Tales from the Other World: Tell Us What You Think

When I was a little boy, I was so afraid of the dark. My early childhood was scarred with countless other-worldly tales (aka. ghost stories), mostly told to me by my various babysitters. I now think that legislators should pass an international law requiring certain psychological testing for people intending to be baby sitters. When I was 7, my next door neighbor bought a parrot which made non-stop infernal noises at night. I then proceeded to think that it was my dead dog, calling me to join him from beyond the grave. That left me mentally scarred. For two weeks, I was too scared to take a dump by myself. An escort had to be present in the room at all time when I do my business. Then when I was 8, my mom took me to the morgue to see a dead body from a traffic accident. His eyes were wide open, staring blankly at me. I was then mentally scarred again for another three weeks.

Long before I was born, my mom had to live in an old house in a military compound all by herself. There was no electricity in the house. She was only accompanied by her Shetland Sheep dog. Everyone in the compound feared the house. It was a haunted house. She had to keep changing maids because very few of them could last more than a week. Most of them cried hysterically in the morning because they heard laugher, cries, footsteps, knocks at night. Strangely, my mom never hears or sees anything. Everyone around her was dumbfounded, and concluded that she must have a “gift”.

In high school, when we were out on vacation, my maid insisted that for two nights straight she was strangled by a Gendoruwo (a huge, local Indonesian ghosts) in our living room and had to read two holy verses from the Koran (Islam’s holy book). I decided to get to know this Gendoruwo. I sat alone at night in the living room, lights off with the tv on. An hour passed by. I managed to prove the existence of a new strain of rabid, possessed mosquitoes that only feed in the dark, but not of the Gendoruwo.

Regardless, every country has its own version of local ghosts. Every town and every university have their own “haunted” buildings. If ghosts are ghosts, then how come there are different species of them, based on their geographic locations? I used to think that there is a certain mechanism governing what kind of ghosts a person can be, based on her citizenship, because if she is an American, then she can be a banshee or a vampire, but not a Sundel Bolong. Certainly, a Tuyul has never been seen in the US, has it?

Yet, the Catholic Church and almost every religion believe in ghosts. The Pope assigned a committee in every country, in charge of performing the holy rite of Exorcism (a Catholic ceremony to get rid of the demon that possessed a person, just like in the movie Exorcist). In Singapore, there are places that offer “Ghostbusting” services. Some claimed to be affiliated with Buddhism, and other with Taoism. Singapore Paranormal Investigators have attempted to explore the existence of Kuntilanak, using rather sophisticated technology: http://www.spi.com.sg/

Despite the controversy, what do you guys think? Are there ghosts out there? Do you have any theories regarding their existence? If you have any encounters with one (or more) please share with us.

Blazing Redfish