You might roll your eyes and scoff, but ghosts still hold a certain amount of belief both here and in other parts of the world.
A primary school in the city of Kota Bharu, Malaysia has closed its doors after both students and teachers reported sightings of a black figure, or a "potianak", on the grounds. Principal Siti Hawa Mat has said that the black figure was sighted in numerous locations around the school, including the canteen, various classrooms and the school's main hall.
One teacher, Kamariah Ibrahim, said that she "saw a black figure, like it was trying to enter my body, but my colleagues were surrounding me, reciting verses from the Qur’an. I felt like my head was bloated, I felt numb and tears kept pouring down my face."
Another teacher, Norlailawati Ramli, claimed that "when I was holding one of the pupils, my arms felt extraordinarily heavy... Things were truly out of control at the time. But after the pupil recovered and went home, I then felt as though someone was hanging on to the left side of my body. I saw flashes of black, like a black figure."
The school has over 1,000 students and 84 teachers, and has been the subject of huge publicity in Malaysia. A number of Islamic experts, scholars and local witch-doctors have visited the school in an attempt to understand and exorcise the school, however more sightings and 'screams' have been heard throughout the school.
The most logical explanation is, of course, mass hysteria. Just last year, four teenagers in Colombia were hospitalised after each of them claimed to be possessed by Satan following their usage of the Charlie / Charlie Challenge, a sort-of ouija board / Magic 8-Ball game that's popular in Latin countries. In Sri Lanka during 2013, over 15 schools were closed over mass hysteria for a period of three days when students began showing symptoms that included coughs, skin rashes, vertigo and vomiting.
