We all love a good ghost story every now and then, but not if we're the ones living it.
In Singapore, netizens have been spooked by an account provided by an anonymous follower of the social content Instagram profile @sgfollowsall, which told of a physical encounter with a ghost that happened during the Chinese Ghost Festival in 2021.
The anonymous storyteller – supposedly a 15-year-old boy – recounted how he was physically harrassed by an invisible force, and then spooked by a ghostly-looking female after he'd accidentally stepped on some offerings placed by the roadside meant for the dead.
According to the story posted on the @sgfollowsall account, the teen's ordeal started off when he exited his residential block in Marsiling and mistakenly walked into a circle of candles littered with rice and red powder – typical of most offerings placed along walkways during the Ghost Festival period.
A typical offering for the dead placed at the side of paths or roads during the Hungry Ghost Festival. It goes without saying that they should never be disturbed. IMAGE: unifi
He said that after stepping into it, he'd immediately sensed something perched on top of his body, and could make out what felt like fingernails digging into his skin.
Oddly enough, this didn't cause him any concern, and he brushed it off before heading on to meet a friend, but not before another spooky incident occurred.
"I ignored it and just went to meet my friend, and while we were walking, a woman clad in white with long hair rode past us humming a strange song," the boy continued in his retelling. "She suddenly turned back and smiled at us."
He explained that her eyes were black, and her complexion was pale, and that shortly after ignoring the encounter and walking on ahead, both he and his friend heard the sound of bells behind them. Turning behind to look, the boy said he saw "a black figure" standing in the distance.
Still, the boy said both he and his friend still chose to ignore the sight, and proceeded to a nearby McDonald's to get some food. This is where the next freaky incident occurred.
After ordering their meals at around 1 a.m., both the boy and his friend were enjoying their food when all of a sudden, black fingerprints appeared all over the McDonald's receipt, even though there was a phone placed on top of it to prevent it from flying away or being touched.
IMAGE: Mothership
Now a little spooked, the duo attempted to compare the fingerprints on the receipt to their own, but found no match. Eventually, both decided to call it a night and head home.
Taking the same route back, the boy came across the creepy dark hill that he and his friend passed earlier. Feeling a sense of overwhelming curiosity, he whipped out his iPhone to see if he could make out anything in the darkness using the phone's handy low-light feature.
Sure enough, through his phone's screen, the boy spotted a figure in white roaming the hills.
IMAGE: Mothership
"I think it's the same lady that cycled past us," he said at the very end.
True terror, or a tall tale?
Unsurprisingly, with Singaporeans known to be quite a superstitious lot, many commenters on the post were quick to believe in the boy's story, even despite it sounding completely bonkers and quite possibly made-up.
More than a handful of commenters were quick to point out the obvious – that it was the seventh month of the Chinese Lunar Calendar (the period during which the dead are released from Hell and allowed to freely roam the land of the living for an entire month), and that the boy had made a grave mistake by defiling roadside offerings by stepping on them.
"You'd better go home and pray," many of them suggested, while plenty others urged the boy to begin apologizing to the supernatural forces at play.
Hungry Ghost Festival: Best be respectful, or you'll find her following you. IMAGE: Ideastream
The story obviously fits in with the narrative of Singapore being an island stacked with supernatural forces and spooky superstitions, and one commenter even rightly hinted that such a story would fit in well with the bestselling True Singapore Ghost Stories book collection created by Russell Lee.
Whether or not there was any truth to the boy's story, it's all probably a good reminder not to make silly mistakes like stepping on ghost offerings or offending any spirits that may just happen to be roaming around.
And even if you're not all that superstitious and don't believe in the existence of "hungry ghosts", it's still worth keeping in mind the taboos that you should watch out for during the Hungry Ghost Festival, because, y'know... it's always better to be safe than sorry.
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Cover image sourced from Wonderwall.sg and @sgfollowsall on Instagram.
