Horror logo

How a video of a “little girl in red clothes” became Taiwan’s most terrifying urban legend for two decades

No one succeeds to debunk it until now

By Girl has a NamePublished about a year ago 5 min read
1
Screenshot from the video tape that caught the "little girl in red"

Taiwan is known for its beautiful landscapes, delicious food, and vibrant culture. However, there is another side to this island nation – its ghosts and supernatural stories that have been passed down for generations. One of the most well-known and terrifying stories is that of the Little Girl in Red Clothes. (The story first published on HiNews.cc)

Where It All Begins

On March 1, 1998, when a family happily went on a picnic trip to the Dakeng Hiking Trails (大坑風景區) in Taichung, Taiwan, they didn’t know that this trip would change their lives forever. They recorded the entire trip using a V8 camera. Later on when they reviewed the video, they saw something unexplainable. In the footage, a little girl dressed in red can be seen walking behind the family members, staring ahead with her dark, empty eye sockets. The family had no recollection of seeing the little girl during their trip; her appearance in the video was a complete mystery.

Another strange thing in the video is on one of the family members; in the video, it’s clear to see a person had long fangs coming out from his mouth, but he didn’t have those long fangs in real life; and that person passed away a few weeks after the trip. It was due to this family member’s death that they watched the video to find their last recorded memory, and hence found the unexplainable phenomena.

The Video Spreading the Whole Taiwan

The video was first broadcasted on the popular Taiwanese paranormal program “Ghosts and Spirits” (神出鬼沒) by GTV in 1998, and the little girl in red clothes became a sensation across Taiwan. People were terrified by her haunting presence and her unknown origins.

Let’s see the same video that was aired in the same TV program. You will see first the man with fangs, and then the little girl.

According to a memoir of the assistant video editor for the video, he stayed late in the office to edit the video, thinking that “this is just another fake video” then he spotted the girl in red, he tried to rewind the videotape and replay in slow motion to find signs of editing. Suddenly he had an illusion that the girl flew out of the screen, staring at him; he was scared and escaped the office to rush home. On the night of his sleep, he was awakened by a loud noise, and when he raised his head, he saw a shadow of a little girl sitting on his desk; he said it was not clear to him that it was a dream or reality.

The story of the video became a national hit and spread to all of Taiwan. Three people phoned the TV station claiming to witness the same little red girl, and they either had a car accident or became sick right after spotting her.

Doubts

However, many people questioned the truthfulness of the video and even the program altogether. The program producer later announced that whoever could recognize this little girl to contact the TV station staff; not only that, they also actively went back to Dakeng where the video was shot, and asked all the schools and people around if anyone knew this girl; but no one knew the girl.

GTV had a follow-up program and an anchor interviewed the person who took the above video. He said that when he took the video, he only focused on the family and had no impression of such a girl following them. (PS. Although the YouTube video was quite short, the whole video was more than 30 minutes and the little girl appeared in several places.)

The cameraman who took video of the Little Girl in Red Clothes

Little Girl in Red Appeared Again!

It’s not over yet because there was a new development. In 2014, an 80 years old woman went to a trip in Hualien (a city in east Taiwan and a popular tourism destination) with a tour group. She went to the toilet in an agriculture park and then disappeared. A search team of more than 50 people looked for her in the mountains and finally found her under a rock near a stream on the fifth day. She was 3 kilometers from the location of the toilet, and the way between the two locations was an “extreme sports” level hiking trail with strong streams and rocky cliffs, so everyone was wondering how she could get so far.

The old lady was weak but still healthy and conscious; during the hospitalization, she said that when she got out from the toilet, a little girl wearing red clothes and carrying a red umbrella came to her, took her hand and said to bring her to drink water from the stream. Her statement immediately reminded people of the little girl in red clothes, the urban legend surged again in all Taiwanese media.

Two decades have passed…

Over the years, there have been countless sightings and reports of the red clothes little girl ghosts allover Taiwan. Some claim to have seen her wandering aimlessly on the side of the road, while others say she appears in their dreams. Her presence has been known to cause fear and discomfort, so people avoid certain areas for fear of encountering her.

Many experts in paranormal phenomena said it’s not a ghost but a kind of demon that lives in an uninhabited area; it would transform itself to look like a human and lure people away into the middle of nowhere; some people who get lost in the mountains are lucky enough to be found, while others are not so fortunate. People who were found after a few days or even after a few weeks, all said the same thing: a little girl/ young woman/ young boy came and fed them food. But when the search team found them, the “food” they ate was usually made of bugs and mud!

urban legend
1

About the Creator

Girl has a Name

Professional in being an amateur.

Enjoy silly stories and horror stories on https://www.hinews.cc

Reader insights

Be the first to share your insights about this piece.

How does it work?

Add your insights

Comments

There are no comments for this story

Be the first to respond and start the conversation.

Sign in to comment

    Find us on social media

    Miscellaneous links

    • Explore
    • Contact
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms of Use
    • Support

    © 2024 Creatd, Inc. All Rights Reserved.