It’s Halloween season again, the perfect time for horror flicks to be shown in cinemas all over the metro. It is also the ideal season to share scary experiences and stories with your colleagues. So here’s the list of five places in Metro Manila that are purportedly haunted:

1. Starmall Alabang

Located along South Super Highway, Alabang, Muntinlupa City, Starmall is believed to be haunted especially that it was used to be a cemetery. The mall stands on the former site of the Alabang Cemetery. Locals believe that during the development of the mall in the late 90’s, the bodies of the dead were never removed from the site and it’s the reason why the place became haunted.

Modern ghost stories include the tale of a moviegoer who decided to watch a comedy film here during the night. He had trouble finding a seat inside as the theater was fully packed. The cinema was filled with laughter from the audience. When the movie ended, the lights were switched on and he was shocked by what he saw: there were few people inside.

After that encounter, he never came back to the mall to watch a movie. There are also tales of people seeing what they believe to be people who just simply disappear in thin air. Other encounters include pick-pocketing ghosts, items disappearing from store shelves and shop owners hearing strange noises.

2. Balete Drive

This two-lane undivided street and main thoroughfare is located in New Manila District, in Quezon City. It is a major route of cabs and jeepneys that serve the New Manila area. The road is popular for the century old Spanish houses and Balete Trees. It is also notable for the haunting legends that surround it.

Balete drive is reported to be haunted by a White Lady who is frequently seen in the portion of the road from the intersection of the road going to Bougainvilla Street. The reports commonly came from taxi drivers driving on the graveyard shift between 12:00 am and 3:00am. It is said that the white lady calls over to ride on their cab or suddenly appears inside the car.

3. Capitol Medical Center

Also situated in Quezon City, the Capitol Medical Center also has horror tales. There is a certain elevator in the building that nobody uses. According to a doctor, a hospital attendant died there. She/he was talking to someone when she/he didn’t notice that there was the elevator cabin is not there yet. So she/he fell to his/her death inside the elevator shaft.

Kevin Santiago doesn’t know about this story. Together with his father and sister, they used the said elevator and were supposed to get off at the second floor. The elevator took them to the basement where they saw a man wearing a long-sleeved shirt and slacks wandering around.  The man suddenly vanished into thin air.

Santiago, with his father and sister were shocked by what they saw. They ran and were able to get back to the elevator. Later on, a nurse told them that the basement used to be a morgue.

4. Manila Film Center

This theater in Pasay City is believed to be haunted by restless souls attached to the buildings. The ghosts are said to be angry construction workers who died there during an accident. Some visitors of the film center said that they can hear spirits crying and asking for help, and even see apparitions as well as arms sticking out from under the doors

There is also an account in which Imee Marcos asked for a medium to investigate the area. The medium went into a trance in which he suddenly spoke in an English language (normally, he spoke only his native dialect), telling them: “Now there are 169”, he added “Betty is with us”.

Betty was the one who is in charge of the construction of the film center and continued it instead of halting the project for a rescue attempt to dig out the workers. A few months later (after the accident) she was killed in a bizarre accident. In a 2005 documentary, i-Witness, all 169 workers were traced and all the bodies were retrieved and were given a proper burial.

5. Manila City Hall

This building is located in Manila City Hall and popular for its clock tower. When viewed from above, the entire city hall is shaped like a casket with a cross on it. There are reports that at 6 o’clock, ghosts began to wander the premises of the building. According to employees, they hear strange footsteps, noises and whispers during the night.

The casket-shaped architecture of the Manila City Hall is an ideal place for a ghost to stay. There are also reports of “ghost employees” here, but they are not actually spirits who wander inside the place, but they are illegal workers and even non-existent who accepts salaries even they’re not working there.

So if you want to have a ghost adventure, you better check out the places mentioned here.

You may also read this: The Five Most Haunted Places in the Philippines