Hungry Ghost Festival: HK agency leads and creatives expose their spookiest moments

This year’s Hungry Ghost Festival falls on 18 August, also known as the 15th day of the seventh lunar month this year. During the festival, we will see some individuals burning paper offerings for their deceased relatives. 

As for some of us, we may have heard of haunted stories surrounding the festival, let alone some agency leads and creatives who needed to work around the clock with demanding work schedules.  

To shed light on this, we spoke with agency leads and creatives in Hong Kong to expose some of the hair-raising incidents that have taken place in this realm. 

Here are some of their spooky moments.

1. Yvonne Ma, founder and managing director, Eighty20 Hong Kong

Awhile ago when I was working overtime alone at my previous office, all the light was off all at a sudden. I thought it was a power shortage. The next thing that happened was all the office desk phone started ringing.

Few seconds later, everything resumed normal. So I quickly wrapped up my work and left. I told this story to my colleagues and a few of them said they’ve encountered the same thing before. Then we just laughed it off.

2. Nonthaporn Ketmanee, senior creative director, Publicis Groupe Hong Kong

About 10 years ago, when I was travelling to Vienna alone, I stayed in a room that my exchange intern offered me for free (she was an intern from Austria at my previous office in New York). At first, I was intrigued that she didn't stay with me, but after the long, long night, I realised I might have done the same.  

During the night, I was half asleep and half awake, and I was half assured that I heard two voices talking to each other right next to my ears. I couldn’t tell if it was just the thin wall or something else. I had a mixed feeling of fear and, at the same time, relief about the fact that I don’t speak German.  

I couldn't move my body, and I couldn't turn on the lights, so I whispered in my head, “Please let me sleep, I'll only stay for a night.” Somehow, the voices disappeared, and I was able to get up and turn the lights on. But that was only half of the story. As I went back to sleep, I heard my laptop starting on its own.

The continuous Windows OS startup sound woke me up. Soon, I discovered that the laptop was unplugged, with the battery long dead. Yikes. Feeling unwelcome in what turned out to be an old hospital, I went off to Greece the next day. 

3. Miranda Xie, general manager, TEAM LEWIS Hong Kong

Many years ago, when I was working in financial communications, we often had to pull off late nights. With the volume of documents we dealt with, our office had piles of papers on every seat.

One night, I was working alone until late, with only the lights around my desk switched on. I could only hear the sound of my typing, when suddenly, I heard some scratchy noises as piles of papers fell from somewhere. I looked around, but it was too dark to see where it had happened. I kept telling myself it was probably nothing, but it felt eerie when I realised it was 3 am, so I grabbed my bag and went home.

Since then, I’ve been a big fan of going paperless.

4. Maggie Wong, CEO, VML Hong Kong

It was a late July night when I landed in Kuala Lumpur with my two teammates for a branding project. The journey from the airport seemed endless, winding through misty roads that snaked up to our destination. Exhausted, we checked in, learning our rooms arranged by the client were spread across three separate floors, each promising a panoramic view.

I was the last to reach my floor, my footsteps echoing in the deserted corridor as I made my way to the farthest room. The spacious suite had the bedroom to the right and the living area to the left. As I was about to turn towards the inviting bed, an odd sound caught my attention. I followed it to the living room. The television was on!

I dismissed it as a forgotten task of the cleaning staff or perhaps a welcoming gesture from the hotel. With a click of the remote, I silenced the room and returned to the bedroom. But the moment I set my bag down, the noise resurged. Perplexed, I returned to find the TV once again illuminated. Convincing myself I’d pressed the wrong button, I deliberately turned it off, this time double-checking the remote.

I decided a shower might clear my head. Yet, as I emerged from the steamy bathroom, the familiar sound greeted me once more. The TV was on. The clock mockingly displayed 2:30 am. Exhaustion overwhelmed my unease. "Fine," I muttered to the empty room, "have it your way." I retreated to bed, allowing sleep to claim me.

At dawn, I woke to silence. The TV was off, but the memory of its bizarre behaviour loomed large. Without hesitation, I hastily packed my belongings. My only thought was escape!

5. Kenix Lai, managing partner, Wavemaker Hong Kong

The scary story I can recall was two mysterious experiences from two respective offsite meetings years ago. On both mornings, I went to the meetings in good and healthy condition for myself and the presentation deck, mentally and physically. However, I got terribly sick with severe headaches, dizzy, and literally threw up once I stepped out of the meeting venues. Indeed, the meetings were short and went perfectly well without hiccups.

Well, the only unexplainable reason I could think of — It was my first time to both places and I didn’t say “Hello to everyone”!

Now, I certainly know what I should do additionally for meeting in a totally new place, such as knocking on the door for a safe hotel stay!

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