Minxiong Haunted House (劉氏古厝民雄鬼屋) @ Chiayi County in Taiwan

My last post labelled "paranormal" was in 2021, almost five years ago! While my interest isn't dampened, it does take a lot more effort on my end given the stress of my work nowadays.

Nonetheless, I did pencil in an interesting place of attraction when I went to Taiwan in 2025, and it's rare for me to do that since visiting a haunted house outside of Singapore has just too many unknowns, and we had to self-drive to the destination, with no guide. 

GPS was a life-saver and we were brought to the correct place. There's even a carpark next to the haunted house, although it's from a cafe, and you are required to make a purchase. We did share with the operator that we shall check it out once we were out from the house. 

Official entrance to the haunted house; technically the area wasn't walled so you can go in from numerous entrances, but I guess "official" is the safest given that the passage would likely be well trodden on. 

Alex decided to visit the washroom in the cafe; so I proceeded to go in myself. It's not that I am super brave, but it's daytime, with the 4pm sun shining bright rays on me. 

Minor obstacles along the way. One advice.

Please note to put on mosquito repellent! 

Something weird happened as I reached this clearing. Remember I was using GPS to get to the haunted house? It was via Google Maps and I switched off the navigation after arrival. However, my phone suddenly announced that "you have reached your destination". That scared the shit out of me, and thankfully, Alex happened to meet up with me. 

Shortly after, we reached the haunted house. 

Minxiong Haunted House (劉氏古厝民雄鬼屋).

Abandoned for decades, the house was built almost a hundred years ago in 1929, in the baroque style said to be grandeur, by a rich merchant surnamed liu. The house is actually still owned by descendents of the merchant. 

Known as one of top three most haunted houses in Taiwan, there were of course numerous stories about the paranormal activities in Minxiong Haunted House; one of which was the suicide of a maid who jumped into the above well. 

Now, I stayed in the village before, and don't understand why this well had such low barrier?! I mean a person can actually accidentally fall into the well! Anyway, it was already filled up with wood and debris. Guess we will not see sadako climbing out of it.

Looks like a headless statue. Maybe for the better as I recall the lion statue in Singapore's red house, which was said to have its head following you as you move in front of it. 

I can so imagine a security guard guarding this place when night falls. No, it's not supposed to be the case, so if you manage to see one, just assumed you have the misfortune of seeing a ghost! 

Despite its "haunted" tag, I think it was still a sobering sight to see nature taking over man-made structures, with vines and roots of trees enveloping the facade of the house. And honestly, it was breathtaking.

Before checking the interior of the haunted house, please be aware that maintenance was lacking and the building might not be structurally sound. Toppled walls and columns can be seen; hence, do explore with care, and caution! 

Main entry point for the haunted house. I saw a few photographs of the house taken a few years ago and the column guardrails on the second floor can still be seen then. The plaque on top had the Chinese words, 兄弟和樂, which means harmony amongst brothers.

Blocked due to collapsed ceiling I guess.

Stepping in from the sides - roots and vines had also invaded the interior of the house, with trees providing a natural canopy instead. There were no ceiling, windows were stripped bare, and I didn't recall seeing any staircase. Even if there were, I doubt I would have the guts to climb up.

Don't bother taking shelter in event of heavy rain as you will still definitely be drenched! Furthermore, there's still the risk of walls collapsing / toppling, especially if you chance upon one of the many typhoons that hit Taiwan every year! 

The house was in a terrible state of disrepair but aside from the GPS incident, we didn't encounter any other paranormal activities. There were rumours of screams, crying etc but I am guessing that happened at night.

Video for viewing pleasure!

Served as an ammunition storage during the world war, please do keep in mind that Taiwan was then already colonized by Japan (1895 till 1945), and the house didn't quite play as a site for a battle. It was, however, said that in one incident, a group of Japanese soldiers shooting one another, resulting in no survivors. All rumours since there wasn't any written evidence. 

The Liu family had come out to clarify, although it's hard to kill rumours that had existed for so long! Designated as a cultural attraction by the county government, I sure hope we would see a different Minxiong Haunted House in the future! 

As we exited from the original path, we noticed a separate passage that looked out to a blue door, like a scene from Alice in the Wonderland. Question, did we proceed to check it out?

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Address

Minxiong Township,

Chiayi County, Taiwan

Map

As above.

Click HERE for 11 Days, 10 Nights Taiwan Trip: Summarised Itinerary for Chiayi Alishan (嘉义阿里山) - Kaohsiung (高雄) - Tainan (台南) - Taichung (臺中)

Painted Animation Lane (動漫彩繪巷) @ Taichung in Taiwan

Before video streaming gained traction in my life, a lot of my precious time was spent on books; specifically comic books that were highlights of my growing-up years.

I was therefore quite excited when the tour guide for my recent Taiwan trip mentioned we would be visiting a lane that was filled with drawings of comic characters! It would no doubt be a nostalgic walk down memory lane! 

Known in English as the Painted Animation Lane, this attraction wouldn't take too much of your time as it wasn't very long. Even for us, it was only a 15-minute stopover. 

First thing that greeted us was this mini bus stop that reminded me of a scene in the anime film, Totoro! Aside from comic books, I am a fan of anime films by Studio Ghibli! p.s. would love to visit its theme park in Japan if there is an opportunity! 

Old Master Q; these should be the earliest comic characters I remember as the comic books were always present in barber shops, where we can indulge in the comic series while the barbers cut our hair. 

The artist made full use of the surroundings to work his magic; it could be an empty wall, a shop shutter or even the zinc protection for a building! By the way, do you know that Painted Animation Lane is the work of just one man!?

SpongeBob SquarePants and The Simpsons; both are American cartoon / animated series that I don't really follow, even though I am aware of their existence! 

I am more acquainted with Super Mario; a game that got me fixated on video games unless my poor skill forced me to decide that I just didn't have the knack for it, and go back to reading comic books. How come there wasn't any Princess Peach?

My favorite comic, higher in ranker than Old Master Q, would be Crayon Shin-chan! From the first time I heard of this five year kid who was sexually mature in thinking, his comics brought a dose of sunshine whenever I am feeling sad. Even though I don't read Japanese, I had more than 40 books of the Chinese translated version. 

Deadpool; more an English comic but I guess most people know of unconventional hero from the movies, rather than the comics. 

How many comic characters can you identify from the above?! I counted Hamtaro, Astroboy, Sailor Moon, Pokemon, Ranma ½, Yi Xiu Monk, Bow Wow etc.

Likely from the hentai series. 

Supposed to be the most classic scene from One-Piece! Interestingly, I watched a few of its movies but never its comic books. A few friends actually recommended me to check out its animated TV series instead. 

I actually recognized the character on the right although I don't remember her name. I did recall she was in the most popular comic series in the 80/90's, Dragon Ball. 

Rockman - another video game that I failed miserably. 

Garfield and Popeye The Sailor Man; the former comic strips were classic whereas the latter was a cartoon which I eventually lost interest in as the storyline was always about the same.

Nostalgic scene from the Street Fighter Arcade Game! Those were the times where friends would share secret moves to win the match! Again, such games were not my forte. I am actually lousy in video games, preferring to play RPG instead.

Yu-Gi-Oh! Back in those days, I didn't have the money to buy comic books and it's much more economical to rent. Given my poor memory, I would usually rent an entire set when the series had completed, and read them over a few days / weeks. 

Naruto kindled the fantasy of ninjas but the books came out so slowly; I eventually gave up at about book 50 or so! Turned out the run was almost 15 long years! 

Humongous mural of One-Piece. The comic first started in 1997 and although it had been more than 25 years; do you know that the story has not ended?! Maybe I should buy this once it ends its run so that I can slowly indulge in its story after I stop working.

An impressive painting of Dragon Ball, with many notable characters! I can actually read traditional Chinese characters due to my appetite for comic books; many of which were translated in Taiwan / Hongkong, where traditional Chinese is used. 

The Painted Animation Lane came about because the owner of the above motorcycle store found that the exterior wall of his shop was too dull and decided to paint over it! The result was good enough to draw comments that encourage him to paint more! Obviously can see he is a fan boy for comics! 

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Address

Lane 100, Linsen Rd, West District, 

Taichung City, Taiwan 403

Map

As above. 

Location Map

As above.

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