Four Filipino Designers on Halloween and the Unseen

Filipino designers Allan Matudio, Sandro Dela Peña, Renz Reyes, and Lawrenbert Hingpit discuss their experiences and beliefs surrounding spirits, superstition, and the supernatural.

The unseen has always fascinated the Filipino spirit. From tales of the aswang and the kapre to quiet offerings for ancestral spirits, the gap between the natural and the supernatural has never been measured. Before Spanish colonization, Filipinos practiced animism, believing that spirits known as anito inhabited trees, rivers, and mountains, guided by babaylan or catalonan who served as healers and spiritual middle men. 

When Spanish missionaries arrived, indigenous beliefs blended with Catholic rituals of All Saints’ and All Souls’ Days, shaping Undas, the Filipino tradition of lighting candles, visiting cemeteries, and honoring the dead, from which the modern celebration of Halloween later emerged.

Ahead of this year’s Halloween, four designers, Allan Matudio, Sandro Dela Peña, Renz Reyes, and Lawrenbert Hingpit, share their reflections on the unseen in a Q&A below. 

Do you believe in ghosts or spirits, and has your belief in them changed over time?

Renz: Personally, I haven’t had a spiritual experience, but I do believe they are out there. It’s such a strange time. Anything is possible. Mostly a strange feeling, but anything visual.

Sandro: I don’t think ghosts or spirits exist in the way movies portray them, as full-bodied human figures, but I do believe there are energies or presences that we can sometimes sense. It’s less about seeing something and more about feeling that there’s something beyond what we can easily explain.

Allan: Yes, I believe. How boring our lives would be without them. I believe that some of the artists I’ve met are straight-up diwata.

Lawrenbert: I used to be obsessed with ghost stories and horror movies when I was a kid. I collected a lot of ghost story books when that was a thing. When I was a teenager, I even ran a blog about the supernatural. I think part of that comes from Filipino culture. We grow up surrounded by supernatural stories.

Over time, when I got into philosophy, I don’t believe in ghosts in the classic sense anymore. But I started seeing things in a more philosophical way. I once wrote an essay in Italy based on Dante’s Divine Comedy: Inferno about hell and death. Humanity, I think, is built on fear. We’re the only species fully aware of our own mortality, and that awareness creates a constant undercurrent of fear—of death, loss, and punishment.

That’s why we built systems: religions, law, art, and myth. They give structure to what’s actually terrifying: the unknown. The truth is, no one really knows what life or death means. So we create our own meanings. Humans are programmed to make sense of what we don’t understand. We can’t stand the void, so we fill it with meaning; it’s our way of feeling in control. Ghosts, for me, are symbols of containing the fear of what comes after. Humanity is programmed to fear, but creation is how we rewrite the codes.

That said, I do believe in spirits. I believe in pseudoscience and philosophy. I’ve worked with shamans for my collections, and I believe in animism. Sometimes I talk to my dead relatives when I feel alone. I believe objects carry memories and energies. I’m a hoarder for that reason. Those are the ghosts I believe in.

Have you ever experienced something supernatural or unexplainable: a ghost story, a strange presence, or a nightmare that stayed with you?

Renz: Sleep Paralysis demons. I have experienced a bunch of times being immobile and feeling a lingering presence or creature hovering over me.

Sandro: There was one night that really stuck with me. I was about to go to sleep, all the lights were off, I was lying in bed scrolling through my phone, and I was completely alone in the room. Suddenly, I got this really strong feeling that someone was watching me, like there was a presence in the room just observing. It made me so uncomfortable that I ended up turning on every light in my place and kept them on the whole night.

Allan: One night when I was still in my teens, I couldn’t sleep because a light breeze was travelling across my body despite being completely wrapped in my bed covers. I remember seeing a red dot right outside my bedroom. On my way to investigate it, I collapsed.

Lawrenbert: Not really supernatural, but maybe a nightmare. When I was eight, I almost drowned in a pool. I remember everything flashing before my eyes. At the time, I was already doing music, even performing on TV as a kid. With some of the money I earned, I was encouraged to help charities and orphanages. And because of Filipino culture, we’re raised to believe that life is borrowed, that we’re here with a mission.

I held onto that idea then, so I thought maybe my mission was already done. The moment I stopped fighting it, I just submitted to death.
I guess even as a kid, I’ve always been naturally rebellious; maybe that’s why I eventually claimed that ethos for my brand. I remember following my instinct instead of what I was taught and rebelled against that idea (that life is borrowed and we’re here for a mission), and something strange happened. I suddenly caught my breath, like something pulled me out. I didn’t think much of it at the time, but as I grew older, it started to haunt me. I used to dream and have nightmares about it often. Just the thought of me drowning.

For a long time, I was terrified of pools. Back in grade school and junior high in Japan, I used to skip swimming classes during P.E. and just pretend I was sick. The school nurse started to hate me because she eventually caught on, she even contacted my parents, thinking I just didn’t want to join class. Even in Italy, when we’d go to the beach, I would just stand by the water to tan, it’s like I wouldn’t let it have control over me.

It wasn’t until I went back to the Philippines that I started to enjoy swimming again, at least in the ocean. A few people who know me personally know that I’ve written poems about drowning maybe just to cope with it. I guess it’s the ghost that keeps haunting me I can’t really escape.

Are there ghost stories, urban legends, or superstitions you grew up hearing that shaped how you see the world?

Renz:  Just the typical ghost or aswang stories. This is not a superstition, but it has been a ritual every Halloween to rewatch reruns of Halloween specials of Magandang Gabi Bayan at a young age. It made me scared of the world, but as an adult, I see it as entertainment. I guess it just made me more self-aware and cautious of people and the world.

Sandro: It didn’t necessarily change how I see the world, but there’s one experience that really stayed with me. When the sister of my maternal grandfather passed away, my relatives noticed that her fists were tightly closed. They were worried because, in our family’s beliefs, that’s a sign the person might ‘take’ someone close to them or our family soon. And sure enough, three months later, my maternal grandfather passed away. When that happened, my relatives were very careful to make sure his hands were laid flat and open. I think I’d probably do the same someday, though hopefully not anytime soon.

Allan: Despite being obsessed with urban legends today, I didn’t grow up with them. My mom doesn’t like me asking about it. The only stories that I cherish are those of paranormal activities that happen in our ancestral homes. It makes these spaces so much more precious to me.

Lawrenbert: My mother is Ilocana, and I grew up closer to my Ilocano side. Ilocano culture has a lot of superstitions, almost everything has meaning. I guess, in a way, it shaped how I see the world. There’s this quiet belief that everything carries energy, that nothing is ever really empty. I think I inherited that, not just in how I see objects, but also in how I perceive people.

Have you ever been in a place that felt haunted or carried an unsettling energy?

Renz: Definitely. When I was younger, we used to live in a condensed suburban area. Definitely not a place to hang out, ideally in the evening. I would hear stories of the things that transpired in the area, and it just added to the nightmare fuel I had as a child.

Sandro: When I used to run at night in UP Diliman, it often felt like something or someone was hiding in the dark, just beyond the trees.

Allan: I visited Ninuno gallery in QC for the first time this year. Lowkey think that place is haunted. That or the organizers did an amazing job setting the vibe of their exhibit haha. Fort Santiago is also definitely haunted.

Lawrenbert: Not haunted, but maybe unsettling in a way. Some places just feel heavy. I don’t think it’s ghosts, just energy. When you create, you absorb and release energy too, so maybe that’s why I notice it more.

Is there one eerie moment you still can’t explain, something that lingers in your mind late at night?

Renz:  There is always a lingering feeling or a presence that can’t be explained in the new studio I’m in. The place has so many mirrors, and I can’t help but feel something is watching me. I try not to pay too much attention so as not to freak myself out that much.

Sandro: The only thing I really remember was that one night when I was about to go to sleep. I’m not usually the type to get scared, but that night felt a bit different. I just remember hoping that whatever I felt wasn’t anything bad, that maybe it was my Inang and Amang watching over me.

Allan: The only thing that lingers in my mind at night is jewelry designing and One Piece.

Lawrenbert: I think the closest thing I can think of is that I’m an overthinker, so silence can be really loud for me. My mind starts replaying everything that happened, or imagining things that haven’t even happened yet. That’s probably why I like listening to crime story podcasts to sleep; I can’t sleep otherwise. Even if it’s dark, it calms me down. It gives my thoughts somewhere to go. Chaos makes sense for a while, and that’s enough to quiet my head.

In this story: Photographed by Borgy Angeles. Styling by Claire Fernando and Niña Cuyano of Qurator Studio. Digital Associate Editor Chelsea Sarabia. Creative directed and produced by Bianca Zaragoza. Makeup by Kim Roy Opog. Hair by JA Feliciano. Model: Christine Jade Bayer. Digital multimedia artist: Bea Lu. Nails: Extraordinail. Photography Assistant: Rojan Maguyon.