Forget Instagrammable cafes, we dare you to snap selfies at the city’s most haunted spots this Halloween

This Halloween, we run through some places in Hong Kong that are reportedly haunted. Whether you’re brave enough to explore these spooky spots is entirely up to you.

Sai Ying Pun Community Complex, Sai Ying Pun

This is likely the most well known haunted site on the island side. It was originally built as a mental hospital, a great start for any spooky spot. Things take a turn for the darker when it was used as a site for soldiers to torture and execute rebels during the Japanese occupation in World War II. Though it has been running as a community centre since 1998, there are still reports of ghostly happenings.

Hong Kong Central Hospital, Central

Right above Lan Kwai Fong, this abandoned hospital was known for carrying out 60 per cent of Hong Kong’s abortions at one point. The private hospital has been closed since September 2012 and there have been plans by the government since 2017 to demolish the building.

Nam Koo Terrace, Wan Chai

Much like many other haunted sites in Hong Kong, the source of its haunting came from World War II. This building was used as a brothel during that time, where many women were raped and murdered. It generated headlines in 2003 when a group of eight students tried to stay overnight, with some needing psychiatric treatment after leaving it spooked. 

Also see: What’s on: Things to do in Hong Kong this November

Murray House, Stanley

While it now stands as an iconic retail and dining destination in Stanley, the Victorian-era building was used as an execution site by the Japanese military police. Several government departments have used the building and have been exorcised at least twice, with one session being televised. 

Dragon Lodge, The Peak

Even prime real estate is not immune to being spooky. There are stories that claim Japanese soldiers occupied the property and decapitated several Catholic nuns at this home. A former resident of the mansion also claimed she often saw and heard the ghost of a child crying. However, a representative of the company that owns Dragon Lodge told Financial Times these claims are false.

Some security measures have been put in place to discourage more thrillseekers from exploring the abandoned house which, according to the owners, is slated for preservation.

31 Granville Road, Tsim Sha Tsui

The site where one of Hong Kong’s most famous murder cases – the Hello Kitty murder – took place. In 1999, a 23-year-old woman was abducted by three triad members and tortured for a month for stealing money from one of them. She eventually succumbed to her injuries and her head chopped up and stuffed inside a Hello Kitty doll. 

The murder was discovered when the teenage girlfriend of one of the members complained about being haunted by the deceased woman and led the police to the third-floor flat.

Lui Seng Chun, Mongkok

This four-story shop house along Lai Chi Kok Road is now beautifully restored but was abandoned for many years due to fatal accidents and illness befalling those who tried to remodel it. More ghostly sightings have been reported since but it’s hard to imagine now that it’s become a popular subject for photographers.

Tat Tak School, Yuen Long

School is scary but even more so when its former headmistress is still in residence. When the place closed in 1998, it was rumoured that the headmistress had offed herself in the girl’s washroom while wearing a red dress. Since then, there have been sightings of her lingering spirit. 

Adding to the history is the story of a girl that ended up hysterical and tried to bite a classmate when a group of students went to visit the site. The village the school is in was also reportedly a massacre site during the Japanese occupation.

Club Captain Bear, Sai Kung

This abandoned resort is truly surreal. Located in Tai She Wan, expect to see Grecian statues and even a tall giraffe at this battered building in the middle of nowhere. It feels straight out of a horror game.  

So Lo Pun, New Territories

The name of the village translates to ‘the compass is locked’ because compasses reportedly stop working in this area. Though it is said to be one of the most haunted abandoned villages in Hong Kong, it is unclear why; some who pass through during hikes in the Plover Cove Country Park find it rather tranquil. The village is supposedly abandoned because all of its villagers died in a boat crash in the 1980s.

Also see: 10 most Instagrammable cafes in Hong Kong