6 Creepy Things Malaysian Students Say They Experienced on Campus

Going to university or college is an exciting chapter in life. It’s where you make new friends, discover new interests, experience a little drama and learn to navigate adulthood.

But what happens when your student life comes with a few unexpected encounters that have nothing to do with lectures, assignments or exams?

Imagine hearing someone washing dishes in an empty bathroom, encountering a mysterious visitor outside your dorm room in the middle of the night, or seeing a familiar security guard somewhere he shouldn’t possibly be.

Sounds like a scene from a horror movie, right?

While most students worry about deadlines, exams and group assignments, some have shared experiences that left them questioning what they saw and heard. From strange happenings in dormitories to unexplained incidents in university buildings, these stories are enough to make anyone think twice about walking around campus alone after dark.

Here are six eerie experiences shared by students who say their college days came with a few unforgettable chills.

1. The Mysterious Dance That Left Everyone Terrified

Back in 2012, Dinah and her friends were in their final year at a college in Lendu, Melaka. With their diploma art exhibition approaching, they spent most of their time preparing their artwork and setting up the venue. A cultural group regularly practised nearby, usually holding its dance sessions at night.

One evening, Dinah and her friends were still busy working well past midnight when the group finally wrapped up its practice. Just as everyone was preparing to leave, a loud thud suddenly broke the silence. One of the dancers had collapsed.

What happened next left everyone stunned. According to Dinah, the dancer got back up and began behaving strangely. She started making unusual, witch-like sounds before performing movements associated with the traditional Mak Yong dance. The atmosphere quickly turned frightening, with the dancer appearing to be in some kind of trance. Unsure of what was happening, Dinah and her friends decided they had seen enough for one night. They packed up and left, with Dinah never finding out what eventually happened to the dancer.

“I’ve always heard stories of this traditional dancer making ‘appearances’ in our college, but I’ve never thought that I’d see it happening right before my own eyes one day,” she recalled.

Was it an unsettling coincidence, or something more mysterious? Whatever the explanation, it was certainly not the kind of experience anyone would expect while preparing for an art exhibition.

2. Someone Was Washing Dishes, But Nobody Was There

A sleepover with friends is usually all about late-night conversations, laughter and sharing stories until everyone eventually falls asleep. For Elena and her classmates, however, one sleepover turned into an experience they would rather forget.

One night, around seven or eight friends gathered in the largest room in their dormitory. Since it was already past midnight, some decided to accompany their friends to the toilet while the others waited outside.

Opposite the toilet was a sink commonly used by students to wash their dishes. While waiting, the group suddenly heard a tap running, followed by noises that sounded unmistakably like someone washing dishes. Naturally, they became curious. Who would be doing the dishes at such a late hour?

They looked towards the sink, expecting to find another student cleaning up after a late-night meal. Instead, there was nobody there. Before they could make sense of what they had heard, their friends came rushing out of the toilet. They had their own frightening story to tell.

According to them, they had heard a toilet flushing in the neighbouring cubicle, even though nobody was inside. The cubicle door was reportedly left ajar, making the experience even more unsettling.

With two strange incidents happening almost at the same time, the group was thoroughly spooked. Nobody dared to leave the room again until morning. Perhaps the dishes could wait until daylight after all.

3. The Security Guard Who Appeared on the Fourth Floor

Living in a university dormitory often means staying up late with friends, whether to study, play games or simply enjoy the freedom of student life. But for Jimi and his friends, one late-night poker session took a strange turn. The group was studying at a university in Kedah when they decided to play cards in their dorm room one night.

It was around 2.30am when a familiar face appeared outside their window. It was Pak Abu, a security guard known among the students for being friendly and approachable. Seeing the boys still awake, he reminded them to get some sleep.

“Eh, tidur lah, dah pukul 2.30 pagi ni. Pergi tidur cepat,” he told them, which roughly translates to, “Hey, go to sleep. It's already 2.30am.”

The boys thought nothing of the encounter. After all, Pak Abu was simply doing his rounds and looking out for the students. They eventually decided to call it a night. Then, about 15 minutes later, one of them realised something that made everyone's stomach drop.

“Wait, isn’t our room on the fourth floor?”

The boys exchanged nervous glances as they began to question what they had just seen. How could a security guard have appeared outside their window on the fourth floor? 

Jimi said they had recognised the man's face and voice, along with the familiar way he spoke. That was why none of them had suspected anything unusual at first.

"We could clearly see his face, hear his voice, and the way he talked was also exactly like Pak Abu, that’s why we didn’t suspect anything at first,” Jimi told Rojak Daily.

Was it really Pak Abu making his rounds that night, or had the boys encountered something they could not explain?

Whatever the answer, it was one late-night visit they were unlikely to forget.

4. The Unwanted Neighbour Who Knocked During Exam Season

Exam season is stressful enough without having to deal with unexplained knocks on your dorm room door. Wawa, who was studying in Sintok, had been warned by her seniors about staying up late. Her dormitory was reportedly known among students for its eerie reputation, with the building located near the jungle and the Thai border.

During exam season, students often stayed awake well into the night to prepare for their papers. On one night, four girls were studying in a room on the third floor when someone suddenly knocked on their door.

“Who is it?” they asked.

“It’s me, orang sebelah,” came the reply, meaning, “It’s me, your neighbour next door.”

Assuming it was someone from the neighbouring room, the girls opened the door without giving it much thought. What they claimed to see standing outside was something they could never have prepared for.

Instead of their neighbour, there was a girl with long hair, dressed in pyjamas, whose body appeared to be missing its lower half. The sight reportedly left the girls so terrified that they fainted. Wawa said she did not know what happened to them afterwards. However, she recalled hearing stories that the mysterious figure had allegedly appeared in the dormitory during exam season. Imagine trying to memorise your notes for an important paper, only to have a visitor like that show up at your door.

Suddenly, staying up all night to study doesn't sound quite so appealing.

5. The Curtains That Moved in an Empty Classroom

Not every unsettling experience happens in the middle of the night. Sometimes, the creepiest moments occur when the sun is still shining. Azie, who studied at a university in Shah Alam, had heard plenty of stories about one of the institution's central buildings, particularly from students who attended classes there at night.

Still, she never expected to have an unsettling experience of her own. One day, after finishing her classes around noon, Azie went to the toilet while her friend remained in the classroom to finish taking notes. By then, everyone else had already left.

When Azie returned, she immediately noticed that something was wrong. Her friend looked pale and unusually quiet. The two quickly gathered their belongings and left the building. It was only after they had gone for lunch and settled down that her friend finally explained what had happened.

While waiting alone, she had suddenly felt an unusually cold and eerie atmosphere in the classroom. Then, without warning, the curtains began moving on their own. According to her, the windows were closed, and she could not understand what was causing the movement.

She was relieved when Azie returned, feeling as though her friend's arrival had interrupted something frightening.

“It was daytime. Who could have imagined ghosts trying to mess with you in the middle of the day? Plus, there was no logical explanation for how the curtains could move so much by themselves,” Azie recalled.

Was it an unexplained disturbance or something with an ordinary explanation? For her friend, the experience was frightening enough to make a quick exit seem like the best decision.

6. The Strange Water Dripping Inside the Lift

Azie wasn't the only student who reportedly had an unsettling experience in the same university building. Jane, who studied at the same institution, attended additional language classes held there at night. With most of the shops and offices closed after dark, the building often felt quiet and deserted. Her classroom was on the 13th floor, which meant taking the lift to get there.

On one occasion, Jane found herself alone in the lift. The quiet surroundings already made her feel uneasy, but what happened next made her even more uncomfortable. Without warning, she noticed water dripping nearby. The strange part? The water appeared to be coming from above, seemingly out of nowhere. Jane said she immediately got goosebumps and was too frightened to look up.

She had no idea where the water was coming from, and the thought of investigating it alone in an empty building was the last thing she wanted to do.

Sometimes, it's not a frightening face or a mysterious figure that gets under your skin. A strange sound or an unexplained movement in an otherwise empty space can be just as unsettling. And when you're alone in a lift on the 13th floor at night, even a few drops of water can be enough to send your imagination into overdrive.

Source : Gempak