As for At Home, on Television,
Streaming and Beyond
In Singapore, Singtel’s e-Le channel, TV GO and CAST.sg television romance drama, Hungry Souls: From Hell, With Love《味尽缘》, is a bit of a mainstay ever since its debut back in 2025. I’m still keeping an eye out for a proper streaming release in North America, but so far, nothing is available yet, unless one wants to search on YouTube and DailyMotion for a fan subtitled version. When Bao happens to have that special sight, and finds amour with an amnesiac spirit during the Hungry Ghost Festival, the humour becomes obvious.
On the literary front, we have two books released this year that look very promising. More to come when my Amazon order arrives, and I’m looking forward to reading the picture book, Gwei the Hungry Ghost (Amazon link) written by Emeline Lee and illustrated by Basia Tran. According to the official synopsis:
Gwei the ghost is absolutely famished, but unlike the other ghosts in the cemetery, he won’t eat just anything. Luckily, it’s Ghost Festival month: the one time a year when ghosts roam the realm of the living. Gwei flutters around the city eating steaming bowls of noodles, hot, hot, HOT chestnuts, and crispy fried fish with chili oil. Yet no matter how much Gwei eats, his hunger won’t go away. As he searches for the perfect meal, he catches someone following him. It’s another hungry little ghost! When he hears her grumbling belly, he reluctanctly reaches into his pouch to share. To his surprise, he finally starts to feel full.
The other work is Harbour of Hungry Ghosts (Amazon link) written by Eliza Chan, and released just in time for Ghost Month!
Here, the Au family is the focus, and they help the people of Hong Kong: blessing shrines, honouring the dead and dealing with dangerous monster incursions. The expectations on eldest daughter Kiamling are high, which is not something her strict grandmother will let her forget. When the British disrupt the Hungry Ghosts festival and her grandmother is seized by a strange new monster, Kiamling must step up and lead the search. She is aided by unexpected allies: Archie, an earnest civil servant, Hoi gor, childhood sweetheart turned merchant-pirate and Jingling, her younger sister keeping secrets of her own. Kiamling must figure out who is behind the incursion and more importantly, how to defeat them.
With British fables mingling with local Chinese monsters, can Kiamling prove herself, when the old rules no longer seem to apply?
The Future
If this year looks very quiet for new content, there’s good news!
A Banquet For Hungry Ghosts is an animated film in development and slated for next year. It is based on the book (Amazon link) of the same name and the concept looks delicious! According to the official synopsis:
[This film] is a haunting animated horror anthology that serves up 4 visually stunning tales where food becomes the bridge between the living and the dead. Crafted in a striking fusion of hand-drawn and CG animation, it draws from Asia’s deepest myths and culinary traditions — inspired by Ying Chang Compestine’s acclaimed book.
As for another work, development is in full swing for Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio (《聊斋》). While different from the shove-it-to streaming’s version of release of Nie Xiaoqian (A Chinese Ghost Story; 2024) from Chengdu Enlight Animation and Liao Zhai Lanruo Si (Curious Tales of a Temple; 2025) from Light Chaser Animation Studios, both didn’t do as well as producers had hoped. When ghosts are being difficult and unwilling to manifest for the living for entertainment, who can blame them?
