Ghosts of Asia That Still Haunt the Night
By Kelli Luu | 25 Oct, 2025

Explore three of Asia’s most chilling ghost stories—Okiku’s Well, The Painted Skin, and Ma Da.

Every culture has its own spooky tales and these three Asian ghost stories are frequently told  throughout the night. 

This first story takes place in ancient Japan at the Himeji Castle. A beautiful servant named Okiku held the responsibility of caring for her master’s most valuable dishes. Her master, Aoyama tried to make Okiku his lover, but she would reject him every time, which led him to hide one of the special dishes. 

When she was asked about the plates, Okiku went into a frenzy trying to recount the plates and after she denied one last offer to be Aoyama’s lover, he ordered his servants to beat her and tie her up suspended above a well. Aoyama killed her with his sword and watched her body drop into the well. 

Okiku became a vengeful spirit who rose from the well every night to torture her master. Her ghost counts the plates she didn’t lose and every time she reaches ten, her voice pierces the entire castle with an antagonizing shriek as she never was able to figure out where the tenth plate went. 

This next tale comes from China’s ancient folklore and reminds us that beauty isn’t always a blessing. The story of The Painted Skin was first told over three hundred years ago. It starts off with a scholar named Wang who meets a young woman who claims to be fleeing her horrible master. Moved by pity, Wang welcomes her into his home and as time went by, their secret affair began.  

The energy shifted when Wang’s wife discovered the unsettling affair, but she accepted the thought that she cannot force her husband to change the way he feels. Wang was warned by a priest that an evil spirit has taken root in his life, but the scholar did not choose to listen. 

One night when Wang gets locked out of his courtyard and during his attempt to break in, he sees something shocking in the window. The young woman’s face was no longer there and instead was peeled away revealing a green monster with teeth that looked like blades. Beside her was a mask made of human skin. Wang returned to the priest for help and when he got nothing, the demon tore Wang’s heart from his chest, like he was being punished for his affair. 

Finally, we have the story of Ma Da, a Vietnamese ghost tale about spirits of victims who were violently drowned. They’re found in lakes or rivers near fishing villages and these spirits are spiteful. Their only goal is to lure living people into the water in hopes of drowning them to take their place in the water. They use tactics to distract fishermen like showing their intestines, grabbing them with a cold force or posing as beautiful women floating on the surface. Those who live near these beds of water say they can still feel the presence of the Ma Da spirit.