Indonesia

Indonesia may have the densest ghost population on earth, and Indonesians largely take them seriously. The pocong, a corpse still bound in its burial shroud, hops because its feet are tied. The kuntilanak announces herself with laughter that sounds distant when she is close. The tuyul, a child spirit kept to steal money for its owner, is still blamed for missing cash in real neighborhoods. This archive collects Indonesian urban legends and folklore from Java, Sumatra, Bali, and beyond — haunted colonial buildings like Lawang Sewu in Semarang, the ritual side of Mount Merapi, and the possession panics that periodically sweep Indonesian schools and factories.