Urban Legends: The Haunted Royal Ontario Museum

Home to six million or so artifacts, the Royal Ontario Museum, located in Toronto, Canada is the largest museum in Canada and one of the largest in the World. Found in April 14, 1912, the museum is over a hundred years old. Not surprisingly, for an old place housing many old artifacts, there are also many ghost stories associated with the place. Among the many supernatural stories, there are two notable ones...

Urban Legends: Gloomy Sunday, the Hungarian Suicide Song

"Gloomy Sunday" is a popular song composed by Hungarian musician Rezső Seress. The Song was published in Hungary in 1933 and became well-known throughout the English-speaking world after the release of a translated version by American Jazz Musician Billie Holiday in 1941. Since the lyrics referred to suicide, it becomes known as the "Hungarian Suicide Song". There is a recurring urban legend which claims many people who heard the song would commit suicide. 

Urban Legends: Hong Kong Ghost Takeout

Ghost Takeout (Traditional Chinese: 鬼叫餐) is one of the most well-known Ghost stories from Hong Kong. The origins of the story began sometime after the Second World War. Although there are variants, the basic structure of the story is as follows...

Urban Legends: Bus 375

Bus 375 is a supernatural incident that is purported to have happened in Beijing, China. The urban legend took place on the board of  Bus 375, during the midnight of November 14, 1995. It is the last bus on its route and has just pulled out of the Old Summer Palace (Yuanmin yuan) bus terminus and is heading toward Xiangshan.

Old Summer Palace is the official residence of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911 CE) emperors prior to its destruction by British soldiers during the Second Opium War in 1860. It is not only the namesake of the bus terminus, but it apparently drove through many areas which the old palace once stood.

Urban Legends: Gai-Jan (Chicken Man)

Gai-Jen (Traditional Chinese: 雞人) translated to "Chicken man". It is an urban legend from Hong Kong. Although purported to have predated the Second World War, recent research suggests a more recent origin. Specifically, it was written by the Hong Kong writer Zita Law 羅穎思 for the now defunct Yes! magazine in 1991. Because it was written so convincingly, many netizens confused it as being true and spread it across the internet as a true historical event. In fact, it is commonly attributed as being the top 10 most famoous urban legend of Hong Kong. Below is my translated version of the story. 

Urban Legends: Sai Kung Barrier

The Sai Kung Barrier 西貢結界 is an energy barrier that purported to exist in Sai Kung Peninsula 西貢半島, on the outskirts of Hong Kong. Sai Kung Peninsula is one of the most popular hiking destination. Over the recent years, several disappearances were reported from the area, causing many citizens to compare the peninsula to the Bermuda Triangle. 

Urban Legends: The Nanshan Company

The story, The Headless Nanshan Company 南山連的無頭部隊, I am going to talk about today comes from Taiwan (aka. Republic of China).

It comes from Qingqi village 青岐村 in Kinmen. The village was heavily shelled by the PLA (People's Liberation Army) during the Second Taiwan Strait Crisis, which happened between August 23, 1958 and September 22, 1958. Today, many places in the village bored scars from the battle.  The village was also largely depopulated, as many young men and women have left the village for better opportunities in Taiwan, leaving behind the elderly. Qingqi village is truly haunted by its past. 


The best narration of this legend I found  came from a soldier who was once stationed in Kinmen. According to the soldier, his story came from an elderly store owner who ran a general store in Qingli Village. For the 60 years he lived, the old store owner stayed on Kinmen. Hence, he knew everything about Kinmen and is well versed with its many ghost stories. 

Urban Legends: Kisaragi Station (Part 2)

Here comes part 2 of my Kisaragi Station coverage. In 2011, a story came up on twitter. A twitter user claimed to board a train in Kanto that brought him to a mysterious station. There, the time was not only an hour faster than the internet he was using, but his GPS was also malfunctioning. Moreover, while there was a level 5 earthquake warning in Kanto, he felt nothing that night. 

The twitter user later found a convenience store with people inside. He entered it. When he exited, the station mysteriously disappeared. He took some photos and later uploaded them. Naturally, they received scrutiny. Many were quick to point out that the supposed train and station was similar to that of Kansai's. Attached below are some cross-analyzing photos done by the Japanese internet community. 

Most deemed the story mentioned above to be a hoax. However, there were believers who believe that Kisaragi Station is a portal to the spirit world and whom believe this story affirmed the hypothesis.

Urban Legends: Kisaragi Station (Part 1)

Ghost trains are a common theme for urban legends across the globe. Stories mostly revolve unexplained or paranormal encounters with late-night trains. The story I am going to mention below is of no exception. It is an incidence of late-night train travelling to a station not listed as existing in Japan. Similar to the train station in the animated film Spirted Away by Hayao Miyazaki, these stations are viewed as portals to the spirit world.  
Back in 2004, a 2ch (a popular social network site in Japan) user named Hatsumi posted a cry for help, saying the late-night train she had caught was not stopping at the stations it was supposed to. After passing through an unfamiliar tunnel, the train stopped around midnight at a station named "Kisaragi Station きさらぎ駅". Other users were quick to reply, saying there was no such station in Japan.