Minxiong Haunted House

A long-abandoned residence, Minxiong Haunted House (民雄鬼屋) has become a minor tourist attraction especially popular with college students. Taiwanese who don’t feel comfortable uttering the word "ghost" tend to call it the Old Liu Family Mansion (劉家古厝), because it was built in 1929 for Liu Rong-yu (劉溶裕), a prosperous landowner and merchant who had four sons and three daughters. The building is Spanish-style with three stories. Just one room deep, it's three rooms across. Many of the roof beams are still visible, but the floors are long gone – rotten, collapsed, or pillaged.

Several ghostly events are said to have occurred in or near the house. These are usually linked to the death of a maid who committed suicide by throwing herself down a well that can still be seen in the grounds. In addition to members of the Liu family suffering various misfortunes, it's said that several soldiers in a Japanese Imperial Army unit encamped nearby died suddenly, and strange wisps of white fog have been sighted around the house at dusk.

The house and the land it stands on are privately owned, but nothing stops the curious from wandering around the grounds or having a look inside. On sunny afternoons it's a quaint, dilapidated ruin; at night, it's surely quite creepy.

Directions

You'll need your own transportation. From downtown Minxiong, follow Wenhua Road southward for about one kilometer, where you’ll see a sign (in Chinese only) pointing to the left. Take this road. After a few hundred meters you'll come to a small T-junction. You’ll see the Haunted House behind some trees to the left at the end of the lane, behind the trees.