If in the west horror festival is usually fall on, or around, October the tenth month, but in the East, regarding to the Chinese calendar and tradition, the 15th night of the seventh lunar month (regularly fall on August of the Western calendar) is always consider as the most horrifying time of the year. The entire seventh month of the Chinese calendar is even called the Ghost Month, a month in which ghosts and spirits are believed to emerge out from the lower world to visit earth. Celebrated mostly in South China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and especially in Singapore and Malaysia, The Ghost Festival is the climax of a series of the Ghost Month celebrations. But there are two different ways people treat the Feast of Hungry Ghosts, much the same as the Mexican holy day, the Day of the Dead. Some people take it as a time to honor and cherish the memories of deceased ancestors, and to offer them food, drink, and other goods to bring them happiness. Others view it as a time to have some fear of the dead, and give offerings in order to stave off the hungry ghosts from hurting them or their loved ones. Now, to begin this bloody wicked month of horrors, below I have listed down some horror movie titles that storyline was inspired by the event. Some probably not the great masterfully made films but they’re still worth watching if you want to add an extra chilling flavor in your own horror festival.

THE MAID (2005)

What’s worst that will happen to a Philippines maid who must acclimate herself to the customs of the Chinese Ghost Month? Employed by a Teochew opera family, a family with many secrets, who give her a place to stay in their dilapidated shophouse, she will soon find herself struggle with a supernatural force that she never has business with before.
Directed by the acclaimed Singapore film-maker, Kelvin Tong, atmospheric horror “The Maid” not only has broke box office records in Singapore but even further it successfully brought home the Asian Award at the 2006 European Fantastic Film Festival Federation along with a citation from the jury: “A very well made – and genuinely scary production. Nicely shot, good SFX, well-crafted – believable characters. Very fine acting – especially from Alessandra de Rossi and Shucheng Chen. It’s not just a scary movie – it’s also a social comment on the issue of foreign labour.”
Using concepts like what do the Chinese folk culture and customs mean to someone foreign? Or how would they deal with such an alien environment? Tong played up the fear factor in this film and made it a thought-provoking and entertaining ghost movie. The protagonist, Rosa, portrayed convincingly by the charming Alessandra de Rossi, is a plain and mild-mannered 18-year-old Filipino maid who has just arrived in Singapore on the first day of the lunar seventh month. Unaware of the Chinese belief, Rosa has unwittingly violated various taboos during this month, and made her bumps into more ghosts on this ‘bump in the night’ seventh month session with a specific ghost having a secret attachment. Particularly when the family’s backward son believes Rosa to be a previous maid he loved, and after she confronts a young girl who tells her that she’s wearing the other maid’s dress, a dark secret begins to form.

Presented by four young directors from Malaysia, this anthology of wicked horror tales set during the Chinese Hungry Ghosts Festival in cosmopolitan Kuala Lumpur. The first tale, entitled “1413” centers on a girl who doesn’t remember the suicide pact that left her best friend dead and herself in the hospital – but now a pale, terrifying figure is stalking the shadowy corridors, and there will be no rest for either of them until a deadly score is settled. The second “Waiting for Them” has an unlucky in love businesswoman upset over the despondent phone calls of a friend. When she finally finds her wondering the street, she seems unusually connected to the supernatural realm. “Nodding Scoop” is the title of the third scary tale about an aspiring young videographer who seeks to photograph a spirit, conjured during a traditional divination ritual. But this is no benign parlor trick. When the callow participants offend the ghost they have summoned for their entertainment, they find to their horror that the game they are playing is for keeps. The last one of four, "Anybody Home?", is a chilling tale of morbid obsession gone to deadly extremes when a psychotic security guard stalks a pretty apartment dweller but unaware of her sinister secret.

A MONTH OF HUNGRY GHOSTS (2008)

A documentary film that captures all rituals and performances, and more, throughout an entire seventh lunar month in Singapore, bringing the vibrant sights and sounds of the festival to the viewer. Starting with the history of the Taoist and Buddhist traditions of ancestor worship and respect & compassion for the dead, this movie colorfully captures this month of ritual, superstition and personal grief and remembrance through the eyes of many of Singapore's inhabitants. From Taoist Masters and Buddhist Lamas to Cab Drivers and Getai pop singers, their stories reveal personal perspectives, candid experiences, and deeply held beliefs. Colorful animated sequences and live events illustrate the 18 levels of Taoist Hell, the origins of the Buddhist offerings to the Hungry Ghosts, and the many gods and spirits represented in the pageantry like the Horse Gods and the Demon King.
WHERE GOT GHOST (2009)

In this film made up of three omnibus horror tales laced with Singaporean humour, weird sightings happen at home in the Lunar 7th Month, there are three brothers who can only think it is their late mother's doings. However, the truth slowly surfaces as they begin their road trip, only this time it seems to be more than what they bargained for. Other segment featuring story about tragic incident that happen to a group of swindler decide to steal some oranges from the roadside, placed there as offerings during the Hungry Ghost Festival.
Directed by Boris Boo and comedian Jack Neo in his first attempt with horror flicks, the crew actually encountered spooky incidents while shooting, especially in the second segment about haunted forest. Strange graphics began to appear on their shooting equipment while damages to machines also make up a pretty unforgettable night for them.

THEY WAIT (2007)

A Canadian horror movie from the creators of ‘White Noise’, the story relying more on psychological fears surrounded by Chinese tradition of ‘Ghost Month’. After three years of living in Shanghai, Sarah (Jaime King), Jason and their son, Sammy, go home to North America for a family funeral. However, on their return something unexpected and terrifying begins to grip this once happy family: Sammy starts to tell Sarah that he is seeing phantoms and ghosts, and before long he falls gravely ill.
With traditional western medicine offering little hope, Sarah turns desperately to a mysterious pharmacist who warns that her son is being held in the death grip of a “living corpse.” To save her child, Sarah must find out what the spirits want before they take his soul for their own purposes. With time running out, Sarah has a single day until the sun rises on the last day of the Chinese month of the ghost, or Sammy will be lost forever. The spirits have spoken their deadly warning.

THE EYE 10 (2005)

In this confusing yet one of the weakest links in Pang Brothers’ “The Eye” franchise, a group of teen considers "seeing ghosts" as just a piece of game. And inspired by a mysterious book that they bought from a shady bookseller, they found details of the "10 Encounters," i.e. the ten methods enabling humans to see ghosts. When they all gather around a Ouija board but no one notices the ghost that joins them so they go on to the next method – leaving food at a street intersection late at night and tapping on the food bowls with chopsticks. This one works all too well and they see more long tongued hungry ghosts than they want to and run away in terror.
GHOST MONTH (2009)

Writer/Director Danny Draven takes the helm for this supernatural horror about an unassuming housekeeper drawn into a terrifying world of vengeful apparitions. According to the Chinese calendar, the seventh month of every year marks the time when the restless spirits of the dead break free from the gates of hell to mix among the mortals. During this time, specific rules must be followed to avoid falling prey to the spirits of the damned. When a solitude-seeking housekeeper arrives at the desert home of a superstitious Chinese woman and her devoutly religious aunt, death senses an opportunity to extend its grip into the mortal realm.