Hello, my dark darlings, I'm Markia, and this is the Something Scary podcast.

To our veteran listeners and those just voyaging into the dark with us for the first time, welcome.

We are entering the month of the Hungry Ghost Festival.

Many East Asians, Buddhists, and Taoists believe this is when ghosts can return to earth to haunt a living.

So their descendants burn paper money and incense, as well as serve food to pay respect to their ancestors,

and soothe wandering our angry spirits.

There are many important rules for humans to follow in order to stay safe during the festival.

A list of do's and don'ts you better follow, or the ghosts will satisfy their hunger with you.

First, do not be alone in the dark, followed by do not watch them eat. Then,

do not mock the dead. Finally, in our featured story, whatever you do, do not take the last bus. I receive hundreds of creepy story submissions

every single week, and of those, the scariest ones make it into our podcast, along with the

story that we've chosen to animate and post over at YouTube.com slash snarled. If you have a tale

you're dying to share, send me an email at something scary at snorl.com.

If you'd like to support something scary, then consider joining our Patreon.

As a patron, not only can you help the show and see ad-free episodes, but you can also be a part of the horror and hear your name featured in one of our podcasts or weekly video stories.

Visit patreon.com slash snarled.

So, want to hear something scary?

The Hungry Ghost Festival.

The festival takes place during the seventh month in the lunar calendar, where families gather to honor their ancestors.

But some see it as an opportunity to not just honor their ancestors, but use them for their own nefarious purposes.

Like in this story inspired by ERA.

Zane lived in Singapore, where, between school sessions, he worked at a

...