It is finally here… Spooky season! With Halloween just around the corner, I decided to make part two of my Korean horror stories. If you all enjoyed the first part of my chilling tales, you better buckle up for round two!
Korean Horror Stories: The Weeping Stairwell
This story took place about two years ago. My husband and I were walking around trying to find a bathroom. Now, if you have ever tried to find a bathroom along the streets in Korea, you would know how difficult of a task it is. We were not near any restaurants, and it was coming close to midnight. Not many places were open around that time.
Just as I was about to give up, we finally found a small building with the door unlocked. My husband, who could not take the wait any longer, rushed in and found a small toilet just above a flight of stairs. Being a gentleman, he let me go first, so I did. After finishing with my business, I washed my hands and made my way out of the tiny toilet. My husband rushed in after I was done, and I waited for him alone, in the dark stairwell.
I scrolled through my phone as I waited for time to fly by. Seeing as how he was going to take a while, I knocked on the door and told him I would wait for him outside. I made my way out of the building, but something stopped me in my tracks. Did I hear that right?
The Crying Woman
From the bottom of the stairwell that led to the basement area of the building, I swear I heard someone crying. I felt the hairs on my back raise as I plucked up enough courage to see where the crying was coming from.
I was scared, of course! However, I thought to myself… What if it was an actual person? I sucked in a deep breath of courage and peeked over. My eyes widened with shock as I saw a woman crouched down in the darkness, weeping.
What was weird to me was not the fact that there was a lady crying by herself in the dark. It was the fact that this girl was super obvious in the dark! Like, it was pitch black down there, and yet she was as obvious as someone in broad daylight. I backed away just a bit, and she suddenly stopped crying.
The air became very still, and it was eerily silent. Every cell in my body seemed to scream, “Run!”, and I did before anything could happen. I ran out of the building and waited on the opposite side. After what seemed like an eternity, my husband finally came out and ran over to me.
“Sorry I took so long,” he said.
Not wanting to frighten him or cause a scene, I plastered a smile on my face and reassured him that it was alright. I have never mentioned the girl to anyone until now. Sometimes, I still wonder about her. However, I am glad that I will never see her ever again.
Korean Horror Stories: Sorry Grandfather
This story occurred during Chuseok last year. Rather than it being scary in an eerie sense, I would say that it’s more in the “try-not-to-piss-off-your-ancestors” sense.
So, one day my significant other wanted to try his luck with the lotto for Chuseok. I was a bit annoyed with this idea, but since it was just once in a while, I decided to let it slide. Before he went to go and get his “lucky” ticket, he had asked me about my grandfather’s birthday and his date of passing. I only gave him the birthdate because I found it to be disrespectful to use the date of someone’s passing for something like that. I even told him off for it. After he got back, he seemed to be very excited about his purchase. Likewise, I rolled my eyes heavenwards and continued on with what I was doing.
The Figure
A few days had passed since he bought his ticket and one night I was left alone at home as he had an outing with his colleagues. I was relaxing on the couch when I noticed one of my cats entering my room. I eyed him as he sniffed the air and stared in the direction of where my bed was.
Suddenly, he meowed softly and stood on his hind legs! He was focused on something in my dark room, and I was shocked. It was the first time he had ever done that, so I went over to see what was wrong. I called my cat.
He did not even turn his gaze away from the bed, so I turned to face what he was seeing. To my surprise, there was an apparition of an old man with a cane, sitting on the edge of my bed. I stared at the figure, wondering if my eyes were playing tricks on me.
They weren’t.
He was glowing yellow, but his face was unclear. My cat was still on his hind legs, and I stared at the figure for a while longer before I quickly turned the lights on. Once light filled the room, the figure disappeared.
My cat then slowly got back down on all fours and nonchalantly exited the room like nothing had ever happened! I decided to brush it off as a passing spirit, but something was eating at the thought at the back of my mind. And boy, I should have known why.
The Dream
A few hours later my husband came back home, slightly tipsy from his outing. I did not want to disturb him with every ghostly sighting I had ever had, so I kept mum about it. That night after we had gone to sleep, I had a dream.
In the dream, an elderly Korean man, who looked extremely familiar, appeared. He had a frown on his face and approached me while I was seated on a bench. He suddenly started complaining and ranting about something in Korean.
I was obviously bewildered by the entire situation until he said my husband’s name. It was then that I put two and two together. I remember seeing his picture before, so that explained the familiarity. My husband’s late grandfather was right in front of me, rambling and scolding the crap out of me! What followed after that was the reason why he was angry. I remember him saying something about a lottery ticket and the word “day”.
Can you imagine?
An elderly Korean man hurling anger-filled words in Korean at you, in a dream?! Korean is not even my mother tongue and yet here he was in my dream ranting away at the speed of light. His last words to me were something along the lines of, “Control your husband!”. Then, I woke up.
Thank goodness my husband was snoring away right next to me. I smacked his arm and woke him up. I did not tell him about the dream and asked him to show me his lottery ticket. He groggily and grumpily rolled off the bed and grabbed his ticket. I asked him which numbers he used. Because I didn’t tell him my grandfather’s death date, he had the gall to use HIS grandfather’s birthday and date of passing!
Unbelievable!
Apology to the Deceased
When Chuseok had finally come around, we went over to my in-laws for the holidays. During Chuseok, we usually perform a jesa. If you do not know what a jesa is, it’s an ancestral rite ceremony. After the ceremony was done, it was time for us to move over to the temple to visit his grandparents. We set off for the temple and I fell asleep during the long ride. Then, I had another dream.
In the dream, his grandfather appeared once again and pointed to a blue flower. I was puzzled by what he meant and was going to ask until my husband woke me up to tell me that we had arrived. We made our way to the building where his grandparents’ ashes were kept, and I remembered the little store right next to it where they sold little gifts such as mini flower baskets.
After that, I knew exactly what to do. I asked my mother-in-law if we could stop by as I wanted to buy a little gift for their grandparents. She happily agreed and went with me to the store. I scoured the mini flower baskets for a blue flower and finally found one.
I paid for my flowers and headed up to where his grandparents were. Then, I climbed up and placed the flowers in front of his grandfather’s portrait. I then put my palms together and repeated the words sorry over and over again. My husband and family were obviously confused over the whole situation, so I explained it to my husband who then explained it to his parents who then gave him a stern scolding.
After the whole fiasco, his grandfather has never appeared to me since. Rather than a random spirit, I find our ancestors to be much more frightening.
Korean Horror Story: Are You Awake?
This story was about the time my friends and I stayed at a pension in Gapyeong, Korea. It takes place during one of our friend’s birthdays. He had wanted to go on a trip with all of us to celebrate and booked a pension in Gapyeong for us to stay the night in. The pension we were staying in was pretty far out in the middle of nowhere with the nearest store about twenty minutes away by car. So, before heading to our accommodation, we hit up the closest supermarket and bought all the meat, booze, and snacks we would need.
After gathering our supplies, we made it to our final destination and settled in. I found it to be a little unnerving at first and the number of flies there was insane. Still, I was not going to let something like that put a damper on my friend’s birthday celebration. The night went on, fun and filled with laughter. After staying up a bit late, we decided to call it a night and went to sleep.
Are You Awake?
The next morning, I awoke to the beautiful sounds of snoring coming from one of my friends. Deciding to ignore the orchestra happening across the living room, I tried my best to go back to sleep. It was then I felt all the hairs on my back prick up. All of a sudden, a deep and disembodied voice whispered closely into my ear.
“일어났어?”
Which meant, “Are you awake?” I felt my body grow stiff and my face flushed hot with fear. It definitely did not sound human, and it definitely was not my husband as he was still asleep. Plus, his voice was not that horrifically deep. I shut my eyes as hard as I could and ignored it. Then, I heard an eerie giggle and in a flash, whatever was there with me was gone. After what seemed like forever, I jolted up and stared at my husband’s sleeping face. I woke him up and asked him if he had heard anything. He did not, of course, as he was asleep the entire time. Lucky him…
To this day, I bring a pouch of red beans and wear other protective jewelry or crystals with me wherever I go or stay. Better to be safe than sorry, they say.
My Korean Horror Stories… The End?
I hope you enjoyed reading this article and if it scared some of you, then I apologize in advance. Let us know what some of your Korean horror stories are in the comment section below! And, if you would like to read my previous stories, click here!
Happy Spooktober!! For part one, Click Here.
