The Sabah government is planning to promote ‘dark tourism’ soon.

According to a report by Bernama, Sabah Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Jafry Ariffin said that ‘dark tourism’ involved haunted historical places in the state.

“Right now, throughout the world, there is this kind of dark tourism especially for visitors, and there are many who are enthusiastic about it.

“But it requires some level of courage, so those with a weak heart, better not (partake in such an activity),” he said.

The state, via the Sabah Museum Department, hopes to promote the Agnes Keith House as part of their dark tourism initiative.

“This (Agnes Keith House) is a historical house during the British administration and is one of the tourist attractions in Sandakan.

"It is a landmark of the existence of Western power in Sabah, and this place should be maintained as best as possible as it has become part of Sabah’s heritage,” he said.

A haunted mansion?

State Museum assistant curator Safinah Yusop said the idea to make the Agnes Keith House a tourism product came from foreign tourists themselves.

“We came up with this idea because foreign tourists would say that they experienced eerie feelings as soon as they entered the house. But no foreign tourists admitted to seeing one (ghost).

“Tales of hauntings at the house had only been told by the locals. Some said they saw someone looking out a window and others said they saw a lady on the roof of the house,” she said.

The Agnes Keith House was named after an American author best known for her autobiographical accounts in Sandakan when she lived here with her English husband Harry Keith, a British forest conservator, in the 1930’s.

In her writings, she made notes of apparition sightings and mysterious incidents occurring at the house.

Creepy, but cool?