South Koreans chase ghostly thrills for chills

2012-09-05 141

On a summer night in South Korea, a group of young people are on the hunt for thrills.

They are among a generation of Koreans spending the night in Yongin, where traditional ghosts strike when they least expect.

In South Korea, spooky activities take place in the summer, where horror movies and visits to haunted houses are popular pastimes.

For many, a good fright brings welcome chills to the summer heat.

SOUNDBITE: 25-YEAR-OLD NA WON-JU SAYING (Korean):

"I just came here to beat the heat, but it was more spooky than I thought. My heart is still pounding hard and I feel like I won't be able to sleep well tonight."

Thrill-seeking aside, it's also a time embedded in local tradition.

Many ghouls are women - so-called "virgin ghosts", tainted for dying a lonely death.

Professor Baek Moonim says stories involving female ghosts are centuries old.

SOUNDBITE: PROFESSOR OF KOREAN LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE AT YONSEI UNIVERSITY, BAEK MOONIM, SAYING (Korean):

"In the Confucian order, an unmarried woman was seen as a weird and abnormal existence. If she died unmarried, she was thought to be the lowest and the most grudged ghost. Therefore, the female and unmarried ghost is considered the most vicious one."

Ancient ghouls have been immortalised by television and have boosted popularity for thrill-seekers, continuing to search for what goes bump in the night.