Brace yourself as we go on a chilling journey through the ghostly tales of Hong Kong. These haunted stories, or urban legends, will give you the creeps and keep you up at night. From the mysterious vanishing girl at Yau Ma Tei Station, the spooky mystery of KCR’s advertisement in the 90s, to the creepy Red Eyes at a local university, these stories are not for the faint of heart…
Bride’s Pool — A Haunting Tale of Love & Loss
Nestled within the lush confines of Plover Cove Country Park lies a place with a name that sends a chill down your spine—the Bride’s Pool. Among the myriad ghost stories in Hong Kong, this one is a standout, and it’s all in the name.
Legend has it that over a century ago, a bride was being carried in a sedan chair to meet her groom in a nearby village. Unfortunately, tragedy struck as one of the chair bearers slipped on the rain-slicked rocks, plunging the bride into the unforgiving rapids below. Her body was never recovered. Even today, some claim to have witnessed a ghostly woman, clad in a red cheongsam, combing her hair by the water’s edge. Today, there are ghost stories of a woman seen here late at night without a reflection, film crews witnessing white smoke transforming into a real person, and even reports of a cult of over 100 followers conducting ceremonies here.
Sai Kung’s Mysterious Parallel World
Sai Kung, known for its picturesque hikes, hides an uncanny secret as a portal to another dimension. The most talked-about incident in recent years occurred in 2005 when off-duty detective Ting Lai-wah ventured into the wilderness and mysteriously vanished. Ting, after getting lost, made a desperate call, stating that he was on MacLehose trail. However, he omitted his name and position during the 7-minute call, providing only several sets of numbers: “487040”, “487020”, “587xx”, and “024”. Regrettably, these numbers yielded no results, and he remains missing to this day. Netizens speculate that the region’s underground magnetic ores could disrupt electronic devices and even human brainwaves, potentially causing hikers to lose their way. Sai Kung’s mystic realm continues to pique the curiosity of adventurers and hikers alike today.
Tai Po’s Ghostly Takeaway
In 1989, a seemingly ordinary afternoon took a chilling turn at Chiu Yong Kee, a cha chaang teng in Tai Po Tin. A phone order for four came in, and the address was a unit in Tai Po Gardens. Upon delivery, the door creaked open just a fraction, money was pushed through the gap, and a voice inside requested the food to be left outside. It all seemed normal at the time. However, when the restaurant owner counted the day’s earnings later that day, he found a stack of “hell money” – burned offerings for the deceased to use in the afterlife. The staff denied any involvement, but the mysterious appearances continued the following days. It wasn’t until another order came in for the same address that the owner decided to personally investigate.
What he discovered would send shivers down his spine. The quiet apartment hid the decomposed bodies of four individuals. Bafflingly, neighbours had recently heard mahjong sounds from within. This became the infamous “Tai Po Takeaway Incident”, sending shockwaves through Hong Kong. Questions surrounding the incident remain unanswered, making it an urban legend still discussed today.
The Braided Girl
At the Chinese University of Hong Kong, a hair-raising ghost story lingers, making it one of the city’s most haunted campuses. The tale said male students have recounted encounters with a girl donning a long, solitary braid near the Chung Chi canteen after nightfall. Approaching her reveals a ghastly twist – her face is featureless except for a lone braid. The chilling legend traces back to a Mainland girl who, in the 1960s, attempted to illegally cross into Hong Kong with her lover. Their ill-fated escape led to a horrifying demise, birthing this haunting tale and bestowing the woody lane near the old train tracks with a haunting name – Single Braid Road.
The Forbidden Fourth Wind in Mahjong
For avid mahjong players, there’s an eerie taboo – never consecutively play the “fourth wind”, the west wind, finds its chilling roots in a 1976 TV program called “Nightmares.” However, the sinister concept originated from a 1953 news report titled “Playing Mahjong with Ghosts: Four or Six People Play?” The news detailed a spine-tingling incident on Nathan Road. Four players, concentrated on their game, encountered an otherworldly presence. experienced a paranormal intrusion. A grey hand reached into their money drawer, followed by a ghostly hand touching the tiles. Terrified, they fled and reported to the nearby Yau Ma Tei police station, where they later found out that four “West” tiles had been placed in each of their seats.
The Fox Spirits at Windsor House
Among Hong Kong’s urban legends, this story stands as one of the most intriguing, casting a haunting spell in the 1980s. It all began with at the Duke of Windsor Social Services Building, now Windsor House, where a couple celebrated their baby’s one-month birth anniversary with a top-floor banquet. Little did they know, their celebration would turn supernatural.
As the story goes, the mother dreamt of a red-eyed fox spirit that night, angry over the lack of a toast during the celebration and threatening harm to the child. Panic-stricken, they found their baby lifeless. Returning to Windsor House, they discovered seven fox head-like markings on the marble wall. The media frenzy drew crowds of curious onlookers, forcing authorities to remove the unsettling section of the wall.
A children’s playground on the rooftop was never opened to the public, perhaps seeking to pacify the restless spirit. Today, the question remains—does the fox spirit still linger in Causeway Bay?
The Haunted History of Tat Tak School
Tucked away in Yuen Long’s Ping Shan district, the Ping Shan Tat Tak School gained infamy in 2013 when it was featured by National Geographic as one of Asia’s top ten terrifying spots.
One hair-raising tale revolves around a group of curious middle schoolers who dared to enter the now-abandoned institution. Their night took a spine-tingling turn as they encountered mysterious footsteps, scraping noises, and the appearance of a woman dressed in red. What’s more disturbing, some students claimed to have been driven into madness, biting each other and later experiencing gruesome visions of death.
Rumours also speak of a schoolmistress who took her own life in the girls’ restroom, hanging herself in a red dress, leaving behind a malevolent red-dressed spirit. The school’s surroundings hold a history of resistance against British colonial rule and the horrors of World War II, with mass graves on the hillside bearing witness to its haunting past.
The Lotus Pond
When it comes to ghostly tales, the University of Hong Kong (HKU) might just be the most ghostly campus in the city, and the Lotus Pond’s ghost story is perhaps the most widely known.
The tale revolves around a female student who had a deep affection for a male teacher. They arranged to meet at the Lotus Pond, but the teacher unexpectedly stood her up. Heartbroken, the girl leaped into the pond, and her body disappeared without a trace. According to local lore, her unfulfilled love binds her spirit to the place, and she appears near the Lotus Pond on dark nights, asking passing students, especially college boys for the time. Don’t attempt to answer back!
The Red Eyes of Misplaced Peephole
At Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST), an unsettling legend known as “Red Eyes” lurks in the shadows. The tale begins with an installation of a peephole mistakenly reversed, allowing outsiders to view the inside. No one realized this oddity until a curious student made a chilling discovery.
The student, who had a crush on a dorm mate, frequently used the reversed peephole to catch glimpses of her. Then, one day, the view turned into a deep, unsettling red hue. Initially dismissing it as a piece of red fabric, he was horrified to find that the crimson, bloodshot eyes he was staring at belonged to the girl who had tragically hanged herself in the room, staring straight to the peephole…
The Spooky Mystery of KCR’s 1993 Ad
In 1993, the Kowloon-Canton Railway (KCR) rolled out what seemed like an innocent ad featuring a group of children joyfully hand in hand. Little did they know it would later become notorious for its creepy, ghostly undertones. Shot in a somewhat ominous location and accompanied by haunting music, the ad sparked rumours of supernatural activity. Initially, there were seven kids, but KCR claimed there should have only been six. An unidentified, extra child appeared, with disturbing tales of him jumping with blood dripping from his mouth throughout the commercial. To add to the mystery, rumours have it that two of the six known children are now deceased, and the whereabouts of the remaining four remain unknown…
The Tragic Tale of Room 111
Beneath the New Asia College dormitory at the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CU) lies a room veiled in ghostly whispers and chilling memories — Room 111. This room once housed an electronic engineering student and a medical student. They were known to be close friends who spent countless hours studying together.
However, the tranquillity of Room 111 was shattered one fateful night. The electronic engineering student, overwhelmed by the exam stress, utilized everyday objects like circuit boards, batteries, copper wires, and a clock to construct a death timing device. He attached the wires to his body, connecting them to the clock. When the time arrived, electricity surged through him, ending his life in a slow and painful manner.
The shocking discovery came too late for his medical student roommate, who found the lifeless body days later. The trauma left the roommate subsequently confined to an asylum. To prevent any further tragic incidents, the dorm authorities quietly reassigned the room number, ensuring that no one could recognize Room 111 anymore.
Yau Ma Tei Station’s Vanishing Girl
In the early 80s, a chilling incident occurred at Yau Ma Tei station. A young woman fell onto the tracks as a train approached. Witnesses heard her blood-curdling screams and the train driver felt a harrowing bump. But when help arrived, the girl had vanished, leaving no trace, not even a drop of blood. This baffling event made national news and was later dismissed as a “mass hallucination”, but is it…?
Header image credit: cheesindavecannon via Flickr
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