Creepy Stories

Next week, we will celebrate the All Saint's Day. The night before that is the Halloween. We Filipinos are accustomed to horror stories especially before the Halloween. TV news, talk shows, movies, documentaries, all feature different ghost stories from the known witnesses, usually about white, black and red ladies, kapre, manananggal, tiyanak, tikbalang, and many others from the Philippine folklore. Way back in elementary and high school days, me and my younger cousins used to wait for Noli de Castro's Magandang Gabi Bayan (now defunct) features about ghosts stories and experiences. It had been a tradition of that documentary show to feature horrible and scary ghosts stories from the people who experience them (coincide with the scarier re-enactments)during Halloween. Later on, we won't be able to sleep with the light turned off, or even go out of the house at night without companion. Hehehe!

I myself love to listen to creepy stories, eventhough I sometimes imagine them when I am alone. Actually I thought that you are not a Filipino if you don't know a single ghost story that your friend, relatives, etc. had experienced. Well, we also have some stories to tell about ghost experiences, mostly happened during our stay in my cousin's house.

We used to live in my cousin's house for nine months, we moved there in October 2004. My cousin was a former councilor of Naic, and after his political career ended, he decided to move to the United States with his wife and two kids. Their house was empty for three years. We actually had a hard time cleaning the floor and walls because they were too dirty. In the first month of our stay, it was quiet, no strange feelings, no ghostly apparitions, no nothing.

After the Halloween, I just came from work one night. My shift in the office started at 2 PM and ended at 10 PM, I usually arrived home at 11 PM. My sister and cousin liked to sleep in the living room for they were more comfortable there. That time, they were still awoke and watching TV. Passing a small corridor directly to the kitchen, I went there to eat. The bathroom is located right beside the kitchen. In that house, silence was defeaning, especially at night. Our neighbor was like 40 feet away from us, the other neighbor has a very high concrete fence dividing their lot and my cousin's. Suddenly, I heard a sound of a crying lady, not sure if it was coming from the bathroom or underground because the sound was fainted. I hurriedly went to my sister and looked if it was coming from the TV, but they were watching a comedy show, and the sound was just minimal. I went back to the kitchen, still hearing the strange sound. I went to my parents' room and woke them up. That was the time when the sound died down. They were all scared.