This Haunting Was A Handful

This picture is to give readers an idea what the house in the story looks like. This is a traditional kampong style home that is popular in Malaysia

Confessions by Rahim
Illustration by Syed Wilson

This is one ghost story that has nobody in it. - Eugene Tay

This story took place in Batu Pahat, Johor Bahru, Malaysia where I was staying with my parents and 3 sisters.

There was a period of time where we were 'disturbed' everyday for almost a month. There were nights where we would experience strange noises in our house. The noises sounded like something scurrying around the house and even on our roof. There was this tik-taking sound like the sound of nails on zinc.

At first we would dismiss it as noises made by our cats but as time goes by it got even worse. There was one occasion where I was very sure I heard the noise coming directly from my bedroom but when I went in to check, there was nothing!

Apart from the noises there were also a foul stench that came out of no where. We thought that maybe an animal had died under the floorboards or in the attic, but despite searching the whole house, we could not find the source. And strangely enough, the stench was not always persistent; appearing and disappearing at different times of the day.

My father decided to seek spiritual help from a bomoh to take a look at our house to find out what was the cause of these disturbances.

My father decided to seek spiritual help from a bomoh to take a look at our house to find out what was the cause of these disturbances.

​I remembered it was a Friday night when the bomoh arrived.

The moment he stepped into the house, he told us that there was something which is not of this world that had taken refuge in our house. We were shocked to hear what he had told us. The bomoh began his ritual of cleansing; he went to every corner and every room in our house. My father asked what was actually causing all the disturbances and the bomoh said that soon we will get to see its true form.

​The bomoh chanted prayers and to our surprise, we heard a scurrying sound coming from the kitchen towards the living room! What we saw was the most hideous thing and I will never ever forget it! It was a hideous looking head connected to a hand! Get this - i'm not making this up. It was literally a head that was on a hand!

What we saw was the most heinous thing and I will never ever forget it!

My mother fainted and collapsed to the ground; my sisters screamed hysterically! My father and I were just in shock and awe!

How could that thing ended up in our house!?

The bomoh took a handful of salt out of his pouch, chanted over and tossed it at the creature. It let out a horrible scream before disappearing!

According to the bomoh, the creature was a form of djinn which was set free by its owner and it was roaming around until it eventually chose to stay in our house.

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When I hear of old kampong stories like this, I knew a djinn must have had a hand in the haunting. - Eugene Tay