8 haunted buildings in Asia to spook you this season

It’s spooky season, and there’s no better time to lose yourself in the myriad eerie ghost stories and terrifying tales from across the region, warning residents to stay away from derelict buildings and former execution sites. 

We’ve compiled a list of some of Asia’s most haunted buildings for those brave enough, but you may want to bring a ghostbuster with you. (Just in case.)

1. The Ho Chi Minh Fine Arts Museum

Location: Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

A wealthy merchant family once lived in this daffodil-yellow mansion, but rumours about the fate of one of its members have plagued it for decades. Hui Bon Hoa, the family patriarch, fathered many sons but only one daughter whom he treasured. One day, villagers were told that she had suddenly passed. However, legend has it that she had actually become afflicted with leprosy and was locked away in a room by her family, who ignored her screams to be let out.The beautiful house has now been transformed into the Ho Chi Minh Fine Arts Museum, but visitors say they can still hear the girl’s cries or spot her wandering the halls in a white gown.

2. The former Welcome Restaurant

Location: Taichung, Taiwan China

In 1995, the Welcome Restaurant became the site of Taiwan’s worst fire and stampede tragedy when 64 people died in a blaze sparked by a gas leak. It has since become known as one of the most haunted places in the island province, despite the owner’s efforts to exorcise discomfited spirits by converting the space into a hardware shop and a carpark. Locals recount tales of their encounters with a ghost ship which floats above the property; legend has it that the ship’s crew waits to collect 100 souls before it can finally set sail.

3. Wat Samian Nari

Location: Bangkok, Thailand

This beautiful temple is the birthplace of one of Thailand’s greatest urban legends – and a destination local taxi drivers dare not drive to at night. The story goes that over 20 years ago, a taxi driver picked up two beautiful, black-clad sisters who asked to be taken to Wat Samian Nari. Once he arrived, the driver turned to speak to the women, only to find they had disappeared. He then he looked outside and saw their bloody bodies cleaved in two on the train tracks, torsos crawling along the ground. Though the women have never been identified, other taxi drivers have since told similar tales about the temple, making it a popular stop for ghost tours of Bangkok.

4. Himeji Castle

Location: Himeji, Japan

The tragic tale of the beautiful servant Okiku inspired one of the biggest horror movie franchises of all time: The Ring. Okiku worked at Himeji Castle under the samurai Aoyama, who accused her of stealing one of 10 golden plates in an attempt to blackmail her into being his lover. After she rejected him, it’s believed he threw her into a well in a fit of rage, killing her. Legends say that Aoyama was eventually driven mad by the sound of Okiku counting each golden plate from one to nine, breaking into tortured shrieks when she reached 10. Residents say that she can still be heard crying and screaming at night and the well on the property has since been dubbed Okiku’s Well.

5. Saebyeol Oreum Circus

Location: Jeju Island, South Korea

South Korea’s famed, allegedly haunted Gonjiam Psychiatric Hospital may have been knocked down in 2018, but the country is still packed with similar spooky sites. Jeju Island, known as Korea’s answer to Hawaii, is particularly steeped in bloody history; a tenth of the population was killed during an uprising in 1948-1949. Residents have since reported paranormal activity, recounting sightings of wandering spirits who lost their lives in the tragedy. One of the spookiest places on the island is the abandoned Saebyeol Oreum Circus, filled with withering costumes, dragon masks and a decaying theatre ringed with empty seats – as though the dead could take their places at any moment.

6. Agrasan ki Baoli

Location: Delhi, India

Don’t let the stunning architecture of this terracotta brick stepwell fool you: its dark waters were once said to have cursed powers. Filled with arched corridors, gaping wells and the sound of fluttering bat wings, the site provides an eerie experience and stories of the evil spirits which live there remain popular. While the stepwell’s waters have since dried up, it’s said that it was once filled with toxic black water and spirits would call out to visitors – luring people into the water’s depths, never to emerge again. 

7. Tung Shing Theatre

Location: Hong Kong

Although the historical Tung Shing Theatre, also known as East Town Cinema, was knocked down in 1974, this Wan Chai cinema was a hub of paranormal activity in its heyday. Built on the site of a former funeral home, it is said to have terrified patrons and staff alike. Visitors claimed that they had watched films in fully packed screening rooms – only for the lights to come up at the end of the movie, revealing they had been on their own the whole time. One spirit is said to have frequented the women’s bathroom, scaring the daylights out of patrons by popping off her head and combing her hair in the sink.

8. Robinsons Galleria

Location: Manila, Philippines

In the ‘90s, an urban legend began to spread across the Philippines that Robinsons Galleria – an upscale shopping mall in Manila – was haunted by a taong ahas: a half-snake, half-human monster descended from the mall’s founder. Lurking beneath dressing rooms, the monster supposedly dragged beautiful women through trapdoors to be eaten. 

Superstitions surrounding the mall became so strong that customers refused to go into dressing rooms alone, and the rumour only intensified after local celebrity Alice Dixson claimed she had been attacked by the snake – though she later confirmed it was a joke, and even starred in an ad poking fun at the mall’s hauntings. In a bid to quell the bad PR, a member of the family which owns Robinsons put forth a challenge to the world: if you can find the taong ahas, then the entire Galleria will be yours.