By Tim Binnall
Tasked with selling an apartment wherein the previous owner had died, a Chinese court came up with a rather clever way of convincing prospective buyers that the man's spirit no longer occupied the residence: a 24-hour livestream that showed no ghostly activity. The odd concept reportedly came about after the Wuzhong District People's Court seized the property and put it up for auction in order to repay the dead man's gambling debts. However, since he had passed away inside the home, they suspected that no one would want to buy it due to fears that it could be haunted.
As such, the court went so far as to set up a 24-hour livestream broadcasting from the home and hired a man to live in the apartment for the day. This past Tuesday, a staggering 40,000 people tuned in to watch the faux homeowner go about his daily life, which included eating, sleeping, and exercising. At no point during the strange stream did any supernatural events happen, which the court contends serves as proof that the residence is not haunted.
Alas, it would seem that the tens-of-thousands of viewers were more curious about the possibility of seeing some paranormal activity than actually buying the apartment as none of the people watching at home put in a bid on the residence, which is on the market for around $187,300 or two-thirds the asking price of a similar space without such a dark backstory. The court plans to hold another auction at a later time, presumably in the hopes that people will forget about the possibility that it contains the previous owner's ghost.