10,000 Years of Strangeness: A Paranormal Primer for Ancient and Modern China

Part II: True Tales from the Locals

Chapter 8-3: WeChat about Ghosts: The Girl in the Red Dress—微信鬼-一穿红色的连衣裙的女

Previous Chapters 前章: Part 1: Chapter 1, Ch 2, Ch 3, Ch 4, Ch 5-1, Ch 5-2, Ch 5-3, Ch. 6

Previous Chapters 前章: Part 2: Chapter 7, Chapter 8-1, Chapter 8-2

Our heroine from the previous tale might have gone to KTV with some friends to cheer up, but even the local KTV isn’t safe from ghosts. KTV is the local shorthand for Karaoke TV. Karaoke, or KTV, is bafflingly popular in China. It may be the number one choice for a night of fun or unwinding after work. In fact, strange and even bizarre things go on at KTV’s regularly in China that you wouldn’t expect to happen in public: Underworld crime deals, prostitution, even bondage and sex parties are, or have been known, to go on.

Girls prepare for the extra service offered at this KTV. Not even close to the most salacious pics I found

Personally I can't stand KTV, but then I’m not from China. I come from America where you have to perform your karaoke on a stage before hundreds of people in the bar. In China you get a private room. It’s pretty comfortable actually. They have large wrap around private sofas and big comfy chairs. Some even resemble the large VIP suites you find in luxury hotels with stand-up bars, a “living room” area, a “dining room” area and KTV area. They serve you all kinds of food from fresh fruit to boiled water beetles. Check out these accommodations at Party World.

The Party World KTV in Shenzhen even has a buffet with a selection of Chinese, Japanese, Korean and Western food.

The rooms are attended by beautiful young girls in sexy outfits, an indication of the extra services that are provided.

Typical KTV hostesses. Don’t think these are actually from Party World.

I remember going into one of these KTVs with a friend who had recently arrived in China. I hadn’t been here long myself at the time and was still learning the ropes. I was dating a girl I’d met in one of the three Starbucks in the city at that time. They’re practically on every corner now, but in 2004 there were only three, two in Luohu District and another over 15 miles away in Nanshan.

This girl and I had a couple of dates, and one night she invited me and my newly arrived friend down to the KTV bar where she said she worked part time as an assistant manager. We went down there to meet her and she had arranged a room for us. About five minutes later, some big lug of a dude, probably a hitman for the local triads, brought about 12 absolutely gorgeous girls in long red gowns into our room and had them line up along one wall opposite the sofa.

KTV girls lined up. At this stage it all still looks fairly wholesome

My “girlfriend” instructed us that we could choose any of the girls we wanted, which I thought were very strange instructions coming from an incipient “girlfriend.” She told us we could do anything we wanted with the girls and even have them change clothes if we wanted. Yeah. That relationship didn’t last long.

Anyway, you get the picture. KTVs are so much more than karaoke.

It was at one of these very KTVs that our next story takes place, but I’m not sure it’s a ghost story, unless somebody’s ghost can appear before they die.

A young man was out with his friends for a little fun and relaxation after work at KTV as usual. Like always happens after so much beer, he had to avail himself of the facilities (去尿尿, for you non-native speakers).

While he’s standing there taking a leak, this sexy girl in a tight red dress comes in. He was slightly embarrassed being caught with his fly open, so to speak, but he didn’t make too much of it, in part because he had a good buzz going and in part because he just assumed that this must be one of the girls who works at the KTV “making the rounds” as it were.

Hey, Sailor!

Suddenly, the girl starts screaming bloody murder. She shrieks with such terror it raises the hair on the back of his neck but he was so indisposed there was nothing he could do. Then, as suddenly as she started screaming she turned and ran out of the men’s room.

He returned to his KTV room and told his friends about the strange experience he’d just had. They were all so creeped out by it they couldn’t stay much longer and left.

The next morning they saw the news reports: A beautiful young girl in a red dress was murdered in the men’s room at that very KTV very late that very night. They never went back to that KTV again.

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