Beware the phantom baby that haunts shopping centers in the Philippines.

We tend to think of apparitions and spirits as ethereal beings lurking around decrepit buildings or old shrines at night, but ghosts have been known to be encountered just about anywhere.

And in the city of Balanga, Philippines, a phantom has apparently been roaming certain shopping malls for years. According to Filipino Twitter user @kyuriiie, the buildings in question are Galeria Victoria Mall, Ocampo’s Ali Mall, Central Plaza Mall, and Vista Malls.

▼ @kyuriiie says single baby footprints (only the left) have been spotted at these locations.

▼ No one knows if it is malicious or not (rough translation below).

“And it’s just one footprint with no pair. The prints are sometimes muddy, greasy, and even bloody. The left footprint appears in the shopping mall and at a different store each night.”

What’s more, @kyuriiie claims the toddler’s footprints are occasionally accompanied by an adult’s, and wiping away the left imprint will apparently cause the right one to appear. Some store owners have even considered it to be a sign of good luck if the infant has visited their shop. But pictures are worth a thousand words, and @kyuriiie has plenty to show from Facebook.

▼ Muddy in most of the pictures, and oily in the bottom right.

▼ This Facebook user reckons the phantom is a one or two year old baby.

▼ Other netizens have also seen the footprints, although this particular one had six toes.

▼ One netizen’s sister has stories to tell.

“My sister has been a manager at Vetafs for almost a decade now. She has heard about the child footprints and the long stories associated with them. Some customers have even seen the toddler.”

▼ And it continues…

“There was one story where a customer exclaimed ‘What are you doing?’ at an empty chair. According to him, a child was sitting beside his legs and his knees were bent in an awkward position. Creepy.”

While some netizens were skeptical about the entire ghostly affair, @kyuriiie insists that children would not enter malls with such dirty feet, and that security guards at Vista Malls would not allow street children to enter the premises.

Someone ought to send a ghostbuster down to check out this phantom baby, and while they’re at it, maybe they can swing by some of Japan’s extremely haunted places too.

Source: Twitter/@kyuriiie via INQPOP!
Featured image: Twitter/@mark_estavillo