Sheeta
Leung
Programmes about ghost stories and the supernatural are produced by three main radio outlets — RTHK, Commercial Radio and Metro Broadcast.
Metro Broadcast’s Twilight Zone is one such programme.
It is a two-hour programme broadcast at midnight on weekdays. It has been on the air since 1997.
Twilight Zone is a highly rated programme renowned for phone-in ghost stories.
Mark Wu, producer of Twilight Zone, said that there are at least 20 to 30 calls to the programme every night, but the programme assistant usually selects only six to eight calls to air.
Edmond Poon and Ruth Tsang have been the hosts of Twilight Zone for three years.
Although they have different attitudes towards the supernatural, both are anxious not to disturb any ghosts or spirits through hosting the programme.
Ruth said, “We just want to collect supernatural information for our audience. Our intention is not to interfere with any unknown forces or ghosts.
“For example, we never visit haunted houses at midnight. We only take photos of the houses or ask the neighbours about the rumors during the daytime.”
Sometimes if a call triggers discussions on a hot topic and the audience responds enthusiastically, the hosts will follow up the story and do research on it.
They will also investigate a particular topic further if it connects with a series of stories.
This is what they did for the mystery of “big headed baby monster,” which was later the theme of a movie.
Ruth is not worried about any unexpected consequences resulting from her supernatural research or investigations.
Moreover, since people know that Ruth is the host of Twilight Zone, they are more willing to tell her their horror stories.
“This makes it easier for me to gather information on ghost stories or mysteries,” said she.
Besides the phone-in session, there are interviews with celebrities and experts and introductions of mysterious taboos.
“These sessions are good supplements when the calls are dull and boring,” said Mark, the producer of Twilight Zone.
“It is impossible to ensure the quality of calls every night, but we can tell some interesting stories about folk rumors or taboos then,” he said.
Twilight Zone also produces short hor ror radio dramas and invites celebrities to play roles in them.
Radio 2 at RTHK also launched a new programme for horror story enthusiasts last April. This programme, called Out of Bound, is broadcast from 1 to 2 a.m. every Saturday.
“CY” and “Vera” are the professional names of the hosts of Out of Bound. They said that they change the format of the programme every two months in order to keep it fresh.
Vera said, “We have worked on adventures in haunted places, investigations of local mysterious cases and horror radio dramas — sometimes supplemented by phone-in sessions — for the past few months.”
CY and Vera visit different haunted places themselves to add adventure to each session. Sometimes they also invite experts on the supernatural or celebrities to go on an adventure with them.
They then record the whole event and broadcast that afterwards.
“Once we went to a typical haunted house with many broken mirrors inside,” said CY. “Vera lost a bet and the penalty was to leave her alone in the house at midnight.
“I hid in the house and made some scary sounds to make her frightened. Vera was so frightened that she yelled and trembled.”
These adventures have changed their perceptions towards the supernatural as well.
Vera said, “I did not believe in ghosts in the past, but I changed my view after I saw a ghost myself.
“Once on Cheung Chau, I saw an almost transparent man-shape passing in front of me. And my colleague said that she saw not only one, but two.”
The next day, two men were reported to have died accidentally on Cheung Chau.
Unlike Twilight Zone, Out of Bound concentrates on “field work” and “self-production” rather than phone-in sessions.
“We like to work directly in the production, such as visiting haunted places and producing thrilling radio dramas,” said CY.
“But my mother is always worried about my safety,” continued he. “She often gives me ‘red pockets’ with incantations inside.”
According to Vera, the production of radio dramas is time-consuming.
“We spend 12 hours on producing a 40-minute radio drama. Time is mainly spent on collecting real sounds and mixing up the sound effects,” she said.
Despite the hard work, both CY and Vera are happy with the responses they get from their audience. They have even organised a “friend club” for the programme.
“It’s ‘friend’, not ‘fan’, club,” said CY. “We want to attract audience members who are interested in the supernatural.”
Presently there are about 200 friend club members, and they have already organised two gatherings, one during the Chinese Ghost Festival and the other on Halloween.
At the meetings, celebrities performed and shared supernatural experiences with members.
Vera said that she and CY would keep changing the format of their show frequently in the future.
As for more concrete plans, she said, “They should be kept secret — for giving our audience fresh feelings and surprises.”
