Local internet star Hafidz Rahman on using social media to tell ghost stories

Nothing gets me more excited than food, and I think Singapore offers that and more. Fast internet comes a close second, of course.

My eldest paternal uncle’s house [during] Hari Raya. The barrage of “when are you getting married” questions is enough to send shivers down my spine...

But in all honesty, any quiet, long winding roads give me goosebumps, especially when I am driving alone. There is always this irrational fear that someone will jump onto the middle of the road while I am driving. I usually will have the music pumped out loud and keep the driving fast [laughs].

The fact that almost everyone has sort of experienced [the supernatural] to some degree, and yet we still know nothing about these supernatural beings.

The fact that almost everyone has sort of experienced it to some degree, and yet we still know nothing about these supernatural beings.

There is this one story shared by a young man that had me thinking about it for weeks. Apparently, he was waiting for the last bus by the roadside of Mount Vernon. While waiting, he saw a bus driving out from the crematorium. The bus was filled with people wearing white, and when the bus drove past him, everyone on the bus looked at him. 

There was also another incident of a young man who, apparently, took a “ghost bus”. In it, there was an Indian lady staring at him throughout the journey, an old Chinese man humming creepily at the back of the bus, and when he alighted, people at the bus stop were staring at him weirdly.

I have never experienced or seen anything but I have seen my mum being possessed at least thrice in my life.

[Social media] is the most powerful tool to talk about anything, especially on topics that are close to our hearts.

Let’s be honest: unfortunately, most of our lives are lived out on social media. We consume it in ways unimaginable. So it only makes perfect sense that it is the most powerful tool to talk about anything, especially on topics that are close to our hearts. 

I want to say Asians love ghost stories, but I’ve come to realise that the interest and curiosity for the supernatural or the paranormal is a worldwide obsession, regardless of the colour of our skin. So in that vein, I think any form of storytelling on social media is an effective tool. 

TikTok, I know for one, has accounts of people sharing works that are equal parts creepy and creative. I do ghost stories on my Instagram, so it’s limitless, to say the least.

The demand for scary stories will always be there, and I will surely, once in a while, feature them on my Instagram. It is an inexhaustible topic.

I don’t think there is any Halloween party whatsoever this year. But there will be a gathering of sorts. I’m still thinking of what to dress up as. I am very close in deciding between a zombie from the Korean series Kingdom or Chandramukhi from Devdas.

Yes! Zuhairi (the other half of Lepak One Korner) is coming up with a youth creative collective called Bold Play, where we will be mentoring young content creators to create funny, socially responsible and entertaining works. So for any young creatives out there, here’s your chance! More details are on my Instagram page (@asonofapeach).