Ghost Eyes, 1974

Introduction to Ghost Eyes 1974

A novel based on the film

Genre: Folk Horror Mystery + Psychological Thriller

Synopsis

Hong Kong, 1974. Beauty technician Wang Baoling receives a pair of mysterious “protective” contact lenses from a client named Shi Zhongjie. After putting them on, she begins suffering frequent and severe hallucinations: bloody handprints appear in the beauty salon at night, and an upside-down white figure appears in the elevator. A psychiatric evaluation reveals that an unusual resin in the lenses can induce mass hysteria. To free herself from the haunting, she joins forces with folklorist Zhang Jiuling to investigate Shi Zhongjie’s identity, only to discover that he is the embodiment of the vengeful resentment of the victims of a fire in Kowloon Walled City three years earlier, and that the lenses are made from corpse-oil resin.

As the rules of the world inside the mirrors take hold (no looking in mirrors at midnight, and wearing the lenses too long distorts perception), Wang Baoling fights the encroaching force with a soul-subduing copper coin left by her mother. But this turns her boyfriend into a vessel for mental contamination. In the end, she smashes every mirror, tearing apart the space of her hallucinations, yet wet footprints still follow her like a shadow whenever the tide comes in...

Unique Features

Era of the uncanny: Hong Kong’s beauty industry in the 1970s is intertwined with the fear of mirrors, while the retro setting heightens the psychological oppression.

Artifact system: “Corpse-oil resin contact lenses” link real-world objects to the rules of hallucination, creating a distinctive symbol of suspense.

A cycle of resistance: The heroine goes from passive victim to actively breaking mirrors to survive, overturning the original ending.