This article first appeared in Capital, The Edge Malaysia Weekly on October 23, 2023 - October 29, 2023
Dark was the night and weird the atmosphere. It rained from time to time; gusts of wind shook the trees. Between thunderclaps and the moaning of jackals could be heard the eerie laughter of spirits. Flashes of lightning revealed fearsome faces.
With Halloween just around the corner, this could be a spooky setting for a trick or treat.
Should you prefer to make it spookier, you could always choose the setting of an office building where there have been sightings for a Halloween party. I have come to learn that there are many haunted offices. Let me share the story of two potential locations.
One floor of an office building located within the Golden Triangle, where my husband’s office used to be located, is haunted. The employees were aware of the spiritual presence but were not so spooked that they would not turn up for work. Because the ghostly figure was often spotted next to the pantry, the staff named her “Sushi”. The staff would always leave work by 7pm, to give Sushi her space. In hindsight, Sushi’s presence provided a good excuse to not stay and work late at the office.
Sushi did not appear evil and was much like Casper the friendly ghost. However, Sushi would at times get lonely and turn mischievous. If a new staff member, who had not been briefed about Sushi, decided to work late and alone, she would “come out” and introduce herself by rattling items in the pantry and typing away on the computer keyboard. Incidentally, the building has been sold and is currently unoccupied … by humans that is.
Another option for a Halloween party location is at an office in Shah Alam, where a friend used to work. A shy apparition would appear now and then just behind the entrance door. The apparition, which seemed to be hiding (well, not well enough!) appeared to be a female with long hair wearing white overalls. The staff named her “Li Lian” (Ms Peek-a-BOO-from-behind the door’s real name is not being divulged to safeguard the identity of the company).
Li Lian, who has been spotted on the CCTV camera, often liked to play with the fluorescent lights, causing them to flicker on and off. Sometimes, Li Lian would double up as a doorman/doorwoman. Once, she was kind enough to unlock the office door from the inside so that my friend could enter (though why my friend chose to step inside is beyond me).
The Halloween-related business in Malaysia continues to grow. With just 10 days to go, already invites are circulating on where to party and where to shop for costumes. Data from the National Retail Federation released last month shows that total Halloween spend in the US this year will reach
US$12.2 billion, up from last year’s record of US$10.6 billion. Forget all this talk of a looming recession — no one celebrates Halloween like the Americans.
The top ways Americans plan to celebrate Halloween is by handing out candy (68%), decorating their home or yard (53%) or dressing in costume (50%). However, in a return to pre-pandemic norms, more consumers are also planning to throw or attend a party (32%) or take their children trick-or-treating (28%).
This year, most children plan to dress up as Spiderman, followed by their favourite princess, a ghost, a surperhero or a witch. Most adults plan to go as witches, followed by vampires. Other popular choices are Barbie, Batman and Catwoman. Pets will not be left out as the number one costume planned for pets is as a pumpkin, followed by a hot dog, a bat, a bumblebee and a spider.
Incidentally, the first paragraph in this article is taken from the mythological tales of Vikram (King Vikramaditya) and Vetal (vampire) from the illustrated book called Chandamama, which was published monthly in 13 languages for two decades.
The story was about the King who sought to dislodge Vetal from the jungle and deliver him to an evil tantric to fulfil a promise. The vampire, who happened to be a very talkative one, made a deal with the King to save himself. Vetal would tell the King a story and pose a question. If the King knew the answer and did not reply, the King’s head would roll and the vampire would fly away. But if the King did not know the answer, the vampire would be at his disposal. Did the King finally succeed in dislodging Vetal? That’s a story for another day.
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