Twice the spookiness with two ghostly dramas hitting screens
SINGAPORE — Local television is bringing twice the spookiness with not one, but two series centred around ghostly tales being released at the same time.
Leave No Soul Behind, starring Felicia Chin, will premiere on Channel 8 on 21 December, while Dennis Chew's Mr Zhou's Ghost Stories @ Job Haunting will stream on MeWatch from 17 December.
In Leave No Soul Behind, Chin's character, Gu Xin, a lonely and aloof variety show host, must help three ghosts, played by Shaun Chen, Brandon Wong and Chantelle Ng, to get reincarnated by helping them to fulfil their last wishes.
In the process, Gu Xin often gets possessed by Cun En, the spirit played by Ng, who seeks Gu Xin's help in getting close to her crush, celebrity actor Javier (Ayden Sng).
Because Chin had to act like Ng while she was "possessed" by the ghost, Chin said she often sought help from Ng during filming. "I have to thank Chantelle a lot. I had to act as her character in many scenes. I bothered her everyday! The day before a scene, I would text her and ask her to send me a video of her acting out the scene so that I could imitate her. One day she even came to set even though she didn't have any scenes just to help me."
While Leave No Soul Behind is billed as a comedy-drama, Mr Zhou's Ghost Stories @ Job Haunting is decidedly scarier.
The mini web series, comprising ten 15-minute episodes, is based on a popular radio show hosted by actor-DJ Dennis Chew, in which he tells ghost stories inspired by real-life spooky encounters.
The dramatised adaptation will feature various hauntings experienced by people who encounter the paranormal at work – hence, "Job Haunting".
Each episode tells a self-contained story, although the episodes are all connected. There's Benjamin Tan as a food delivery rider; Chen Tianwen as a security officer being haunted in a building’s elevator; Desmond Ng as a renovator who meets the victim of a deadly accident; Cavin Soh as a karung guni who's obsessed with a mysterious antique lamp; Herman Keh as a property agent who stays in a haunted house; Ho Ai Ling as a celebrity who senses spirits during filming; Nick Teo as a marathon runner who runs at night during the Hungry Ghost month; and Ian Fang as a photographer whose camera captures paranormal phenomena.
Dennis Chew stars as himself as the titular Mr Zhou, who also has his own strange experience after he unknowingly says things that offend supernatural beings.
"People often don't show respect," said Chew. "Some people might say, 'Please lah, you won't encounter these things!' But while you're saying that, remember what old people often say: 'Whether you believe it or not is up to you.'"
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