Do you know any supernatural games that open the gateway to a dark, hostile and incomprehensible world? Have you played them before or heard anything about it? Read on and let me tell you more about it.
Some of you might have read that in some of my true ghost stories and Chinese superstitions, I have often referred to examples in Mr Zhou’s Ghost stories. If you are not familiar with Mr Zhou’s Ghost stories, it is a radio segment hosted by Singaporean actor/DJ Dennis Zhou and DJ Nana/Chen Lina, every Friday from 11 pm to 12 midnight (except during Chinese New Year periods and holiday season), at Singapore Love 97.2fm. You can also listen to their podcasts from November 2017 till present with MeListen and Spotify apps.
In their podcasts, they mentioned a few supernatural games and their dangers. Personally, I have not played them before, maybe I don’t have many adventurous ‘fun’ friends around during my school days.
The only stupid thing I ever did was to visit a Muslim cemetery in the middle of the night. It was with a big group of students (I think we were 18 or 19) and the motive to visit the cemetery was to make ourselves braver. It must have been after 10 pm when everyone made their way from MacRitchie reservoir to the cemetery. They made all of us walk inside the cemetery in a single file. I remember I was holding a Malay girl’s hand while someone was holding mine. It was quite a scary experience, especially as she kept telling me unpleasant things. For example, we kept hearing a dog barking but there was no sight of dogs. The barking volume varied from quite faint to really loud. According to her, the louder the barks were, the further away the ghosts were. When the sound of barks was faint, it meant the ghosts were very near to us. Also, she said she was chanting some sutra in her mind. She must be so great at multitasking, especially as she could talk, chant and walk at the same time.
Back to supernatural games, the only three games I have known since I was young were the Dish Fairy (碟仙 diéxiān), Pen Fairy (笔仙 bǐxiān) and Peel An Apple in the Night (削苹果皮 xuè píng guǒ pí). I have never played them before but heard from friends and read about these from a book.
Dish Fairy (碟仙 dié xiān)
The Dish Fairy game is very similar to a Ouija board, to communicate with the spirits. The paper has a lot of printed Chinese words on it. In the 90s, they were commonly sold in bookstores and Mamas shops. Besides the paper, you will also need a small dish to play this game. Flip the dish upside down and on the dish edge, it will have a red arrow or dot. This is to show you the word the spirits would like you to see. Just like the planchette on a Ouija board.
Some people suggest burning joss sticks or candles before starting the game. They believe that by burning joss sticks or candles, the smoke will help to connect with them. I think it is like a Wifi router to get a better connection. Anyway, if you wish to know more, maybe read this article.
Gin spoke about his own experience on Mr Zhou’s Ghost Stories podcast on 6th November 2020. This happened when he was on a secondary four music school camp trip. Instead of using a dish, they used a coin to play. As for the paper, they made their own by drawing a house, yes, no, 1 to 10 and A-Z on a piece of blank paper. Needless to say, they encountered problems and were ill for a couple of days afterwards.
Ms Mole spoke about her experience on Mr Zhou’s Ghost Stories podcast on 10th March 2023. Also, Freddie spoke about his experience and encountering trouble.
Pen Fairy (笔仙 bǐ xiān)
This is the same as Dish Fairy and Ouija Board, except it is mostly self-made. You will need plain white paper and a pen. The method is the same as Dish Fairy. You have to call them and ask them the questions. Then your pen will write down the answer to your questions.
This story was told by Richard, on Mr Zhou’s Ghost Stories on 29th October 2021. Two boys invited two girls to play this game after school. Their school was known to be haunted as a girl had hanged herself there. Anyway, while playing this game, they asked “Are you a girl”, then the pen pointed no. They were very curious. One of the girls was very uncomfortable and suddenly she could not control her body. A Malay school worker walked past the classroom and saw this girl was trembling. He immediately placed his hand on her forehead and said some chanting. Later, the worker told them that there was a boy who wanted to be a girl. He was always teased by his friends and he could not take the teasing any more and decided to kill himself. Anyway, the uncle warned those children never to play this game again.
Shadow Game (影子游戏 yǐng zi yóu xì)
This story was told by Richard, on Mr Zhou’s Ghost Stories 10th March 2023. To play this game, you will need a paper person (flat paper) and the player’s hair. Place the hair onto the paper person and burn it. Once it was burned, one of the player’s shadows would disappear. Now, the hide-and-seek game starts; all the players have to find the shadow before the dawn breaks (3 am). If they are not able to find the shadow of the player, the player will never wake up again.
To summarise, after burning the paper person, they shone the torch on all the players, and they saw one of their friend’s shadows become lighter and gone. When looking for the shadow, you have to creep behind the shadow to catch it. If the shadow saw you, it will run away. Anyway, they found the shadow but the shadow was not complete. They went back to look at the ashes and they realised the paper person’s arm was not completely burnt. They quickly burnt it and their friend fainted. They told their parents and the Master came to help retrieve the boy’s soul back. Their friend woke up after the cleansing.
Peel An Apple in the Night (削苹果皮 xuè píng guǒ pí)
I read about this game in a supernatural book my sister used to own and I was always very intrigued by it. But I never had the courage to do it! For this game, you need a big mirror, an apple and a knife. Before midnight, you have to light up the candles and switch off all lights. Sit in front of the mirror and at midnight, you start to peel the apple using the knife. Through the mirror, some people believe you will see an image of your future husband or wife. Some say you will see your past life.
In one of Mr Zhou’s Ghost Stories podcasts, the girl saw an old lady, and she got frightened and threw the apple at the mirror. Fast forward a few years later, she met her husband and realised the old lady was her husband’s grandmother. This may have been a happy ending, but it is often not the case.
Crossroad Demon (十字路口恶魔游戏 shí zì lù kǒu èmó yóu xì)
Jenson, from Mr Zhou’s Ghost Stories podcast, told this story on 16th August 2024. To play this game, you need to find a quiet crossroad, leave a bowl of rice at the junction and burn joss sticks. Once the joss stick finishes burning, you have to eat the rice in order to enter the other world.
Bloody Mary (血腥玛丽 xuè xīng mǎ lì)
Again, this was told by Jenson, the podcast is in Mandarin. At midnight, go to the toilet, close the door, turn off the lights, light up a candle and say ‘Bloody Mary’ three times in front of the mirror. Expect scary things, like she might try to pull you inside the mirror.
Alleyway Shadow (巷道阴影 hàng dào yīn yǐng)
From the same podcast, Jenson said to find a quiet, dark alleyway and start to chant your name. On the 13th time, you will see two shadows. One is your shadow and the other one is the entity/ghost. The entity will help you with a favour and in return, you have to return the favour to the entity.
Four Corners Game (四角游戏 sì jiǎo yóu xì)
From the same podcast as above. There was also a story shared by Jenson on 16th December 2022 after approx. 30 minutes. His friend told Jenson his story. His new place was being renovated and not too far away. He knows that no one will be there at night, hence he invited his friends to go there to play a game. They played the game for over an hour but nothing happened. They stopped playing and left the house. Since then, his friend said he can see a lot of shadows and had nightmares. He only told his parents after they moved in and the shadows were more than before. His parents took him to a temple and asked the masters to help. Soon after his ‘third eye’ was closed.
I also saw on the China Mango TV Great Escape where they played this game but not as a paranormal game. Instead, it was a trick maze to confuse the players.
For this Four Corners game, you will need four players, each standing in each corner of the dark room (preferably a square-shaped room). Turn off all the lights. Do not look back while playing this game. It can be in a clockwise or anti-clockwise direction. Then one player will move in one direction, gently tap the second player and stay in the corner. While the second player will move on toward the third player and so on. By right, when the fourth player walks to the next corner, it should be empty. He/she will need to give a cough and slap their hands to inform the rest of the players that the corner is empty. Anyway, some have said either one of the players will disappear or an extra player will appear.
Elevator Game (电梯游戏 diàn tī yóu xì)
This was told by Richard, on Mr Zhou’s Ghost Stories 19th June 2020 podcast, at 14 minutes.
This game came from Korea and the aim of the game is to transport you to the other side of the world. It can only be played by one person and the building you choose to play this game has to have at least 10 stories high. Some people would choose to play this game after midnight as they will have less chance of anyone using the lift.
To play this game, you have to follow these steps. Do not get out of the floor until you have done these steps. If at any time, someone comes in, you can not continue this game. You have to reset the game and start from the first floor all by yourself.
Enter the lift from level one and go to the fourth floor. Do not step out when the lift reaches the fourth floor. Stay in the lift and press the button for the second floor. When you reach the second floor, press to go to the sixth floor. When you reach the sixth floor, press to go to the second floor. When you reach the second floor, press to go to the tenth floor. From the tenth floor, press to go to the fifth floor, which is the end of the steps. When you successfully reach the fifth floor, when the door opens, there will be a long-haired strange-looking woman that enters the lift. Please do not engage with her. The lift will then bring you back to the tenth floor. When you have reached the tenth floor, you have transported yourself into another world. The building will look the same, except there will no longer be any living beings in the world you are in. You can now explore. The woman will remain inside the lift. If you do not want to explore, you can take the lift back to the first floor and start the steps again to return back to your world. Please do remember you have to take the lift along with the strange woman. During this time, the strange woman will try to engage with you and you must resist and not speak to her. After you finish the steps, you will return to the first floor, please do not turn your head back, keep walking away from the building.
In the podcast, he shared that his friend had played this game and encountered the strange woman. He wrote down the step-by-step on a piece of paper starting this game. He then brought his camera to the hotel lobby to record his encounter. When he completed the steps, he went out to explore the corridors and he did not see any strange woman. He decided to go back to his hotel room which was situated on the eighth floor. He pressed the eighth-floor button and when the door closed, the button disappeared. The lift did not go to the eighth floor but went straight to the tenth floor. At the same time, he heard a woman’s voice say don’t go. He then saw a glimpse of the woman’s hand and the woman tried to engage with him. Anyway, he safely returned to his own world and the note he had written before starting his game was no longer a reminder of the steps to be taken. It was writing don’t go.
Banana Spirit/Miss P/Pontianak
This was told by Richard, on Mr Zhou’s Ghost Stories on the 29th May 2020 podcast bonus track. Long story short, if you want the Banana spirit to do you a favour, you need to find a banana that is flowering. In the middle of the night, you pierce seven needles into the flower and tie a red string from the flower to your wrist. Then you will be able to communicate with the spirit. After she completes the favour, you will need to remove the needle, and maybe in return, you have to do a favour for the spirit.
In Richard’s story, the person did not remove the needles as he got too greedy. In the end, the person was trapped in a house fire and burnt to death. When they found him, there were seven needles pierce into his heart.
In fact, there are many stories surrounded by Miss P. She likes to look for pregnant women and kill their unborn babies. I will try to add the podcasts here when I find them. Wisely, on Mr Zhou’s Ghost Stories on the 16th June 2023 podcast, around 42 minutes.
Cemetery Entity
I heard this from my mum. When you are desperate for money, you can visit a newly buried grave and ask him/her for a favour to help you win money. Of course, in return, you have to return a favour. There is nothing free in this world.
Mirror Game
This game is a bit similar to the peel an apple in the night game. Sit in front of the mirror and play rock, paper, scissors game. Soon your mirror image will play the game with you.
So far, these are the games I’ve heard about through stories and podcasts. I don’t think I would be brave enough to play. What about you? Would you dare to play these games listed above?
Did you know there are a few ways to open your ‘third eye’? Dogs are very sensitive to entities and one way I heard is that if you wipe a dog’s tear onto your eyes, it will open your third eye. Or you can bend down and look backwards through your legs, you can see them. To be honest, I have not tried these and I wouldn’t dare to do so. So whether there is any truth in this, I am not very sure.
Another story that was told by Dennis on Mr Zhou’s Ghost Stories podcast on 29th October 2021, 4 minutes onwards. This seven year old boy went to visit his relatives with his parents. On one of his relative’s neighbour’s floor, he saw a can that was used to hold the burning joss stick and decided to jump above it. Unfortunately, he missed it and knocked over the can. The can of ashes went everywhere. A long story short, he fell ill and since then, he can see ghosts/entities.