Graveyard Shift

16 Ridiculously Creepy Places In Asia That Are Supposedly Haunted 

Isadora Teich
Updated December 27, 2019 38.2k views 16 items


With a rich and diverse cultural history and thousands of years of myth, folklore, history, and religion to draw on, it's no surprise everything from urban legends to ancient ghost stories thrive in Asia. Of course, the continent with the largest landmass and population base in the world is home to a panoply of spectral haunts. There are countless haunted places in Asia, and ghost sightings in Asia date back thousands of years. 

These haunted Asian places run the gamut from areas left haunted by the horrors of combat to sites marred by black magic and bloodthirsty ghosts. In some of these spots, the government has taken steps to stop people from entering after dark, as it is rumored those who do never survive. Hold your teddy bear tight, things are about to get spooky. 

Gonjiam Psychiatric Hospital, South Korea
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Video: YouTube

Gonjiam psychiatric hospital in Gwangju, South Korea, is one of the most haunted places in the country. According to legend, numerous mysterious patient and staff deaths caused the hospital's sudden closure in the 1990s. The families of the deceased demanded explanations, but none were given. It's said the disturbed spirits of the deceased wander the abandoned facility.

The site is home to all manner of paranormal activity, and visitors to the creepy, disused psychiatric facility have reportedly been seen running screaming from the building. The spirits therein are aggressive; some claim to have been scratched so deeply by unknown, unseen entities that they bled. Disembodied whispers, moans, and screams echo through the halls of Gonjiam. 

Chibichiri Cave, Okinawa, Japan
Chibichiri Cave, Okinawa... is listed (or ranked) 2 on the list 16 Ridiculously Creepy Places In Asia That Are Supposedly Haunted
Photo: Vitalie Ciubotaru/Wikimedia Commons /CC BY-SA 3.0

Okinawa, a Japanese island in the East China Sea, was the site of a conflict in WWII, during which at least 100,000 people lost their lives (some accounts put the number as high as 200,000). When Americans invaded the island, civilians hid in caves, including Chibichiri, terrified from years of propaganda teaching them American soldiers would rape, torture, and murder any Japanese civilians they found. When Americans arrived at the mouth of the cave, they threw in pamphlets, in Japanese, detailing ways in which Americans would treat them well.

No one believed them. An 18-year-old girl shouted, "Mommy, kill me! Don't let them rape me!" Her mother obliged, setting off a wave of parents killing children, or people killing themselves. In the end, 83 people died in the cave.  


Kurseong, India
Kurseong, India is listed (or ranked) 3 on the list 16 Ridiculously Creepy Places In Asia That Are Supposedly Haunted
Photo: Mayukh Ghose/Wikimedia Commons/CC BY-SA 4.0

Kurseong is a town near famous hill station Darjeeling in northeast India, nestled between the borders of Nepal, Bhutan, and Bangladesh. It's bucolic, a well-known tourist destination, and infamously haunted.

To quote Indian writer Vargis Khan:



Ghost Hill, Penang, Malaysia
Ghost Hill, Penang, Mala... is listed (or ranked) 4 on the list 16 Ridiculously Creepy Places In Asia That Are Supposedly Haunted
Photo: Penang State Museum and Art Gallery/Wikimedia Commons/Public Domain

Penang War Museum, on Penang Island, Malaysia sits on a site known to locals as Bukit Hantu, or "Ghost Hill." Even before the horrors of World War II, the area was known for its supernatural residents. As the world marched to war in the 1930s, British colonists in Malaysia built a fortress on Ghost Hill, which quickly fell to the Japanese. The fortress became a prison camp where hundreds were tortured and executed by Japanese forces.


Rooms in the museum have walls pocked with bullet holes, a byproduct of bloody executions. It's said the ghosts of many of those the Japanese murdered still walk the museum grounds.