Murray House Haunting

Submitted by Heidy Choi on Wed, 10/11/2017 - 11:32

Hi everyone!

We're looking into the Murray House at Stanley, and are attempting to find the truth behind the ghost stories, and we were wondering if anyone would be able to help us out with a few facts as we're fact checking articles on the basis of history; we'd be forever grateful! We've tried to research into the facts elsewhere but haven't been able to come across much, and are aware that there's a comment regarding the hauntings on the Murray House listing on Gwulo already, but it doesn't state much hard evidence.

- Anyone know if there really were 4,000 deaths and 2 exorcisms conducted at the Murray House? (And if so, is there any way for us to verify with an original source? We found a video following the exorcism, but are unsure of how to independently verify it)

- Does anyone know of any evidence tied to the actual hauntings? (video evidence, photographs, newspaper clippings, news evidence) Other than heresay.

If anyone would have any evidence that points to the fact that the Murray House ISN'T haunted, please please let us know about that, too! Apologies if we've already missed a forum regarding this topic.

Thank you so much!

 

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Murray House in Stanley was originally constructed as the Officers Mess of Murray Barracks, and it used to stand on the site of the present Cheung Kong Centre. Before it was dismantled and sent for storage to Ma Hang, it housed a department of the HK Government - the Rating and Evaluation Department.

It used to be said that it was haunted and that the Chinese civil servants working there loathed the place for that reason! I think your best bet would be to try and find some long-serving members of the department, (probably now long retired), and ask them for their views.

My Father , Norman Cooke was Commissioner of the Rating & Valuation Dept based in Murray House during the 60's and 70's. Many of the Chinese secretariat were uneasy working in this office due to its grisly history of Japanese war crimes. To dispel these cultural  superstitions of ghosts and dangerous spirits he organised a public exorcism, to which the press and TV companies were invited. This suggests there were two exorcisms; including possibly an earlier private event arranged by the former Commissioner of Transport

Thanks moddsey. Photographs of Mr. Wilson participating in the Buddhist rituals appears in the following Chinese article. The exorcism was dated 1974. Interestingly, the newspaper clipping (20th May 1963) at the bottom of the article shows the head of the Rating and Valuation Department participating in religious rituals.

www.twgreatdaily.com/node/show/id/553605

Hi maxsonofnorman,
I did not see your post as I was writing mine. Thank you for addressing my suspicion of two separate exorcisms. I suppose your father was involved in the earlier one in 1963? The Chinese name of the department head in the newspaper clipping cannot be read. There was a further one in 1974.