Featured art by Jericho Clemente.
Before Netflix, there were teleseryes, soap operas, and talk shows on television. In Filipino viewing culture, TV news shows like GMA’s Kapuso Mo, Jessica Soho and ABS-CBN’s Rated K with Korina Sanchez have become primetime hits, especially with their seasonal episodes like their Halloween special, where they feature real-life scary stories, visit haunted locations, and even bring paranormal guides, some more reliable than others, to confirm paranormal activity.
But before Kapuso Mo, Jessica Soho and Rated K, there was Noli De Castro’s Magandang Gabi, Bayan, which aired from 1988 to 2005, considered as one of the longest-running public service programs in the Philippines. Like the two shows mentioned, Magandang Gabi, Bayan also became known for its Halloween special that families watched together on the eve of Undas.
De Castro visited famous “haunted” locations for the show, from the Manila Film Center, Baguio City, Clark Air Base, the University of the Philippines Diliman and Los Baños, Tugatog Cemetery in Malabon, the Laperal White House in Benguet, Malacañan Palace, Corregidor Island and the Philippine School for the Deaf in Pasay.
Note that some of the videos are age-restricted and will ask viewers to watch on the streaming platform to confirm your eligibility to watch. Stream with a grown-up at your own accord.
Multo sa Manila Film Center
The Manila Film Center has been the subject of many ghost stories since its inception – and with good reason. During its rushed construction in 1981, around 169 workers were buried under quick-drying cement when the scaffolding accidentally collapsed. A number of said workers were allegedly never retrieved, with their bodies remaining trapped under the infamous building’s foundation up to this very day.
Lahing Aswang
An aswang is a shapeshifting monster that usually has a combination of the traits of either a vampire, a ghoul, a warlock or a witch. In this episode, an apparent culprit for the killings of live chicken has been revealed. However, when asked about the happenings, the suspected aswang says she does not recall anything.
Demonyo sa Sementeryo
Cemeteries are the homes of the dead and most of them rest in peace. However, not all of them are in absolute silence, as some lost souls are. This chilling episode shows the sightings of a demon in a cemetery.
Kaluluwang Gala
Lost souls roam the streets of the GSIS village at La Mesa Dam. Eyewitnesses claim they saw a woman in white while they were walking, although the woman was not walking, rather, she was floating in mid-air, unmoving.
Full Episodes
The ABS-CBN News channel on YouTube goes on a Halloween retreat, making Magandang Gabi Bayan Halloween specials from its “golden years” of spook fest available for viewing for Undas or at the least, a fun trip down memory lane for the millennials. Call your cousins and childhood playmates, if you dare.
1991 Special
1992 Special
1993 Special
1994 Special
1995 Special
Imagine a young kid on an All Souls’ and All Saints’ Day break pre-Internet and social media and you gather with your siblings or your playmates together in front of the television screen to watch Noli De Castro narrate part documentary and part dramatization (all hail Lilia Cuntapay) of classic, well-known Filipino horror lores. They don’t do it like this anymore.
Article updated as first seen on October 31, 2020 by Pete Villalino and Leo Balante
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