Halloween is just a week to a few days away. That means there will be more time to get prepared to be spooked or to get spooky!
Don’t you agree? Well, if you are a fan of classic horror or wanting to be more adventurous and discover new horrors on the rise, the selections of horror movie night and horror game night streams will not disappoint (ie: A re-run of Nightmare on Elms Street marathon or get Dead by Daylight from Steam on a discount).
So with all the hantus and series of haunting outside of the local land we are aware of and exposed to, have you ever wondered or get a little curious about the kind of scary folklore and myths Malaysia have?
Proud Malaysians we are, our homeland have their own regional history full of scary origins and much more. Ask one Malaysian to another and they might have a few things to share – a childhood story that brings back nostalgia chills or that one memorably creepy supernatural encounter just from a short walk away getting durian or cendol.
So here are some stories that most of us Malaysians would be familiar with and to entertain the nostalgia of the more spooky side of our childhood memories:
1. Pontianak
One of the legendary Southeast Asian ghost who hunts and haunts typically of men in the darkest of nights, the Pontianak has a tragic backstory: She was said to be a woman who died while pregnant or murdered by a man, but sources vary.
She walks the earth determined for vengeance, Pontianak would disguise as a beautiful woman to lure men with her charm, then ripping them apart, devouring their insides and then continue hunting for another victim. It is said that the strong scent of frangipani flowers and decay are an indication of her arrival.
2. Pocong
Pocong can be considered a Southeast Asian version equivalent to a mummy but not quite so either. The Pocong, originated from Indonesia, is said to be the soul of a dead person trapped in a kain kafan (a shroud).
According to traditional beliefs, the soul of the dead person would stay on Earth for more than 30 days after death; if the tie of the shroud is not released after that number of days, the body becomes a Pocong, jumping out of the grave to warn people for its soul to be released. When it is released, only then the soul will be at peace.
It does not sound so much like a scary reason to be scared of this particular ghost, only that what may deter someone to help with the Pocong’s need to be released to move on would be how scary they appear – imagine a hopping dead body wrapped in a white cloth hopping at you angrily, pretty sure anyone would run away.
3. Karak Highway
There are a few creepy to terrifying stories related to the infamous Karak Highway.
The Karak Highway is known to be the most haunted highway that sends chills down your spine, driving through the highway that stretches for 60 kilometers. There have been numerous cases of accidents, often resulting in death.
Depending on which stories you may have heard, one of them comes from numerous accounts of sightings of a young schoolboy wandering the roadside of Karak Highway.
It is said that this boy would ask if the person had seen his mother. Legendary rumor has it, this schoolboy was a victim of a tragic car accident. The mother died upon impact while the son had his eyes pierced by the windscreen glass.
So you would be able to figure out between the living and the dead in the dark of night on a scary highway if you see a lone lost schoolboy on the roadside.
Another is a tale of a yellow Volkswagen Beetle, it is said that if you see a particular yellow Volkswagen driving on the Karak Highway, it’s critical advice not to get impatient and try at all to overtake it. It is believed that no one is actually driving the car.
On the bright side, it can be a good driving practice – more so of a test of patience on the road and holding back road rage. But jokes aside, best not to test your luck.
If you ever feel adventurous to venture to this highway to scour more stories, do share them!
4. Ulek Mayang
Ulek Mayang is not so much a horror tale, it is the name of a classical Malay dance from Terengganu.
A dance ritual performance to appease or invoke the spirits of the sea, played by the unique song called the ‘Ulek Mayang’.
That being said, the history of the Ulek Mayang does have its own spine-chilling reasons, or at least enough to be considered close to a ‘hauntingly’ beautiful but tragic story for a song that has a beautiful melody.
The Ulek Mayang tells of an ancient tale about a sea princess (or a sea goddess) who fell in love with a fisherman. This sea princess kidnapped the fisherman’s soul and left his unconscious body on the earth.
The fisherman’s friends summoned a shaman to heal him; when a healing ritual was made to bring the fisherman’s soul back, the sea princess appeared and called on her five sisters for help.
A battle between the shaman and the princesses ensued until the seventh and the eldest princess intervened.
To end the feud, the seventh princess said: “Let those from the sea return to the sea, those from the land return to land.”
As a show of gratitude, the shaman and fisherman’s friends would present an offering of colored rice to the sea spirits.
It may not be considered horror but it is still interestingly eerie to acknowledge that a sea spirit could fall in love with you and decide to kidnap you to the sea.
Got any spooky Malaysian-based horror or almost-spooky stories to share? Jangan takut, just share them.
If there is one fact that’s very true about Malaysians is that we do have an appreciation for the hantu stories.
Jasmine RCK is a content creator under the Newswav Creator programme, where you get to express yourself, be a citizen journalist, and at the same time monetize your content & reach millions of users on Newswav.
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