Scaredy-cats beware: Tainan’s ultra-horrifying haunted house — blood pools in hell with white-eyed corpses floating atop

Reported and photographed by You Ruxiang / Tainan

Where in Taiwan can you get the most hair-raising ghostly experience? Located in the Madou area of Tainan, there’s a well-known ghost-viewing cellar that’s said to be a portal between the world of the living and the dead. Not only can visitors see various forms of ghosts here, but they can also tour the Eighteen Levels of Hell and witness brutal punishments firsthand. Our reporter took a trip there and felt an icy chill run through their body the moment they entered the underground level — it was almost impossible not to shudder.


▲ Tainan Madou Dai Tian Wang Temple.


▲ Entrance to Hell.

The “Heaven and Hell” exhibit inside Tainan’s Madou Dai Tian Wang Temple is one of Taiwan’s most famous horror attractions. Built in 1979 at a cost of nearly 100 million New Taiwan dollars, this attraction — designed within the body of a giant dragon — features a centuries-old “Hell” section. Spanning 76 meters in length and 7 meters in height, the dragon-shaped Hell gives visitors the eerie sensation of truly crossing over into the afterlife.

Let’s just call this place a “haunted house,” because the Hell-themed attraction doesn’t just showcase various punishment landscapes — it also lets those curious about the appearance of ghosts take a closer look. Inside the cellar known as the “Eighteen Levels of Hell,” the roughly 20-minute walk is guided entirely by motion-sensor narration. As you explore, aside from witnessing the punishments on each level of Hell, you’ll also encounter underground soldiers like Ox-Head and Horse-Face who greet visitors along the way. Ghosts such as hanged spirits and drowning victims appear around every corner — anyone who’s been here can’t help but feel creeped out.

“You have to look carefully to understand the meaning behind it.” When our reporter stepped into the Eighteen Levels of Hell, the ticket attendant specifically reminded them to watch their step, as the place is almost completely dark, lit only by faint lights that reveal the Yama’s judgment process as visitors pass by. “You have to listen to each level to know what sins were committed.” The attendant repeatedly urged visitors to observe attentively before entering each level of Hell, as doing so would naturally reveal the reasoning behind the suffering.


▲ %Ji Zi Zao Luo Song, Na Shi Shi Chu Men.

Walking down the staircase, the first scene on the way to the “Eighteen Levels of Hell” shows people dragging chains being forcibly pulled downward by hellish officials with green fangs. The wall murals are exquisitely detailed and highly three-dimensional. The expressions of those being dragged range from panic to desperate struggling, as if they already know they’re heading toward a terrifying journey.

Once you step into Hell, you’ve officially bid farewell to the world of the living. Upon entering Hell, visitors first ascend the “Platform of Gazing Homeward,” where they look toward their homes in the mortal realm, faintly visible in the twilight, to say their final goodbyes. They then proceed to the “Pool of Purification,” which washes away sins, before the tortures of the Eighteen Levels of Hell truly begin.


▲ %On the spiral staircase looking downward, this is the last scene before entering the darkness of Hell.



▲ %Record of Ascension.


In the First Court, Ox-Head and Horse-Face push people forward to receive judgment from Yama. Those who committed grave sins in life are assigned to different courts to face fitting punishments. Here, you can see a disheveled person kneeling before the Yama Court, shouting loudly in Taiwanese, “Spare my life, spare my life!” before being dragged off to the next level. Starting from the Second Court, punishments are assigned based on crimes: “Tiger Head Decapitation” for corrupt officials who abuse power and oppress commoners; “Stone Wheel Grinding” for lazy troublemakers who bully the innocent; and “Burning on the Spit” for rapists and adulterers who harm husbands.


▲ %After judgment in the First Court, individuals are sent to different levels of Hell.







▲ The burning punishment for those who rape women.