Happy BOO-vember to you all! The Catholic Church considers this month the “Month of Remembrance,” but to several Filipinos, it’s known as the “Ghost Month” – that period filled with jump scares and horrors just before the festive holiday season.

“Halloween” was never a concept celebrated in our country. Most Filipino households do not celebrate it at all – whether due to religious reasons or personal preference. Some companies, establishments, and (commonly) exclusive or high-end subdivisions are the only ones preparing for and enjoying the yearly event. However, many of us love some excellent “horror stories.”

I got my fair share of stories to share with you today, so saddle up because I have experienced four horror tales.

Duwende (Dwarf)

In the house where I grew up, there’s an old Kamyas tree planted years before I was born, and there’s something eerie about it. I never saw anything by the said tree, but the vibe it radiates is creepy. When my dogs were new to the house, they constantly barked at that tree. When he was still three or four, my nephew always cried rivers whenever he looked toward the tree.

I clearly remember what the old lady from two houses away from ours said about the tree. Non-verbatim, but it runs along the lines of “(in Filipino) There’s a small creature with a long, grey beard sitting on a tree branch. His round eyes are emerald, and he’s smiling like a madman, looking at people entering the gate.” I never stayed near the tree again except when feeding my dogs (believe me!)

Kapre

Our neighbor had this huge mango tree whose branches went over our wall. I always feared real things relative to it – snakes, a bee hive, or a weaver ant (Antik) colony falling from the branches to our lawn. However, it all changed one night.

I was only five years old then, and there was a sudden blackout in our subdivision. It was stuffy inside the house, so I decided to get some air. The night breeze was chilly, so naturally, some goosebumps started forming on my skin. But after some time, the “chilling sensation” worsened. Something compelled me to look up, and there, among the highest branches of the mango tree, stood bright red rubies staring directly at me from the darkness. The smell of cigars hit my nose soon after. I bolted inside the house after that terrible encounter.

I never knew what the entity was then, but I eventually found out months later. November 2005, the kids around my age gathered in a circle to discuss various “horrors.” As it turns out, I wasn’t the only one to encounter it. One kid even got a clearer view of the “tall, dark old man with unkempt hair and ruby for eyes smoking a cigar.” I have always followed my curfew since.

Espirito (spirit)

I have always encountered a spirit in my own house. I couldn’t recall when I first experienced it, but it had been years since. Sometimes I see a figure, but sometimes it’s just a shadow passing by my peripheral view. This shadow used to scare me when I was younger, but I learned to brush it off as the years passed.

There is one particular instance I couldn’t forget, though. I was in 12th grade, and it was finals week. As a crammer, I was up late studying for my exams and didn’t notice that it was already minutes past 3 AM. I decided to have a bathroom break, and as I stood by the sink, I saw the figure at its most apparent through the mirror. I was shocked, and I immediately turned around to nothing. I looked back at the mirror, and the figure was gone.

You might think that my sighting was just a hallucination formed by my sleep-deprived brain, but that faceless black figure with long, unkempt hair, wearing a black gown, was precisely in the same spot where my mom saw it. Sadly, I just learned to live with that nightmare because, as much as I fear spirits, I fear failing school even more.

Multo (Ghost)

This is the most recent sighting that’s also stuck in my mind ever since. Basically, my uncle died This is the most recent sighting that’s also stuck in my mind. My uncle died on May 7th of 2019; at that time, it was the school year’s “last push” — back-to-back reviews, projects, requirements, and upcoming final exams filled my schedule. I took absences to attend the wake and burial.

Arlington was where the five-day wake took place. Just beside the funeral home’s area stood Robbinsdale Hotel – a small hotel where my family and I stayed because we were uncomfortable waiting and sleeping in the “reception room” with the other visitors. I was left in our room alone as the family elders were further organizing the wake. My mom briefly returned to our room to take a bath, and my older cousin, Kuya Toph, fetched her soon after.

I was peacefully working when I felt chills down my spine. I know it’s not from the cold brought by the AC, but I tried to brush it off that way. A ring broke through the room’s silence, and it was Kuya Toph calling. What he said rang through my mind even weeks after, “(in Filipino) If there are footsteps right by the door, don’t open it. Don’t look even through the peephole. There are two people outside, a child and a man, with bloodied clothes but no heads.” I worked with all the lights and the television on that night.

These are my scary encounters which I hope you and the friend behind you enjoyed…

Ha, it made you look! Anyways, how about you? Got any stories to tell?