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Haunted Mrs Chang

Categories: Modern Hauntings
Scary Books: The Book Of Dreams And Ghosts
: Andrew Lang

Mr. Chang, of that ilk (Chang Chang Tien-ts), was a man of fifty-

seven, and a graduate in letters. The ladies of his family having

accommodated a demon with a shrine in his house, Mr. Chang said he

"would have none of that nonsense". The spirit then entered into Mrs.

Chang, and the usual fire-raising began all over the place. The

furniture and crockery danced in the familiar way, and objects took to

disappearing my
teriously, even when secured under lock and key. Mr.

Chang was as unlucky as Mr. Chin. At _his_ house "doors would open of

their own accord, footfalls were heard, as of persons walking in the

house, although no one could be seen. Plates, bowls and the teapot

would suddenly rise from the table into the air." {233a}



Mrs. Chang now tried the off chance of there being something in

Christianity, stayed with a native Christian (the narrator), and felt

much better. She could enjoy her meals, and was quite a new woman.

As her friend could not go home with her, Mrs. Fung, a native

Christian, resided for a while at Mr. Chang's; "comparative quiet was

restored," and Mrs. Fung retired to her family.



The symptoms returned; the native Christian was sent for, and found

Mr. Chang's establishment full of buckets of water for extinguishing

the sudden fires. Mrs. Chang's daughter-in-law was now possessed, and

"drank wine in large quantities, though ordinarily she would not touch

it". She was staring and tossing her arms wildly; a service was held,

and she soon became her usual self.



In the afternoon, when the devils went out of the ladies, the fowls

flew into a state of wild excitement, while the swine rushed furiously

about and tried to climb a wall.



The family have become Christians, the fires have ceased; Mr. Chang is

an earnest inquirer, but opposed, for obvious reasons, to any public

profession of our religion. {233b}



In Mr. Niu's case "strange noises and rappings were frequently heard

about the house. The buildings were also set on fire in different

places in some mysterious way." The Christians tried to convert Mr.

Niu, but as the devil now possessed his female slave, whose success in

fortune-telling was extremely lucrative, Mr. Niu said that he

preferred to leave well alone, and remained wedded to his idols. {234}



We next offer a recent colonial case, in which the symptoms, as Mr.

Pecksniff said, were "chronic".



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