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Is this Fright Lotus?
A Spanish globetrotter experienced a spookier version of solo travel after realizing he was the only guest at an abandoned luxury resort on a “cursed” island. He detailed this alleged ghostly getaway in a TikTok travelogue with over 80,000 views.
“Guys, I’ve been sleeping in an abandoned luxury resort for two days and I just found out now,” Rubén Holgado said in the clip, Jam Press reported. “We are alone.”
The spine-tingling locale was Siquijor, a remote island in the Philippines known for being a mecca of witchcraft and folk healing — as well as a haunting ground for “evil spirits.”
Holgado traveled to the idyllic — and ostensibly haunted — isle for some fun in the sun.
But after two nights in paradise, Holgado discovered that he had the palatial hotel to himself aside from some workers — like a tropical version of Stephen King’s iconic horror novel “The Shining.”
“We entered and saw that the place was huge, like Disney, but there was nothing,” he described. “There are only employees in the restaurant.”
Some of these abandoned yet pristine amenities, per the apocalyptic-seeming clip, included a private beach, derelict tennis court, a pool with no one else and the resort restaurant where he dined solo each night while serenaded by staff singers.
Alas, Holgado’s room was decidedly more decrepit. In the footage, he demonstrates how the toilet didn’t flush while the bathroom lacked a door.
The resort had opened six years ago before suddenly shuttering, per the content creator, who said it had since reopened but was still undergoing renovations.
Perhaps far more intriguing is Siquijor itself, which is where supernatural entities abound according to local legend.
“Evil spirits are all around us, in the waterfalls, forests and seas,” local guide Luis Nathaniel Borongan told the BBC. “And if we intrude upon them, they may take revenge in the form of illness, curses or even death.”
Disease is also believed to be caused by witchcraft practices ranging from voodoo dolls to the manipulation of insects to harm people and their crops.
To ward off these phantom menaces, Filipino pilgrims flock to the so-called “mystic island” in droves to seek out the island’s unique healers.
Their remedies combine Catholicism and shamanic practices such as potion-making and exorcism.
It’s not just locals seeking some mystical medicine.
“International travelers to the island just need to ask at the tourist office or a local taxi driver; they can show you where to find one,” said Borongan. “The healers believe their talents are a gift from God, so they are not for just a select few, they are for everyone.
