1) A Thousand Doors, a Thousand Horror Stories: Lawang Sewu, Semarang
Widely said to be Indonesia's most haunted place, the Lawang Sewu is notorious for being featured in the final episode of a local paranormal TV series, where an apparition was caught on video. A few days later, rumours spread online that one of the participants had died mysteriously.
Sitting right in the heart of Semarang, the Lawang Sewu marked the Dutch's success in Indonesia. Rich in colonial era atmosphere, the building itself is a majestic piece of architecture and a modern marvel at that time. Underground tunnels that were made to cool the building also served as passageways connecting it to the Governor's residence and harbours.
During the Japanese Occupation, the Lawang Sewu was used as their headquarters in Semarang. The underground tunnels of Building B served as prisons where inmates were brutally tortured, and their decapitated heads were piled in a corner of the basement.
Climb up a few set of stairs and you may get goosebumps. The ghost of a girl who committed suicide to escape torture is said to be roaming the tower, often with feet floating off the ground!
2) An Other-worldly Commute: Bintaro Railway and Manggarai Station
Widely condemned as the nation's most devastating railway accident, two trains collided head-on on Monday morning, 19th October 1987, in Bintaro, South Jakarta due to an internal miscommunication.
More than 100 lives were lost, some were thrown out on impact, while others bled to death as they were crushed in between pieces of metal. It was a gruesome scene, and it took almost two days to completely evacuate the bodies.
Since then, the number of accidents on the exact stretch of railway has oddly increased, especially on Mondays. Increasingly widespread were stories of drivers who did not notice warning signs of an oncoming train in time. There was also a spike in the number of pedestrians who walked onto the railway tracks, right in front of a speeding train, and they were believed to be possessed by the Deaf Spirit or Hantu Budek.
The most recent major accident took place in late 2013, when an oil tanker was struck by a train, causing a huge explosion killing seven people. Regarded as Tragedi Bintaro II, the accident reminded the public of the railway's dark past.
The story doesn't end there - for decades, the wrecks from railway accidents around Jakarta are brought to a 'train graveyard' at Manggarai Station where they are put to rest. Unfortunately, although the trains have stopped operating, the same can't be said for souls attached to them. Besides the apparitions reported on this site alone, trains have also been seen to be travelling way past operational hours with no one on board.
One of the most bizarre stories is that of a college student who saw what looked like victims inside the train he was on late one night. Surprisingly his legs became sore when he reached his destination. He talked about what happened with the security guards duty, only to find out that there was no train all along and he had run the whole way.
3) Don't Forget to Honk when passing by, Jakarta
There is one thing Jl. Casablanca is known for - inhumane levels of traffic, all day, every day. As the main access road connecting the suburbs to the city, the number of drivers and their dodgy road ethics will surely haunt you in your sleep.
The traffic is so bad that passing by Jl. Casablanca every day, we often forget the road's sinister secret. Although the eight-kilometre stretch consists mainly of straight roads, it is a surprising fact that an accident occurs here every other week, and even the newly built flyover has already claimed a number of lives.
