NEWSWORTHY
Asia Pacific / Social Issues Jan 4, 2019
A spate of brutal witch hunts has plunged parts of Papua New Guinea's highlands into a state of terror as fearful tribes blame dark forces for their rapidly changing world. In one particularly horrifying incident that was filmed, an elderly woman writhes and pleads hysterically ...
World / Politics Oct 20, 2018
New York witches aim hex at Supreme Court's Brett Kavanaugh despite death threats
Melissa Madara was not surprised to receive death threats on Friday as her Brooklyn witchcraft store prepared to host a public hexing of newly confirmed U.S. Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh this weekend. The planned casting of an anti-Kavanaugh spell, one of the more striking ...
Language | BILINGUAL Aug 6, 2018
Spooky Japanese tales will scare the summer's heat out of you
by Kaori Shoji
Until recently, summer nights involved turning off the AC and doing things like kurumaza ni natte kaidanbanashi (sitting in a circle and telling ghost stories).
Asia Pacific Jun 28, 2018
Spooked no more? Hong Kong's 'haunted apartment' prices levitate with white-hot market
by Venus Wu
Ng Goon-lau pointed at a window inside a dark, tiny bedroom. The window was small and easily sealed, Ng explained, a perfect place for carbon-monoxide poisoning. A man once burned charcoal to kill himself there. Another tenant, a policewoman, also hanged herself in the same ...
Books / Reviews Oct 28, 2017
'Kaibyo: The Supernatural Cats of Japan': Traditionally spooky felines
by Dana Macalanda
Cats. Modern Japan loves them in all shapes and sizes. But they weren't always so cuddly. Kaibyo: The Supernatural Cats of Japan, by Zack Davisson.120 pages CHIN MUSIC PRESS, Nonfiction. From translator and folklore scholar Zack Davisson, "Kaibyo: The Supernatural Cats of Japan" is a spooky read ...
World / Crime & Legal Sep 17, 2017
Albino boy murdered and brain harvested for witchcraft in Mozambique
A 17-year-old albino boy was killed and his brain removed for what is believed to be use in witchcraft in Mozambique, local news reports said. Albinos in Mozambique are often hunted for their body parts, which are used as charms and magical potions in the ...
Asia Pacific May 26, 2017
Vietnam's spirit mediums revive ritual once forbidden by ruling Communist Party
Dressed in the bright silk garments of a woman and dancing with candles between his fingers, Nguyen Duy Nam leads a temple of worshippers in a ceremony honoring mystical goddesses of forest, water and heaven. Nam, 24, is one of a growing number of spirit ...
Asia Pacific Oct 9, 2016
U.S. spooky clown phenomenon spreads to Australia and New Zealand
Sightings of creepy clowns that have spooked the United States appear to have sparked copycat acts in Australia and New Zealand, with police issuing stern warnings for would-be clowns. Numerous sightings of clowns appeared on social media in the early hours of Sunday in several ...
World / Crime & Legal Dec 18, 2015
Canadian man kills Brit in psychedelic ceremony in Peru's Amazon
A Canadian killed a Briton after the two men took a hallucinogenic plant brew known as ayahuasca together at a spiritual retreat in the Peruvian Amazon, authorities said Thursday. Witnesses told police the Canadian man, 29-year-old Joshua Andrew Freeman Stevens, killed the British man, Unais ...
World / Crime & Legal Nov 20, 2015
As country emerges from shadow of Ebola, Liberia president says ritual killings on the rise
Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf on Thursday vowed to crack down on those responsible for a rise in ritual killings in the West African country as it seeks to emerge from the shadow of an Ebola epidemic. In some areas of central Africa, body parts ...
World / Crime & Legal Oct 29, 2015
A judge granted a protective order against a warlock on Wednesday, spelling relief for the Salem witch who accused him of harassment. The two faced off in court before a Salem District Court judge, who granted the protective order to witch priestess Lori Sforza. She ...