The Haunted House of My Childhood

It’s the Ghost Month, in the Chinese Calendar. (Actually, it’s been the Ghost Month for the past 20-plus days now). In Malaysia, my granny (when she was still around) and elders would advise us youngsters (then) not to venture out at night, for this is the month where the gates of hell are flung open for the ghosts to roam around freely in the land of the living! Interesting?

In Malaysia, especially in the Chinese areas, you’d see stage performances near Chinese temples, set up for empty seats, food served for no one, lots of burning of incense, joss paper and hell money (no, ghosts aren’t bothered about environmental issues).

So, here’s a short picture post for just this occasion… Our visit to the haunted house of my childhood – Kellie’s Castle.

When I visited this place for the first time during my teenage years in the 80’s, it wasn’t a friggin tourist attraction. It was just a haunted house in the jungle, where us kids knew about from our friends, who knew about it from their friends, and so forth. It was a place we could boast about to the other kids that we ‘survived’! At that time, the ‘castle’ was surrounded by huge trees and jungle, with no visitors (we were very likely trespassing, OK?)

I think the authorities realized its tourism potential eventually, cleared up the jungle (No!), gave it a nice touch up (NO!!), added a tourist office and some flowering shrubs (NO!!!). (You SPOILT it! So, how does that look like a haunted house now?!?) I was so let down by the beautification desecration (you could see the neatly trimmed lawn and fluttering flags from the road when you're driving past - who puts flags on a haunted house?!?) that I never visited the place again, …until last year, with my wife and kids in tow. Sometimes tourism just screws up the experience that a place originally exudes. (Same treatment with the Lata Kinjang Waterfall, which was a gem only a few of us students knew about when we were kids, but became packed with tourists, vendors, and you name it after they completed the North-South Highway, and made it into a tourist attraction!)

Anyway, presenting the beautified Kellie’s Castle. I bet you that whatever ghosts that used to haunt this place, would’ve fled ages ago.


Kellie’s Castle, Batu Gajah, Perak, Malaysia




A secret staircase that leads from an upper room to the outside


A still scary corridor


Ghosts seen thru the windows of the castle (Oh, it’s us!)




These kids aren’t even a little scared! They think it’s a friggin playground!




Mommy’s victory over the haunted house




Smile – Kellie’s Castle, Perak 2019