Chalet ghost stories in Singapore
Growing up in Singapore, chalets were a joyous affair with socialisation abound. Be it for class parties, birthday celebrations or just a weekend away with the squad, booking a chalet was something that most Singaporeans found to be a thrill. That is, until chalet ghost stories like these were made known.
From an unexpected extra figure in the bedroom to wandering silhouettes teasing their presence just enough to unnerve you without dealing actual harm, these spooky tales might very well make you rethink your next chalet invitation.
Note: All images used are for illustration purposes only.
For more spooky tales, check out these articles:
- Most haunted places in Singapore
- Haunted MRT stations in Singapore
- Haunted secondary schools in Singapore
- Real-life ghost stories shared by Singaporeans
- Singapore ghosts and supernatural urban legends
1. Staring into the eyes of a pontianak
Image credit: The Online Citizen
I booked a bungalow chalet to celebrate my 25th birthday, and it was situated directly opposite the infamous Old Changi Hospital. My sister took the bus to the chalet but missed her stop, and had to wait while the bus went on a looped route to the opposing side. This meant that she wound up alighting at the Old Changi Hospital bus stop.
Upon reaching the chalet, my sister was pretty much silent the whole night and kept to herself instead of joining in the festivities. Later that night, we asked her if everything was alright and she immediately started wailing.
Apparently, when she first got off the bus she spotted a piece of white cloth hanging from the shelter above. She walked forward to take a closer look and ended up staring into the face of a pontianak. The pontianak stared at her for a few seconds, then flew away while brushing past her.
– Hazeeq
2. Wandering figures and invisible bedfellows
Image credit: Josiah Neo
For my secondary school end-of-year chalet, almost the entire class booked out a villa to spend the night. One of the girls tending to the barbecue remarked that she needed to take her contact lenses out, otherwise they felt like they were “melting” in her eyes.
After she removed them, she claimed to be seeing white figures in the distance. A few of the people there were scared, but we mostly made fun of her and chalked it up to her nearsightedness.
Image credit: Shutterstock
Later that night when I was brushing my teeth in the toilet of one of the ground floor bedrooms, I kept hearing noises of the bed frame creaking, and the friction of the bedsheets. It was as if someone was getting on the bed and moving around.
Not gonna lie, I got goosebumps from this but I also thought my friends were playing a prank on me. So I pushed the door open but there was no one in the room. The bedroom door was closed.
I finished washing up with the bathroom door ajar ‘cause I was sure my friends were trying to prank me, and the noises continued. But every time I stuck my head out thinking I would catch them in the act, I saw nobody in the room.
There’s no way they could’ve opened and closed the door that quickly and silently, and there was also no place in the room for them to hide if they were indeed inside.
I didn’t want to mention it to anyone because I didn’t want to spook the entire group, especially the people who were already shaken up by the barbecue incident. But that night I did not sleep well at all, and was sweating a lot even though we were sleeping in a very cold air-conditioned room. My shirt was soaked and my hair was as wet as if I’d just showered.
Overall, a terrible experience and I could not have been more relieved to pack my bags and check out the following morning.
– J.W.
3. Late-night stroll accompanied by shadows of the unknown
Image credit: Benito Geurrero
My life has been filled with “third eye” experiences, including smelling strong whiffs of jasmine every year during seventh month, and feeling my great-grandpa’s presence in my childhood home where his ashes were once placed.
One of the spookiest encounters was when I was shooting a short film with a couple of friends late at night, and wound up hearing whispers in the audio upon playback.
In terms of chalet ghost stories, I attended the birthday party for my then-girlfriend – who also had a third eye of sorts, and was able to see or sense supernatural presences. Her chalet party was held at a site which is known to be quite haunted, as it was where many bodies were buried during the WWII era.
After the birthday shenanigans, the two of us went on a late-night stroll around the perimeter of the chalet. We realised there were many shadows cast on the path ahead of us, but when we turned around, nobody was there but us. The shadows were in the shape of human silhouettes, and they were just jumping all around us.
– Ignatius
4. Beware of not heeding a ouija board
Image adapted from: @mcjuggernuggets
This is a story from a friend of a friend. Basically, someone brought a ouija board to the chalet and the entire friend group played around with it, asking questions like is anyone there, what’s your name, so on and so forth.
Since the chalet was near Old Changi Hospital, they asked if they should visit it for fun. The board said no. The group thought it was being manipulated by one friend who was just scared and didn’t want to go, but they asked repeatedly and the pointer kept shifting to no.
Lo and behold, three of the girls decided to visit Old Changi Hospital anyway, the following morning when they thought it would be safe. Two girls went in, but one decided to stay outside on the lookout as she was worried about trespassing private property.
So the two girls went in to explore. And when they’d had enough and wanted to leave, they tried to head back to the door they came in from, but realised that everything in their path had become mirrored.
Old Changi Hospital
Image credit: Infy World
The graffiti on the walls were now written backwards, and the staircase wound the other direction as what they remembered when they first saw it.
At this point, they were on the third floor of the building and tried to walk down, but the flight of stairs seemed to be never-ending. It felt like they were walking for 10 minutes straight. When they finally got to the bottom and moved onto the corridor path, they looked around and realised they were still stuck on the third floor.
They tried to phone for help but there was no mobile reception, and they were in tears. After wandering the third floor looking for alternate paths, they opened a door and realised that a normal flight of stairs lay before them. They bolted down in relief and actually made it to the ground floor, but the subsequent door leading to the outside world was stuck.
They turned around and on the wall behind them were the words “I told you NO”. At this point, the two girls screamed and felt something cold hit them, and they promptly passed out.
Old Changi Hospital
Image credit: Infy World
When they woke up, the two girls found themselves at a different entrance of Old Changi Hospital than the one they came in from. They walked around the perimeter and managed to find their friend who had been waiting outside. She said they had only been gone for 15 minutes, but it felt like hours for the two girls who were inside.
Together, the three of them walked back to the door where the two girls had regained consciousness. They realised it was impossible for them to have exited from there as the door was bolted shut, and the locks were rusty.
The only way they could have left the building was through the front entrance where their friend had been waiting this whole time, or through the locked door by some supernatural means.
– Raewyn
5. Canine encounter while barbecuing
Image credit: Sport Dog
At a birthday party in 2018, I was manning the barbecue together with a friend, under one of the chalet’s outdoor pavilions. We were just chatting and grilling when a stray dog suddenly appeared. It walked till it was about 1.5M away from us, and proceeded to bark non-stop.
We approached the dog slowly, but it didn’t budge in the slightest, and kept barking. We even tried giving the dog some food to make it quiet down, but it completely ignored us. After taking a closer look at the dog’s eyeline and stance, we realised it was gazing above at the roof of the pavilion we were under – as if there were something there.
We mentioned this to the chalet’s birthday boy, who claimed to have a third eye and was able to actually see a supernatural presence. He told us, “That’s why I didn’t want to cook outside”.
– Marissa
6. Unexpected company in the villa
Image credit: Josiah Neo
This tale comes not from me, but a friend who was once staying at a villa chalet in Singapore. When she was in the villa alone, she casually watched some videos to pass the time. Soon after, whispers of her name could be heard, in a hushed yet distinct voice coming from a surrounding entity.
Imagine how frightening and surreal it is that a ghost actually knows your name. How? Is this a targeted haunting? Is the spirit that of someone who is related to my friend or knew her before they left this world?
To make things worse, she also heard the pitter-patter of footsteps running up and down the stairs of the villa, despite there being no one else present at the time.
When you hear of chalet ghost stories, any paranormal sightings usually occur under group settings where you have the company of your family or friends to give you reassurance. However, this friend’s brush with the supernatural wasn’t under such “favourable” circumstances, and you can only imagine that it made the fear and dread all the more amplified.
– Pamela
7. Sleeping at the site of a double suicide
Image credit: Josiah Neo
This took place during a chalet getaway with my extended family. On the first night, my cousins and I had the bright idea of watching a horror movie.
The chalet’s living room area was open to the field and sea beside the building itself. We were watching the movie at around midnight, and suddenly caught the scent of very sweet-smelling flowers. We didn’t really bother about it, and continued watching the movie then going to sleep.
Image credit: Josiah Neo
The entire family slept in the same room. There were 10 of us in total, and the girls shared the bed while the boys slept on the floor.
At around 3AM, I heard a chilling scream and it woke me from my sleep. I opened my eyes to see one of my cousins looking at me. He asked, “Did you hear that?” and I said yes. We were both spooked but decided to just dismiss it and try to continue sleeping.
I was having trouble falling back asleep and my mum woke up after a while, asking me “[My name], you alright?” and I said yeah. I was confused ’cause she asked me completely out of the blue, and it seemed so random.
The next morning, my mum told me that she had questioned me because she woke up seeing a shadow figure standing next to me. She called out to me in the hope of shooing the ghost away.
One of my cousins also shared with us afterwards that the chalet block we stayed at was apparently the site of a double suicide involving two girl friends.
– Anonymous
Singapore ghost stories – Haunted chalets and supernatural sightings
Ghost stories in Singapore are a topic shared among every generation, especially during the Hungry Ghost Festival or Halloween periods. Some people are constantly on the lookout for spooky tales – the scarier the better. Then we have the type who consumes such stories out of sheer curiosity, but becomes too scared to sleep with the lights off afterwards.
Whichever camp you belong to, you’ve got to admit that a juicy ghost story every now and then just hits the spot and gets your adrenaline surging through the roof. Especially when it comes to relatable aspects of Singaporean life – it’s like you can almost picture the exact surroundings and scenario from the times you’ve stayed at a chalet.
Now it’s just a matter of whether these chalet ghost stories will mess with your head the next time you check into a chalet…
For more stories of haunted places in Singapore:
- Old Changi Hospital
- Most haunted road: Devil’s Bend
- Abandoned Tanglin Hill Brunei Hostel
- Nee Soon Rubber Estate: Pontianak sightings
Cover image adapted from (L-R): Josiah Neo, The Online Citizen.
First published on 13th August 2021. Last updated by Dewi Nurjuwita on 17th October 2022.
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