This is a true story. As you probably know by now, my wife and I like to explore abandoned buildings at night, especially ones reported to be haunted. We don’t really expect to see anything, but we keep our eyes open.
Not my picture, but the view as we climbed up the slope to the school.
Last Friday night, we went to the Chung-il Girl’s High School, in Daejeon, South Korea, which was closed in 2006. It’s reportedly haunted and I’ve seen some pretty shaky evidence, but it is a huge structure: 5 stories plus the basement, holding 3000 students at its height. We went after work on Friday and got to the school about 9pm. There were spray-painted signs on the entrance saying things like “Forbidden” and “You must not enter” but we did anyway (of course).
I didn’t get great shots, since I only had my phone, but you get the idea.
The basement was cool, although not that big. It had a trench cut into the concrete floor with water running through it and you could hear the faint tinkle of dripping water. The light of the flashlight shown off the water and reflected on the walls, making a cool shifting pattern of reflections as I moved the light. I could see someone getting freaked out if they were by themselves down there, and their light suddenly went out, and the rusted metal pipes that blocked the basement from the next section started to creak, ever so slowly…
But none of that happened to us. The school was constructed in an L-shape and we walked the length of it and then up a floor and made our way slowly up the floors until we reached the roof. Most of the classrooms were empty, although a lot had graffiti on the walls.
This says “die”. We are terrible at following instructions.
The most interesting rooms were the art and music rooms, since they had things left behind. In the art room was a stack of old drawings that I looked through a little.
There was a lot written on the music room chalkboard. It kind of looks like a song, but the last line says something like “for impact, make the follow-through loud.” The funny thing is that three of the words are English, written in Korean letters, like “polo seuroo” (follow through).
In one room, we found the words “Absolutely don’t turn around” spray painted on the wall. There was nothing behind us though (that I could see).
We didn’t stay in there too long; no more than half an hour probably. We had missed the last bus back to our city by then so we grabbed a hotel nearby and stayed the night. We were thinking about sleeping in the school, just for the experience, but it was a bit cool and there was no bathroom (my wife’s objection). The hotel where we stayed was named the Lotto Hotel, and their thing was that they gave you a lottery ticket when you checked in. I didn’t check it to see if we won, since I didn’t know where to. Probably we had a better chance of seeing a ghost than winning the lottery that night.
The Green-Walled Tower 
April 16th, 2014 at 12:41 am
Do you explore haunted places very often? I heard that we can take picture of Ghosts with camera lens too. They usually show up at any time, not only at night. What do you think? Thank you.
April 16th, 2014 at 11:28 pm
I go exploring in places like this when I can find them, although I’ve never seen or felt any evidence of ghosts. I’ve heard of evidence of them and seen some pictures, but it is hard to know what is faked these days.
April 17th, 2014 at 12:11 am
On one of our local TV, once a week there is a ghost hunting show, exploration in buildings that are considered haunted by the community. They use a Shaman to call ghosts and someone who used as mediator to look and feel their presence.
April 16th, 2014 at 4:28 am
Reblogged this on jattaj24 and commented:
Creepy article. I like reading stuffs like this. Good morning, guys!
April 16th, 2014 at 9:28 am
You know what they say, keep looking and one day it’ll find ya 👿
April 16th, 2014 at 11:27 pm
Well, I’m not really looking for trouble, I just like dark, creepy places. I’m sure if you turned the lights on in that school and swept up a bit, it would be quite homey. 🙂
April 16th, 2014 at 4:54 pm
Ghosts are something I wont go looking for… I agree with Eric. With all due respect i rather prefer their staying far away from me and vice versa. 🙂
Share some of the stories of the school, that attracted you to the place.
April 16th, 2014 at 11:26 pm
Well, maybe if I actually thought there were some there, I’d be more wary. I’m not going looking for trouble, but as a Christian, I’m not worried.
April 17th, 2014 at 2:13 pm
Have you by chance watched the series based on true life incidents telecasted by discovery, hauntings?
Ever since my childhood I have been a half believer, but I rather prefer a long distance between them and me. I will rather love it to “not believe” that they are around.
April 17th, 2014 at 4:22 pm
my wife has watched various ghost hunting shows and similar documentaries. The problem with those is that they are sensationalized for TV so they don’t seem very rational a lot of times.
April 17th, 2014 at 3:26 am
Make sure you clean yourself with holy water, sir. I don’t want you or your honey carrying Korean ghosts back to the states with you. Don’t want to smell kimchi as you’re laying in bed, or hearing the call of the lonely ajumma.
April 17th, 2014 at 5:24 am
Sounds like the ‘hallmark’ (looks like one too – pun intended) of a creepy experience. 🙂
April 21st, 2014 at 2:43 am
I find the drawings interesting…and don’t be surprised on one of your nightly visits something doesn’t occur. Ever since I saw a ghost in an old house I was visiting in Charlottesville Virginia, I know there’s a whole sub-life peering out at us. It’s an interesting hobby you and your wife have.
August 11th, 2015 at 2:05 am
Hi!!! Could u possibly tell me how to get here? Heading to Daejeon in a couple days and it looks so rad, but can’t find the exact location. Please and thank you! 🙂
August 18th, 2015 at 7:17 pm
Sure thing! Sorry, I’m just getting back from vacation so didn’t see your post until now. Not sure if you’re in Daejeon still or not, but here’s the link to the location on Daum maps: http://map.daum.net/?map_type=TYPE_MAP&q=%EB%8C%80%EC%A0%84+%EC%B6%A9%EC%9D%BC%EC%97%AC%EA%B3%A0&urlX=572249&urlY=781021&urlLevel=3
July 16th, 2021 at 5:21 am
[…] last batch of girls graduated in 2004, per local news outlet JoongAng Ilbo. It is now a hotspot for adventure-seekers, ghost hunters, and urban explorers, some of whom make their way down from Seoul to visit the […]
July 16th, 2021 at 5:32 am
[…] last batch of girls graduated in 2004, per local news outlet JoongAng Ilbo. It is now a hotspot for adventure-seekers, ghost hunters, and urban explorers, some of whom make their way down from Seoul to visit the […]