Welcome, readers, to a new episode of the Backroom Atlas, where we shall flip your perspective on places around the school. So, grab a blanket and get comfortable, for you may need it. 

_History

Our school is relatively young, celebrating our 20^th anniversary just this year. The school moved into this location, previously owned by Nan Hua High School, after vacating its temporary campus at the former Raffles Junior College grounds at Mount Sinai Road in 2005. That’s too young for any place to feel scary, you might think. Well, let’s see. We have heard your voices and will be ranking the places on their spook factor from 1 to 10. Without further ado, let’s jump into the Backroom Atlas: Rooms that might change your mind…  

First, we have the Biology Labs at night. One response said that the dark and empty lab, with the contrast of the bright, red numbers of the clock, sends chills down their spine. Well, we went there in the dark and saw for ourselves. Sure enough, it was…. Scary? Well, a bit. It was not scary enough to send shivers down our spines. But who knows? Maybe it simulated a counter ticking down for them- a spy thriller-esque fright. We rate this a 

4/10

Next, we have corridors branching off from the Concourse. One person responded that it felt dark and endless. Surely, a bit exaggerated? Well, we went there to see for ourselves. And it was… disappointing (to say the least). It wasn’t even scary, and you can clearly see the end of the corridor. If you find this scary, I’m concerned for you. It just seems calm. What did those corridors ever do to you? We rate this place a  

2/10

Next on the list, we have the Boarding School at night. Surely, it can’t be that scary, right? Well, not if you heard a noise behind you. Imagine a slight creak, as if something is following you. You turn around. Nothing but the endless darkness of the night. You quickly rush back into your dorm, wrapping yourself in a blanket. You hope to forget all about that night, gaslighting yourself into thinking that was a dream. Well, we interviewed Mr Joseph Giri, Boarding master, and he said that he has never seen or heard of any paranormal activity at the Boarding. However, he did mention one thing. That he IS the paranormal activity. Any rumours he’s heard about random noises were just him making sure no one was out of bed. What a hardworking teacher! Years 5 and 6 students, have you had any experience sneaking out at night and regretting it? Well, now you know that it was just Mr Joseph patrolling the area, ensuring that you were up to no trouble. We rate this place a 

8/10

Next, we have the Level 6 corridors. There seems to be a unanimous agreement that Level 6 is the scariest place in the school. It houses the Tennis Courts and the Seminar Rooms, which are, reasonably, eerily quiet at the start and end of the day. A few teachers who we interviewed mentioned that this place gives them the creeps. Maybe it’s the altitude? It’s a serene area, yet we’ve had a few separate accounts of people telling us that they’ve heard voices from the Sem Rooms. Maybe we should get some rest instead of camping at the ‘scariest place’ in school. We rate this place an 

8/10

Finally, we move on to the next segment of this article, Paranormal Activity. We have a couple of scary things that people have confessed to seeing or dreaming of. We will rank them in tiers. The best tier is “Brush it off”. This for those which are not scary at all. Next, we have “Glad I’m not you”. This is for the stories which are starting to get scary. After that we have, “Run away now”. This is for the stories which I would not be able to endure. Finally, we have “Writing your Therapy Cheque”. This is for the people who NEED therapy after what they have seen / dreamt of.  

_{Tier List} 

Without further ado, let us start! 

This is our first response. This is a bit scarier than the other one. A shadow… That means it can’t be a ghost. But who knows? Maybe an entity that DOES produce a shadow? This is a bit scary. I suggest you avoid that toilet for some time. I put this under “Glad I’m not you”. 

This is our next response. Hearing a random noise. A classic! I don’t think there is a person who has not heard a random noise.  It isn’t weird at this point if everyone’s heard a noise! I put this under “Brush it off” Like you said, it’s not terrifying. So… 

After that, we have this response. A face? Wow. That is scary. I would have ran away from there as fast as I can. I feel bad for you. Maybe it was a prank by your Juniors? But who knows. I’m going to put that in “Run away now” It’s kind of bad. Just try to forget about it. 

This is our final response. Skinless Mutants? I want to ask this person, Are you okay? That sounds VERY traumatising. If you remember it so clearly, then you must have had this dream multiple times. I really feel bad for this person. Our first and last one in “Writing your Therapy Cheque”. 

This is our final ranking results. 

That is, it. Thank you all for reading this. We hope you enjoyed this article. We may or may not have changed your mind on how scary the school is. Well, all we can say is, be on the lookout for any Paranormal Activity. You never know what could happen… 

Signing off, Journalism Club.