Back during the early 2000s, I used to listen to a Tamil radio programme on THR Raaga called 'Marma Desam'. It was hosted by popular deejay Geetha. People would call in every week to share their own personal experiences with the supernatural or the paranormal. Some of the stories really spooked me and the background sound effects did not help. I am not sure when they discontinued it, or if they even discontinued it at all, but I eventually stopped listening to the radio. Very recently, I rediscovered the show and it is now available as a weekly podcast on Spotify. I binged through all the episodes and here are the top 10 scariest stories from the programme:
1. The strange family who appeared twice along the highway
This is not the most uncommon story but nevertheless, the way it was narrated gave me the chills. When Raja was 15, he would take turns with his older brother to accompany their father, who was a lorry driver, on his travels. One evening, Raja and his father came across a couple and their child whose white Nissan had broken down by the highway. Raja's father stopped his lorry to help the family fix their car. While his father was helping the husband, the caller was playing with the little child. Once the car was fixed, Raja and his father got into their lorry. Before parting ways, the husband warned Raja's father not to stop to help anyone along the way on that particular evening. The father got upset seeing as he just helped the man do that very thing. They then left and continued their journey.
Around two and a half hours later, Raja and his father witnessed the most terrifying scene in their lives. They saw that exact same family with that exact white Nissan trying to stop them. Raja's father was so horrified he let out a gut-wrenching scream as he sped through the highway. Throughout the journey, Raja's father was crying profusely as he could not digest what he had just seen. Fearing that something malevolent might be following them, Raja and his father went to a temple to pray before going home that day. A few years later, Raja's father passed away but Raja never clarified if it had anything to do with that incident. He speculates that the earlier family could be heavenly creatures sent by God to warn them against what they might encounter later, but till this day, he is not sure of what really happened that day.
Link: https://open.spotify.com/episode/7MemDcZSiING0aAzbhHnKH?si=utfArzhfRraWcQ7dfRfZog&dl_branch=1
2. The friendly child ghost that protected the pregnant woman from a not-so-friendly entity
Suha and her husband moved into a home after getting married. Before settling in, they were told by a local priest that the spirit of a little girl lives there. However, this little girl bears no ill will towards anyone and the priest advices them to simply leave some of their food aside for the little spirit as an offering whenever they can. Although the young couple was a little taken aback by this, the spirit never revealed itself to them and they continued to live happily in the house. As months went by, the couple had to leave for Sabah for work. While there, they had the opportunity to go fishing, which they enjoy doing. When they came back, they were visited by some relatives who stayed with them for a few days. One day, Suha noticed her sister-in-law talking to someone. When Suha approached her, the sister-in-law was shocked as she claimed she had been talking to Suha all this time. Thinking that the spirit of the little girl did not like visitors and was trying to spook her relatives, she let the incident go. After the relatives left, both husband and wife started fighting a lot, which they normally never did. Suha also started noticing a dark figure wondering around their house late at night. Nonetheless, Suha became pregnant, and his brought great joy to the young couple amidst all the problems they were facing.
One evening, Suha was walking up the stairs when she felt something grip her leg and drag her down. She almost hit her head on the ground had it not been for something that gently held her head. Following the incident, Suha suffered a miscarriage but she recovered. Her husband took her to the local priest. After visiting their home, the priest reinsured them that it was not the spirit of the little girl who had pulled Suha's leg. On the contrary, it was the girl who had saved her. At that point, Suha remembered the gentle little hands that held her head from hitting the floor. The husband then recalled that while they were in Sabah, they had gone fishing in a remote area which locals had warned them to be mindful of while visiting. The priest confirmed that there was a second entity in the house now, one that had followed them home from the fishing trip and this one wanted to harm them. The priest then perform some prayers to get rid of the entity. Nevertheless, the couple moved out from the house. The spirit of the child never manifested itself before Suha, but she still misses the child and is thankful for saving her life that day.
Link: https://open.spotify.com/episode/3wx7xHhWK8zUMjxwtC2Krv?si=GlZ8A0asQjOCu9Fu_x2Hew&dl_branch=1
3. The overly sensitive girl who cursed her landlady
Four years ago, Sasha rented out her home to two young ladies. Apart from keeping the place neat and tidy, Sasha made the girls promise to never bring any boys home. The girls agreed to the terms, but one day, one of the girls asked if her guy friend could stay with them for awhile as he was new in town and had not found a house to rent. Sasha agreed since this won't be a permanent arrangement. The boy was made to sleep in the living area. During weekends, Sasha would visit her mother's home, leaving the girls alone. On one such weekend, Sasha's husband came home unexpectedly and saw this girl in her room with the boy. When Sasha found out about this, she was very upset and she confronted the girl. The girl was so hurt that she attempted suicide. The girl's mother was particularly angered by the way Sasha handled the situation and called Sasha up to question her about driving her daughter to suicide, which Sasha never intended to happen.
A few days later, Sasha was having coffee with her husband at their verandah when she accidentally stepped on something that was left on her doorstep. She was unsure of what it was and just threw it away. Little did she know that her life would change after that. While driving with her mother and husband one day, she suddenly had a panic attack for no apparent reason and had to stop their car in the middle of the busy road. Several other similar incidents would ensue. Furthermore, people around her started noticing how she wasn't eating well. Whenever she was alone, she felt as if little children were whispering into her ear, urging her to take her own life. Once, these spirits manifested themselves before her very eyes while she was in the toilet. Without even pulling up her skirt, she rushed out of the toilet but thankfully nobody was around.
While visiting her grandparents' home, Sasha's grandmother noticed that there was a mark on her face, as if someone had spanked her across the face. Sasha's family finally took her to a Malay shaman. The shaman identified that Sasha was cursed by someone who had sent the spirit of young children to not only drive her insane, but to make her take her own life. Although the shaman did his best to rid Sasha off the spirits, she was told this curse was particularly strong and can only be undone through its victim's own self-determination. It took Sasha over two years to finally come out of this situation. Recently, Sasha came into contact with one of the girl's colleagues who confirmed that it was that girl's mother who had arranged for the curse since the girl was bragging about it at their workplace.
Link: https://open.spotify.com/episode/4xmpi0Z7946hiKwNFVSz4J?si=xGXtHDBXTt-QlCYd7jLgGg&dl_branch=1
4. The mysterious bus that took a little girl on the ride of her life
Meera was the head prefect during primary school. She has to be at school early each morning to start her duties, which is why she goes to sleep early every night. One morning, she woke up and realized all the clocks at her house showed it was already six o'clock. She woke up her grandfather and told him she had to get ready for school. The bus that arrived that morning to take her to school was strange to say the least. There was nobody inside; not even a driver. Nevertheless, Meera seemed overwhelmed that she did not have to pay for her ticket that day and just got in; so overwhelmed that she did not seem to care that there was no driver as well. The bus took her to school.
Since the gate was still locked, she sat by the guardhouse while daydreaming. Then, she felt someone calling her name. When she turned around, she felt a strange energy take over her body. Not too long after that, the security guard came and asked her why she was at school so early. Meera was finally awoken from her trance and she checked her watch - it was only 10 minutes pass midnight. Nevertheless, Meera was feeling unusually brave that night and she decided to stay at school until the next morning. After that incident, apart from her odd boldness, Meera did not feel any changes in her body. Even at the age when her body should have changed, she remained the same and did not reach puberty while her younger sisters did. One day, her uncle suddenly went into a trance and instructed their family to take her to the Angalamman temple for healing. During the ritual, Meera could feel the entity inside her speak. The entity claimed that she had been inside Meera for years and the only way they could make it leave is if Meera dies. As Meera felt the arrogant entity speak through her tongue, she also witnessed the idol of the guardian deity inside the temple come to life. The deity walked towards Meera and threatens to kills the entity unless it leaves Meera's body. While nobody around her could see the deity, they did see Meera fall to the ground in penance while pleading for forgiveness from something or someone. After that, the entity seemingly left Meera's body and just a few hours later, she finally came of age.
Link: https://open.spotify.com/episode/24EXId97s4jhi0xrHszfF9?si=8o6K0InxTRqCJtejWvmCrg&dl_branch=1
5. The shaman who came to exorcise a house... or did he?
Jeevan Raj lived with a group of friends in a rental apartment. The apartment had been locked and unoccupied for over six years. They soon came to realize that the place was haunted. It all started with a rack falling apart and then things just got from bad to worse. One of Jeevan's friends got possessed and almost jumped off the building. Realizing that they are dealing with something supernatural, they approached a shaman who often prayed at the mosque opposite their apartment building. The shaman was dressed in black robes and was heavily bearded. For some reason, the shaman could not enter their apartment and so he conducted a ritual from the outside. He then left after telling the boys that he had done his best. However, the haunting did not stop. Desperate for help, Jeevan and his friends tried to get in touch with the shaman again but nobody at the mosque had seen such a man. They then approached the security team at the apartment building to get a recording of the shaman through the security cameras.
To their surprise, the shaman never appears in any of the security recordings. All the recordings merely show Jeevan and one of his friends walking to into their apartment building and towards their apartment with an empty space where the shaman was supposed to be. Jeevan then approached their landlord to explain what had been happening at the apartment. The landlord finally revealed that six years ago, around seven to eight girls used to live in the same apartment. One of the girls got pregnant and hung herself in one of the rooms there. Nobody knows why and the landlord had kept this a secret. Finally, Jeevan took his friends to a priest in his hometown who conducted some prayers and concealed all the apartment's negative energy in an object. He then instructed Jeevan to burry the object in a nearby cemetery. Now, getting to the cemetery itself proved to be quite a challenge, almost as if something was stopping them. First, their car could not start up. So, one of his roommates who has a motorcycle took the object by motorcycle to the river. On his way, he met with an accident but fortunately, he was fine. Jeevan called up the priest and explained what had happened. The priest told him to bring the object over and they finally threw it into a river. Till this day, Jeevan is not sure who was it who came as a shaman to their apartment that day.
Link: https://open.spotify.com/episode/1jPYKHx2QrsBFOvCpq2WfS?si=pyYRY04UTDGqwMDdqztZ2g&dl_branch=1
6. The man who entered the spirit world and got out thanks to...
Sara was traveling home one night. Since he was rushing home, he beat a red light and was pursued by a traffic patrol car. In order to avoid the police, he decided to take a shortcut home. To do so, he had to pass by a Chinese cemetery which he has passed by countless time during the day. As this was nighttime, the entire place seemed different. However, as time passed by, he realized he was driving in circles and he could not leave the cemetery area. He started to panic. At that point, a white figure appeared before his car. The figure made a hand gesture that seemed to suggest that it wanted Sara to follow it. Sara did not seem to have a choice as there was only one road in front of him. He followed the floating figure as it guided him through the road. Throughout the way, Sara was unsure if the figure was guiding him out of this mysterious pathway or if it was guiding him deeper into it.
After what seemed forever, Sara finally saw some road lights and he had finally reached the main road. He looked around for the mysterious figure but it was nowhere to be seen. As Sara made the turn to enter the main road, he noticed an elderly man walking by the roadside. Thinking this poor man must be lost to, Sara stopped his car and asked the man if he needed a ride. The man angrily told him, "You're found your way out of there, right? Just mind your own business and go home safely." The man's words brought chills down Sara's spine. How did this man know that Sara had been lost for the last few hours? Sara was so terrified he sped home. Till this day, he is not sure what that mysterious figure at the Chinese cemetery was or who that angry old man was.
Link: https://open.spotify.com/episode/6KFPoBMk3zP27c9jojgwol?si=JGNL4-BdTvys7lrc0zkF_Q&dl_branch=1
7. The spirit who wanted a little baby
Suren was a young boy when his baby brother was born. One night, when the little brother was around one and a half years old, their parents took them to a night market near a Chinese cemetery in Seremban. On their way home, the brother appeared to be communicating with something none of them could see. Thinking that he was playing around like all toddlers do, Suren and his parents ignored it and went to sleep. However, the brother kept crying all through the night as if he was in great pain. Their grandmother tried to bless the little boy with some holy fire but he knocked the prayer tray onto the floor. Realizing that something strange is happening, Suren's parents took his little brother to a local shaman. The shaman claimed that the little boy was being followed by the spirit of a lady who seems to think this little boy looks a lot like her own son when she was still alive.
The shaman then claimed that the lady spirit wants the little boy and she is willing to help the parents win lots of money through gambling. All the parents had to do is leave the boy deep inside the jungle near the rubber plantation they lived in and the spirit promised to help them make lots of money. Naturally, the parents refused the offer and they continuously took their little boy to the shaman for over a fortnight. During that time, the boy constantly had stomach aches and cried non-stop. Eventually, the boy was cured but the spirit seemingly refused to give up. For the next two to three months, there were constant knocks on their door and strange sounds around their house. The shaman then blessed their house and warned the parents against taking the little boy outside at night ever again. Slowly, the disturbances lessened and Suren's little brother is now a healthy eight-year old boy.
Link: https://open.spotify.com/episode/62nRbXMUsrKIPna64krbaJ?si=VKps9Uu-RBmt9bZ08AwM_A&dl_branch=1
8. The entity that almost destroyed an entire family
Shan's wife grew up in Quakane Quarters, a large government-owned residential area that was built by the British before independence. Recently, while consulting a numerologist, Shan and his wife were told that a dark spirit that had haunted the wife's family since she was a little girl was still following her around. Way back in 1977 when her parents were newly married, they moved into Quakane Quarters. Behind their two-storey house was a huge tree that many believe was never supposed to be there as it was the type of three that is usually found deep in the jungle and not in an area like this. Within the house compound itself was a mango tree that never bore any fruit for over ten years they lived there.
While the wife and her brother were both ages three and seven respectively, they saw a mysterious dark figure inside the store room of their two-storey house. This was only the first time. Following this, there were a few more similar sightings inside the house, and most of them time, it appeared as if this figure seemed to be targeting the mother. One such time, the frying pan that the mother was using to cook food seemingly toppled itself onto her. Fortunately, she was not badly hurt, but it was enough to reassure the entire family that something otherworldly wanted to harm her. The parents invited a man who was knowledgeable in the supernatural. He confirmed the family's doubts that there is indeed something evil in their home, but it is not a normal ghost or spirit. This entity has been here for generations and it cannot be simply chased away through any ritual since its presence is rooted in this very house. Although this revelation terrified the parents, nothing could have prepared them for what the man had to say next. Apparently, the entity was lusting for the father and this was why it was seeking to eliminate the mother, which it saw as an obstacle. Unfortunately, they could not afford to move out immediately. So, they had no choice but to be more careful and remain in that house.
As the haunting got from bad to worse, the family's relatives arranged for a famous priest from the 1980s to visit the house. The entity's presence was so strong that the priest started to pant and sweat profusely. He then identified the storeroom as the entity's nest. However, the entity's actual home is the strangely huge tree behind the quarters, which the priest advised they get rid off as quickly as possible. The father arranged for a few Malay men to get rid of the tree. However, after spending some time around the tree, they decided to leave, claiming this was no usual tree and whoever who chopped it down might be in grave danger themselves. The family had no choice but to put up with all the entity's atrocities for the next few years. In 1991, the mother died. Mysteriously, the mango tree that never bore any fruits started to flower just a couple of months after the funeral.
By now, the father feared that something bad might happen to his children too. So, they shifted to his sister's home in Selayang. Initially, things were going fine in their new home. One afternoon, the father came home earlier than usual. Their pet dog turned unusually violent and started attacking him, forcing him to leave. A couple of hours later, the father returned and the dog seemed normal around him. When questioned why he left so abruptly earlier, the father was perplexed as he was working overtime that day, which means there was no way he could have been home so early. Now, the family realized that the entity might have tracked them down to their new home, and their pet dog had just saved their lives. A few years later, the father finally moved into a permanent home in Ampang, and in 2013, the father also passed away. Thinking that their lives is now back to normal, Shan's wife married him and moved on in life. After recently learning that the entity was still haunting her, it brought back dark memories from her pass which she had been trying to forget. The numerologist had advised her to do two ritual to rid herself off the entity. The couple had already done one. They are still waiting for the right time to complete the second one.
Link: https://open.spotify.com/episode/1jRNEJm2uWcrCjxbZk6RHF?si=YlT1KKnGTtGLhjgxa0r8zw&dl_branch=1
9. The tenant from hell
Before Jai Prakash was born, his parents used to live in a neighbourhood called Kampung Lindungan. Today, the place is called Desa Mentari. They decided to rent out one of the rooms in their house. A friend of Jay's maternal uncle decided to rent the room. He mostly kept to himself and did not talk much. However, after he moved in, Jai's parents started having lots of problems and they even started fighting a lot. Jai's mother noticed how these problems only started after the tenant moved in. One day, while the tenant was out, Jai's mother went into the rental room and found all kinds of strange things that people would normally not keep inside a home. Jai's mother immediately realized that these things were used for black magic rituals. When the tenant came home, Jai's parents confronted him about these things. A big fight ensued and the tenant was kicked out of the house. Before leaving, the young man stood outside the gate and cursed the family.
Many days later, the area was flooded. During this time, the family saw a snake attack one of their chickens and leaving it to die at the front of their home. This was only the beginning. After that, Jai's mother became very ill and no doctor in town could seem to cure her. She became very thin. Jai's father asked his co-workers for advice, and one of them suggested that this could be something supernatural. The co-worker came to their home, and without even stepping inside, he could sense a curse inside. He then left and later called Jai's father, asking him to bring the mother to a temple. The priest there instructed the father to go home and check their garden for anything unusual. Jai's father did as he was told and true enough, he found a strange doll wrapped with a chicken's head and saffron powder. Under the priest's instructions, Jai's father burned all of it with petrol. They then realized that Jai's mother was the one who ousted the tenant for his ungodly practices, he had planted this curse in their home for her. Unfortunately, this curse is very strong, and the only way to end it is if its victim dies. So, they arranged for a fake funeral for the mother while she was still unconscious because of the curse. Their plan worked, and after the fake funeral was over, Jai's mother was back to normal.
Link: https://open.spotify.com/episode/3PhIEuex8Lghyp9rFZbTA8?si=3BAPOkDORMK1Ceiqb9MCSA&dl_branch=1
10. The 'thing' at the cubicle
Sharon has lots of paperwork to complete and she needed to deal with one of her heavily pregnant co-workers. One morning, she arrives at work and sees the co-worker at her cubicle. Sharon puts her stuff on her table before going to the cubicle with all the paperwork. However, the co-worker was no longer there. Sharon asked the co-worker's partner where she was, to which the partner responds that the co-worker had not even come into work that day. Sharon thought the partner, who is mildly autistic, was teasing her based on her facial expression. Angered, Sharon stormed off back to her own table while grumbling to anyone who cared to listen. She then texted the co-worker to ask her where she was. Much to Sharon's surprise, the co-worker responded that she had not clocked in yet that morning since she was at the doctor's office. However, Sharon swore she saw the co-worker at her cubicle when she came into work earlier that morning and even described the clothes she was wearing - a red headscarf, a black blouse, and a red skirt. By lunchtime, the entire office had heard about Sharon's tantrums but they were not prepared for what was about to happen in the afternoon.
Later that day, the co-worker came into the office. Much to everyone's surprise, she was wearing the exact clothes Sharon had seen her wearing earlier. Unknown to Sharon, everyone else at the office told the co-worker Sharon saw earlier that morning. Even their boss teased Sharon for having seen something paranormal. Sharon was so disturbed by what happened that day at the office that she felt physically pain on her shoulders. Back at home, she told this to her mother and husband. Her mother advised Sharon to contact the co-worker and apologize for calling her up so many times at the doctor's office. Sharon did as her mother advised. Turns out the co-worker was furious at Sharon because her story had led everyone to assume she was rearing some kind of dark entity to do her bidding. Regardless, the co-worker forgave her and at that very moment, Sharon felt the physical pain leave her body, almost as if something had literally been lifted of her shoulders.
A few months later, the co-worker had given birth to a baby and was back at the office after her maternity leave. While they were having lunch at the pantry, the co-worker told Sharon a story. At her home in Banting, her son would always sense something otherworldly there and this started to affect his health. She then turned to a shaman who she suspects sent some kind of spirit to protect her and her family. Probably Sharon had seen that spirit at her cubicle that day and since the co-worker was so upset at her, the spirit had followed her home and only left after she forgave Sharon.
Link: https://open.spotify.com/episode/1YMUMufiFOnBss8nBThqpo
11. The haunted cookery classroom
In 2014, Malar was transferred to a secondary school in Ipoh. She opened a cookery club at her new school. For five years, the home sciences classroom was closed but Malar convinced the school admins to reopen it for her club. The security guards warned Malar that something otherworldly resides in that block and that she should be careful. After having cleaned up the entire classroom, Malar let her students go home as she locked the place up. However, one of the fans refused to turn itself off even though Malar had turned the switch off. Malar warned the entity to leave her alone and the fan, ignoring all laws of physics, immediately stopped - no inertia. Later that night, as Malar was going to bed, a spirit that resembled a Chinese young lady in a skirt tried to attack her. It only vanished after Malar started praying to God for help. The next morning at school, Malar told one of the security guards what had happened, and he advised her to apologize to the entity. Malar did as she was told and the spirit never revealed itself to her again, but the haunting continued...
Not too long after that, Malar and her students were preparing cookies for a bake sale. However, they soon realized that the classroom was infested with monitor lizards and so they started storing the cookie jars in sealed boxes. However, one evening, Malar had to stay back after asking her afternoon session students to go home for the day because she had to wait for the cookies to cool down. As she was placing them in the cookie jars, she had an eerie feeling as if she was being watched. She quickly rushed home after placing all the cookies into the jars. Only later that night did she realize that she had forgotten to place all the jars into a box and seal it. However, the following day, when she came to the cookery classroom, all the cookie jars were neatly placed into a carefully sealed box. Not only that, even her scissors and cellophane tape were nicely arranged in her drawer. Once the bake sale was done, Malar told her principal what had happened. The administration then organized a prayer ceremony and assured Malar that there will no longer be any haunting. However, this was not the last of it...
More recently, Malar was having a class at the cookery classroom. One of her female students asked if she could use the ladies' room and Malar allowed it. However, the student returned to class unusually early despite the nearest bathroom being at another block. When asked which bathroom she had used, the girl replied she had used the one on their floor. This shocked Malar because that bathroom has been locked for ages. She and her students then went to check the bathroom and it was indeed locked. The poor girl was spooked beyond words. Malar calmed her down by assuring her that maybe a good spirit was just helping her and there was nothing to be afraid of.
Link: https://open.spotify.com/episode/7HYXpKX0HB3tI7mZcJ1eMD
