Ghost stories from South Africa

The Gilded Cipher

The afternoon lay heavy over the cane fields, a damp heat that clung to the skin like a second breath. Rain had threatened all day but never arrived, leaving the...

Read Story →

My Parents Bedroom

I currently reside in my family home with my husband and 3 sons. I have fond memories of our home as a little child. There are also many memories which...

Read Story →

All In A Dream

I am back. Just at work, not so busy and I decided to share an experience I had after my mum passed away. As per my previous experience, I did...

Read Story →

Beautiful Scent I Think It Was My Mum

I am back to share after a while. I have been rather silent, just reading. I would like to share a personal experience with you all. This happened soon after...

Read Story →

The Ash Child

The day the mountains burned, we lost everything but our breaths. I remember standing on the cracked asphalt of Morton’s Landing, watching the fire swallow our house whole. The heat...

Read Story →

Toilet Terror

Atbara Street, Eindhoven, Cape Town, South Africa. 15 September 2018 @ 00:05am Hi Evenings Everyone I really hope you liked the story of my experience of the Drain chaser. Before...

Read Story →

The Rusted Favor

On the third of November, 1998, my father, mother, and I were driving from the coastal town of Pelican Bay to the inland city of Ashford for my cousin’s engagement...

Read Story →

Drain Chaser

Good Evenings to all on YGS and I really missed you guys and gals. My account got hacked, and so I’ve had to start a fresh. This is my 1st...

Read Story →

The Weeping Fig

It started with the smell. A sweet, cloying rot that clung to the curtains even after I’d scrubbed the house top to bottom. I’d always had a weak constitution, but...

Read Story →

The Ward of Forgotten Hours

In the autumn of 2021, I found myself lying in a sterile hospital bed, the smell of antiseptic rivaling the faint metallic taste of fear on my tongue. My name...

Read Story →

The Borrower in the Rain

The rain had been drumming on the tin roof of our cottage for three days straight, a relentless percussion that seemed to seep into the marrow of the walls. I...

Read Story →

The Unfinished Beach House

In the sweltering summer of 2018, our family’s plans for a seaside escape were shattered by the news of our great-uncle’s passing. We had set out from the dusty roads...

Read Story →

The Last Stitch

The monsoon had been cruel that year, turning the red earth of our village into a thick, choking mud that clung to everything. My name is Anjali, and I lived...

Read Story →

The Ironing Board’s Witness

In the autumn of 1972, the small coastal town of Dunmore was abuzz with the annual church bazaar. The red brick St. Andrew’s Church stood on the corner of Elm...

Read Story →

The Curtain of Frost

The summer we turned ten, my sisters and I were packed off to our cousin Lena’s farmhouse in the dreary wastes of the Northern Marsh. The house was a relic...

Read Story →

The Drain of Sorrow

The night air was thick with the smell of damp earth and paraffin smoke as I stumbled out of our cramped room. The yard, a tight circle of rusted corrugated...

Read Story →

The Cold Window

The house on Tana Road was a patchwork of mismatched additions, tacked onto a government-issue box like a child’s drawing of a house. We lived there, my partner Lindiwe and...

Read Story →

The Feldspar County Historical Society occupied a converted Victorian mansion, its rooms crammed with glass cases of arrowheads, rusty farm tools, and faded photographs of stern-faced pioneers. I was cataloging...

Read Story →

The Window Between

Three seasons had passed since the silence fell over the house on Maple Court. It had been a rapid, merciless succession of departures: first, my older sister Clara, her husband...

Read Story →

The Second-Floor Vigil

The old farmhouse had always been a solace for Mara, a place where the hum of cicadas and the rustle of cornfields lulled her into a deep, restful sleep. But...

Read Story →

The Marrow Harvest

The old farmhouse sagged on its foundation like a tired animal, its roof bowed under the weight of a century of storms. My cousin Lena had moved there after the...

Read Story →

The Lantern Tree

I’ve always been a light sleeper, but this particular night in late February, sleep abandoned me entirely. At 3:47 AM, I gave up on the tangled sheets and slipped out...

Read Story →

The Glass of Amber

In the heat of July 2021, Lila and her husband, Marcus, along with their toddler, Theo, moved into a sprawling ranch house on the outskirts of a dry, dusty town...

Read Story →

The Clammy Palm

The pandemic lockdown had transformed my cramped one-bedroom apartment in Cape Town’s southern suburbs into a prison of my own making. Between endless video calls, sourdough experiments, and the relentless...

Read Story →