor in the bamboo forest on the north side of the palace every year. She would win each time and wish for good fortune for the Han dynasty. 

After the emperor died, Empress Lü Zhi became the dowager and her son took the throne, she had Qi arrested and imprisoned her, dressing her in prison garb, shaving her head and restraining her in stocks. 

She ended up killing both her son and Qi, cutting her limbs off, gouging her eyes, cutting off her tongue, nose, ears and forcing her to drink a poison making her mute and dumb. Then she locked her up in a pigsty and called her a human swine (人彘). 

China’s First Empress: She dominated the political scene for 15 years until her death in August 180 BC, and is often depicted as the first woman to have ruled China. Emperor Hui was shocked by his mother’s cruelty and fell sick for a year, and thereafter no longer became involved in state affairs, and gave more power to his mother. As a result, Empress Dowager Lü held the court, listened to the government, spoke on behalf of the emperor, and did everything .

It’s worth noting that most of the information about her comes from not so historically accurate sources. The tale of Empress Empress Lü Zhi, has often been used as an allegory for the supposed danger when women get power, and therefore Lady Qi could be nothing more than a part of that story. The earliest records of Zigu however is in the 5th volume of Yiyuan, A Garden of Marvels (《异苑》), a book of supernatural tales” by Liu Jingshu or Liu Song of the Southern dynasties (420–479).

Some say that her name was He Mingmei from Laiyang, Shandong.This was said to happen during Empress Wu Setian rule. The governor of Shouyang, Li Jing killed He Mei’s husband and looked at her as his concubine. This made her jealous of his chief wife. On the night of the 15th day of the first lunar month during the lantern Festival, Li Jing’s legitimate wife killed her in the toilet. 

Because He Mei died with resentment in her heart, she became a ghost. Li Jing often heard her crying when he went to the toilet. The Heavenly Court learned about this and established her as the god of toilets, elevating her from a mere ghost to a goddess. 

Who knows what the origin was. Some say that she was not only one person, but a collective of all concubines that had suffered and been maltreated.

Why Bathrooms? The Ghost in the Toilet Trope Across Asia

Zigu isn’t the only supernatural resident lurking around the lavatory—Asian folklore is practically overflowing with bathroom ghosts. There’s something about enclosed spaces, mirrors, and the vulnerability of, well, doing your business, that makes bathrooms the perfect setting for eerie encounters.

Other Famous Toilet Ghosts in Asia:

Japan’s Hanako-san (花子さん) – A little girl ghost who haunts school bathrooms. Knock on the third stall and call her name—if she answers, you might regret it.

South Korea’s Cheuksin (厠神, “Bathroom Goddess”) – A spirit with long hair who lives in the toilet and hates it when you look at her. She’s known to attack people who disturb her.

Japan’s Aka Manto (赤マント) – a malevolent spirit lurking in school bathroom asking if you need red or blue paper. Either choices will leave you dead.

Zigu’s Legacy: The Haunting Echoes of the Past

Zigu’s story is more than just a spooky legend—it reflects the historical oppression of women, particularly concubines and servants, who were often treated as disposable. Her transformation from a murdered woman to a revered deity highlights a shift in how people perceived her suffering. By worshiping her, women acknowledged the injustices she endured and sought her spiritual guidance in a world that rarely gave them power.

Ancient Traditions Dying: Zigu as portrayed in Researches into Chinese Superstitions, a book written by French missionary Henri Doré in 1914 (Fotoe)

Even today, remnants of Zigu’s legacy remain in Chinese culture. While her direct worship has faded, older generations still tell her tale, and echoes of her presence linger in the ghost stories passed down through families.

And who knows? Maybe, late at night, when the wind rattles through an old house and the pipes groan unexpectedly, Zigu is still watching from the shadows of the restroom, waiting for someone to remember her name.

And if you hear a whisper in the stillness, well…

You might not be as alone as you think.

More like this

Newest Posts

References:

Consort Qi (Han dynasty) – Wikipedia

Zigu – Wikipedia 

Toilet god – Wikipedia 

On Her Porcelain Throne: How a Little-Known “Toilet Goddess” Became an Icon for Powerless Women 

Ukategorisert

Mary’s Ghostly Lament in Dagshai Cemetery

Leave a comment
Advertisements

A grave in Dagshai Cemetery is said to be haunted by Mary, a woman haunting the place after people started to chip away at her tombstone for good luck. 

In the hills of Himachal Pradesh, Dagshai town stands as a testament to time, bearing witness to a history. The very name of the town means a royal stain, and comes from when the Mughal rulers sent criminals for capital punishment here. A jail was built to house the criminals and the jail was known as Himachal’s black water at that time. 

Read more: Check out all of the ghost stories from India

Situated just 11 kilometers from Solan and perched at over 5,600 meters above sea level, this old cantonment town, though devoid of the typical touristy allure, harbors a story of a ghost said to be haunting the Dagshai Cemetery.

The Mystery of Dagshai’s Haunting

Dagshai primarily comprises an army cantonment, various military structures, a handful of schools, local residences, and a cemetery. It is the cemetery, steeped in history and mystery, that has garnered the most attention, both positive and negative. 

The Original Grave: The statue and the grave of Mary Rebecca Weston and her unborn child as it used to be before people started coming for it inside of the Dagshai Cemetery in the pine forest.

Although Dagshai has a notoriously haunted cemetery with a lot of stories, most locals talk about the single ghost haunting the cemetery known as Mary or Mem Ki Qabr by the locals. 

A Tale of Love and Tragedy

Dagshai Cemetery is believed to date back to the British colonial era in India when the British made Dagshai into an army cantonment. 

Read more: Check out more ghost stories from cemeteries around the world

The story goes that a British man named Major George Weston, lived in Dagshai with his wife, Mary Rebecca Weston. While Major Weston practiced medicine, his wife served as a nursing assistant. After years of childlessness, the couple’s fortunes took a turn when they met a wandering Muslim saint who bestowed upon them a blessed amulet. Following this divine intervention, Mary, George’s wife, became pregnant with their first child.

However, fate dealt them a cruel hand, as Mary tragically passed away during the eighth month of her pregnancy on 10th of December in 1909. Grief-stricken and deeply in love, George Weston erected a splendid grave in memory of his beloved wife and their unborn child in Dagshai Cemetery. The exquisite marble used for this poignant structure was imported all the way from England.

Mary’s Misguided Legacy

As the years passed, tales of Mary’s grave possessing miraculous powers began circulating within the region. A misconception took root: if a pregnant woman took a piece of marble from Mary’s grave, she would be blessed with a male child. Consequently, countless visitors flocked to Mary’s resting place, foolishly attempting to disfigure her beautiful monument to avoid giving birth to a daughter. This relentless carving at the grave close to ruined the marble grave. A local woman even started selling marble pieces by mail order. 

Chipped Away: Over the years, the grave of Mary in Dagshai Cemetery with the statue started to disintegrate as people sought it out because of the legend. On the grave it was written: “To the sacred and in loving memory of my wife Mary Rebecca Weston, who died at Dagshai 10th December 1909, and our unborn Babe” // Source

Many visitors to the Dagshai Cemetery have claimed to witness the spectral apparition of Mary herself, meandering through the grounds close to her grave. Some suggest that Mary’s spirit may have intervened to protect her and her unborn child’s final resting place, preventing it from further desecration and warding off unwanted visitors.

Protecting Mary’s Legacy in Dagshai Cemetery

Since then, the locals took business into their own hands and started to restore the broken grave and desecrated statue. It got a protective cage over it and inside the grave was fixed back to how it first was made. Perhaps this will help to deter the haunting of Mary herself?

Source

More like this

Newest Posts

References:

Your Soul will Tremble after Reading the Horror Story of this Beautiful Place of Himachal 

Dagshai – Haunted Place in Himachal – BikingMystery 

Stories about Dagshai, the haunted town of Himachal | Times of India Travel 

The Haunting Of Dagshai: Himachal Pradesh’s Scariest Town

Why childless couples visit the grave or Mary, also known as ‘Mem Ki Qabr,’ in Dagshai? – my mountain – QuoraIn memory of the beloved : The Tribune India

Ukategorisert

The Ghosts of Dukhani House in Shimla Hills

Leave a comment
Advertisements

The House of Dukhani is a beautiful house once used for gatherings and parties for the British. The Dukhani House is also thought to be haunted by the ghost of an old man wearing a gown that is said to have shot himself in the house. 

Shimla, with its enchanting cold airs and mystical ambiance, has always been a magnet for ghostly tales from the mountains and forests and otherworldly phenomena in the old colonial haunted houses and ghosts of dead British settlers and locals alike. 

Read more: Check out all of the ghost stories from India

Amidst these hills lie the echoes of the British colonial era, where grand mansions and bungalows once hosted British officers that used this area as their vacation spot. However, some of these elegant houses continue to house more than just memories, as they are believed to be inhabited by the spirits of their former occupants. 

Dukhani House, an old and sprawling house in the beautiful Shimla hills, is one such place where the spirits of the past persist.

A Haunted Night in Dukhani House

This bungalow was once the property of an elderly British gentleman known as Buck or Bucky, who primarily resided in Delhi, but came to Shimla in the summer times with the rest of the British to escape the worst heat further down the mountain. His home, Dukhani served as the venue for his occasional weekend gatherings. Among the regular attendees of these gatherings was an English officer named Sir John Smith, a close friend of Buck’s.

One night, Sir John and his wife found themselves staying at Dukhani House overnight. Sir John was given Buck’s room together with the host, nestled in one of the oldest sections of the house.

British Houses and Architecture in Shimla: Still to this day, there are many houses left from the colonial times like the Dukhani House.

Despite being tired after the late night, Sir John found it challenging to fall asleep due to Bucky’s snores. As the night wore on inside of the Dukhani House, he was awakened by the curtains billowing in the breeze, allowing moonlight into the room. He contemplated whether to get up and close the window but decided to return to sleep. Just then, he spotted an elderly man with silver hair, clad in a dressing gown. Assuming this figure to be Bucky, Sir John asked him to secure the window. However, to his shock, he heard another thunderous snore coming from a different corner of the room, where Bucky was sound asleep.

Panicking, Sir John tried to approach the elderly man, who seemed to retreat outside the window, vanishing into the garden. When he ventured outside to investigate, the specter had vanished, leaving only the memory of the old man’s forlorn expression etched in his mind. Sir John’s nights were haunted by this eerie encounter.

Further inquiries into the incident led Sir John to a startling revelation. He learned that an elderly man, wearing a dressing gown, had tragically taken his own life in the very same room where he had seen the apparition by shooting himself. It was apparent that he had encountered the ghost of this desolate soul that had died around 40 years before that night.

More like this

Newest Posts

References:

If you do not believe in Ghosts, then Visit these places in Shimla, Opinion will Definitely Change 

10 Best haunted places to visit in Himachal Pradesh 

The Ghosts of Dukhani- A Lovely House in Shimla Hills – Mysterious Himachal