A man in China reportedly turned to an unusual form of retaliation against his neighbour by playing ghost story recordings for more than 10 hours a day, carefully keeping the volume just below legal noise limits.
The incident was disclosed by the Ministry of Justice of the People’s Republic of China and involved a resident surnamed Lu in Guangzhou, Guangdong province, who was involved in a dispute with his neighbour, surnamed Xie, alongside his cohabiter, surnamed Li.
Although the root cause of the conflict remains unclear, the situation escalated when Lu and Li began playing eerie “ghost story” audio through a loudspeaker placed against the shared wall of the two homes. The recordings were played daily from 8.45am to 12pm and again from 3.30pm to 10pm, with the haunting sounds reportedly continuing for over 10 hours each day.
The prolonged noise also affected other residents in the building. One neighbour, surnamed Cui, who lived two floors away, said the constant disturbance severely disrupted daily life, particularly affecting his child’s ability to study for important examinations.
Noise monitoring reportedly recorded levels of around 36 decibels inside Cui’s home, which remained below the legal threshold of 60 decibels during the day and 50 decibels at night, making enforcement action difficult under existing regulations.
Frustrated by the situation, Cui filed an application with the Guangzhou Haizhu District People’s Court for a pre-litigation injunction, a legal measure used to prevent ongoing or potential harm before a final ruling is made.
The court eventually ruled in his favour, ordering Lu to immediately stop playing the disruptive audio. Under court supervision, Lu later dismantled the speaker system, deleted the recordings, and agreed not to continue the behaviour.
The unusual case quickly went viral online, with many social media users reacting with amusement and disbelief over the unconventional form of “revenge,” sparking a wave of humorous comments and discussion.
