Heebie-jeebies! These spooky stories will keep you up tonight

The spookiest time of the year, Halloween, is here, bringing along with it tales of haunted havelies, ghost sightings and ghungroo ki awaaz. And Hyderabad has tons of them! We have all grown up hearing tales of the paranormal activity in the graveyard on Banjara Hills Road 12, the unsettled souls who jinx the Uppal Stadium, the mysterious Dedh Lakh Ghar and blood-chilling Witches’ Lair of Kundanbagh.Some of us believe these tales; others just take it with a pinch of salt. Either way, there is no denying that they make for amazing stories, especially on a moonless night when you are sitting around a campfire with your buddies. In the spirit of Halloween, Hyderabad Times brings you a buffet of hair-raising stories from city folk who cross their heart and say, ‘I swear this happened...!’ Believe it or not...
The headless man who walks around Erramanzil on full moon nights
The sleepy hollow of Erramanzil houses a creepy mansion that is the abode of a headless man. Not kidding! I first heard of him when I was scouting for a house in the locality. I found a nice place, but when I mentioned ‘Erramanzil’, my colleagues advised me against moving in there. And then the stories began: On full moon nights, it’s common to see a headless man walking outside the house, they said. This is accompanied by sounds of menacing giggles, malicious howls and even scratching of doors! Upon enquiring further, I was told that there lived a man who purchased the house on a loan. Apparently the man was decapitated on his wedding day because he failed to pay back his debt. Since then, he has been haunting the house and the area and doesn’t allow anyone to occupy it ever.
— Shruti Gajjela, electrical engineer.
The owner-less shadows and the lady who shrieks at Golconda fort
This happened — I swear! After the sound-and-light show at the Golconda Fort, a few of my spook-seeking friends decided to stay back way past the deadline and ‘see’ what happens. And see they did! Long shadows of people walking around were bouncing off the giant walls. Of course, the shadows had no owners! Not that they could see at least. But they decided to continue with their exploration of the place.
As they were tip-toeing around, they distinctly heard the chan-chan-chan of payal, as if a lady wearing anklets is taking a leisurely walk around the fort. They froze. A few minutes later, the sounds of payal stopped. Just when they thought it was their imagination getting the better of them a piercing shriek, as if someone was in pain, tore through the silence. That was it! They were so unnerved that they they sped out the fort at lightning speed. Is it the ghost of Taramati who still drops in for a nightly dance? Who knows!?
— Radha Krishna, yoga therapist
The princess who looks out from the mirrors of Durbar Hall
When I first went into the Durbar Hall in what’s now the Koti Women’s College, I didn’t see any ghosts! but there is a spine-chilling silence to the place that adds to its mystique. As I walked around with a friend, our footsteps echoing, she told me this story: Two of her friends visited the durbar hall late one afternoon, and they realised there was someone else in the massive room —a girl sitting all alone and reading. As they walked around admiring the lofty painted ceiling and the giant mirrors lining the walls, they walked past the girl. She looked up from her book and straight at them — and lo! She didn’t have eyes.
Talking of the mirrors, my friend also told me this other story — apparently you can catch the reflection of a lady walking by in the mirror. The reflection is said to be that of Khairunissa’s — the wife of British resident William Kirkpatrick, who tragic tale of love and loss is written in White Mughals. When she was alive, Khairunnisa followed strict purdah, so she never got out of her living quarters to see the mansion Kirkpatrick made for her. So now, they say she haunts the place by night and day!
— Kiran Vaishnav, architect.
The nanny who opened doors by staring and put off oil lamps with her tongue
The story traces back to my great grandmother-in-law’s time in Madhyapalli in Warangal. One of the ladies in their house had delivered a child and a nanny was hired to look after both the new-born and the mother. But after a couple of days, the mother started complaining about the woman and claimed she does strange and spooky things.
For instance, if she was asked to shut or open a door or a window, she would do it simply by staring at them. She would also put off oil lamps with her tongue, without moving an inch. Initially other members of the family didn’t pay any heed to the mother thinking she is suffering from post-partum depression. But soon it came to everybody’s notice.
Worried and scared, they consulted a priest who advised them to leave the house immediately, without informing the nanny where they are going, and forbid them from leaving any household item behind. They packed everything, except a huge grinding stone which was too heavy to carry, and left by night. When they were about to enter the new house though, they found the nanny standing on the threshold holding the grinding stone.
“You forgot to take this?” she asked, adding, ‘You want to get rid of me, huh?’ Since then strange things started happening in the house — the food would turn inedible, scratch marks would appear on wooden furniture and so on. Following this, they went to Kerala and stayed in the ashram of a tantric to get rid of the curse.
— Anuradha Reddy, co-convener of INTACH