TALES OF TERROR

The Midnight Bus (Beijing, China)

A young man was on his way home late one night. The streets were empty except for the occasional motorists, and the only one at the bus stop with him was an old man (some say an old woman). The midnight bus arrived and they boarded it without any fuss. The old man took a seat near the front of the bus while the young man sat a couple of rows behind him. There were no other passengers with them.

After awhile, the bus stopped and two new passengers climbed aboard and sat behind the driver's seat. Several minutes later, the old man suddenly stood up and confronted the young man. He looked angry, and accused the young man of stealing his wallet. The young man was angry at being accused of something so preposterous. The argument became more heated until the old men angrily declared that both of them must get off the bus and settle their argument at the nearest police station. The young man at first did not want to go with the old man, but then relented just to settle the matter and prove his innocence.

When they got off and the bus zoomed away, the young man was startled to see that the old man was no longer angry — in fact, he looked relieved. When he asked the old man what it was all about, the old man answered: "I just saved both our lives."

To which the young man responded with a confused "Huh?"

"Did you see the two passengers?"

"Yeah, so what?" replied the young man, still miffed and bewildered.

"Well, unlike you, I took a closer look. They have no feet; they were just floating on air. Those two were ghosts!"

The next day the news was all about the midnight bus – it had gone missing along with its driver. For several days, the police tried to locate the bus, and finally found it more than a hundred kilometers away from its regular route. Inside the bus was the badly-decomposed body of the driver. The authorities were even more perplexed and horrified when, upon checking the tank, they found blood instead of petrol.

There are several versions of this legend going around, but this is one of the more famous versions. There is even a version with the murdering ghost being that of a young girl and another with Qin Dynasty officials. Take whatever version will suit your fancy, but one thing is clear: bus rides in Beijing may be worth more than the fare.