November 2003, a group of eight middle school students decided to visit the local areas haunted location. Their plan was to stay the night, in the hopes of getting a glimpse of one of the resident spirits.
Their hopes high for a night of mystery and intrigue, in a few steps undoubtedly turned to uncertainty, as they crossed the threshold into Nam Koo Terrace. It is said a feeling of appalling loneliness that is also confusingly felt alongside the feeling of a crowded space, hits those who enter the property.
This abandoned house is also known locally as the Wan Chai Haunted House, and its legends no doubt grew to infamy as verbal recounts of what happened this night passed from neighbour to neighbour, through the students of the local schools, and child to child in the playground located close by.
That night the students set up their small camp in one of the empty rooms, and decided to attempt to contact the spirits through their version of a ouija board. It was during this session that three of the girls in the group became agitated, their minds filling with terrible images.
One of the girls then completely flipped and became psychotic.
The students fled the building, but as they made it to the gate, the girl who had been most affected took on a strange persona and would not step off the property. It was at this stage the other two girls affected during the ouija session heard a male voice calling them to the second floor.
The police were called, and when they tried to forcefully remove the girl, she snapped and attacked them. It took both police officers to remove the girl and she was sent off to a hospital for psychiatric assessment and treatment, along with two of the other students who were emotionally affected by the night’s activities.
The Oriental Daily newspaper ran the story, and soon many other papers and media outlets followed suit. The legend of Nam Koo Terrace was now fully lodged in everyone’s psyche, but the legends of ghosts and hauntings of this location go back quite a time.
The two story building was built in a period between 1915 and 1921, in the Wan Chai district of Hong Kong, China. The land was purchased and leased by prominent Chinese businessman ‘To Chun-man’. The house itself was designed to mimic European style houses, while still incorporating facets of feng shui.
In the 1940’s, the Japanese invaded and occupied Hong Kong. During this period the Japanese military turned Nam Koo Terrace, along with many other buildings in the district, into a military brothel. It remained as a brothel for four years until 1945.
It was during this period that the legends began starting with tales of local women being taken to the ‘comfort house’ to be repeatedly raped by the Japanese soldiers, before being tortured and killed. Many of these women were said to have been decapitated by the soldiers, before being dumped, to be found by their friends and relatives.
Nam Koo Terrace is also known as a suicide house, a location where people come to end their own lives. As recently as 2010 bodies have been recovered from the rooms of the house, or cut down from the branches of the gardens trees. It is not known how many people have ended their lives in the house, but estimates put it at higher than 30.
Murder is also said to have taken place on the grounds several times.
Still, even with all the dark history and the hauntings, people like to venture to the overgrown building. Urban explorers love to scale the sides of the derelict home, or venture into the below ground ‘secret’ entrance.
The hauntings are made up of visions of headless or bloody women, their cries piercing the mind as blocking your ears does not lessen their impact. A man in black has been seen wandering the building, and it is thought it was his voice the girls heard on that night in 2003.
'Spectral fires' have been reported, but these at least can be chalked up to the squatters who have called the building home on and off through the years.
People who have entered the building say there is just something plain wrong with the feel of the place. What it feels like at night they are not quite sure, as not many people are brave, or stupid enough, to visit it after the sun goes down.
Nam Koo Terrace is a Grade 1 Historical Building, and as such is likely to stay around for a long time to come. Hopewell Holdings, who plan to develop the area, have stated that they aim to restore the old building and preserve its 90 years of history.
Ashley Hall 2013.
Picture: The front entrance and portico of Nam Koo Terrace
Inset Upper: A view of the left hand structure of the building.
Inset Middle: An interior shot showing the place a stairwell used to be located.
Inset Bottom: From the back porch, a view overlooking the city.
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