Rediscover the origins of fear with the trailer for HBO Asia’s Folklore

HBO Asia has unleashed a new trailer for FOLKLORE, the network's first horror anthology series that features terrfying tales that are deeply-rooted in superstitions and myths from across six Asian countries, including Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand.

According to the show's official spot on HBOAsia.com, the first of six episodes in the series is helmed by Indonesian director Joko Anwar, and is titled "A Mother's Love". As the episode unfolds, a single mother and her young son discover a group of dirty and underfed children living in a mansion’s attic. Upon saving them and returning them to their families, the young woman has unknowingly snatched these children from their adopted mother – 'Wewe Gombel' – and must now beware her vengeful wrath.

For the second episode, titled "Tatami," director Takumi Saitoh explores the tatami spirit, after a murder scene writer returns home to attend his father’s funeral and begins to experience constant flashbacks of his childhood. Before long, he then discovers a secret door in the house that leads to a room that hides a horrifying secret from his family’s past.

For "Nobody," the third episode in the series as directed by Eric Khoo, a Pontianak is awakened when a foreman and a construction worker attempt to bury the body of a dead girl instead of burning her. A series of unfortunate events begin to occur at the construction site.

The fourth episode, titled Pob," centers on a journalist who meets with 'Pob', a Thai ghost, who confesses to a murder. Finally finding an outlet for complaint, 'Pob' explains how the murder happened and requests for his story to be published. However, the journalist declines and the two make a deal of a lifetime. This episode is set to be helmed by Pen-Ek Ratanaruang.

For FOLKLORE's fifth episode, director Ho Yuhang will present "Toyol," a commonplace in Malay folklore. In the episode, a Member of Parliament of a fishing town turns to a mysterious woman who possesses shamanistic powers in order to salvage his town’s dire economic situation. She fixes all his problems and the two soon become lovers. However, the woman has a dark secret that threatens to destroy his life.

Lastly, we have the episode titled "Mongdal" from director Lee Sang Woo. This installment of the series focuses on the 'Mongdal', a bachelor ghost. The story unfolds when a mother tries to appease the moods and demands of her borderline psychopathic son. Then, when a new girl comes to town, her son falls quickly and deeply for the new girl and is determined to win her over possibly even against her will. When things take a tragic turn, his mother will stop at nothing to make her son happy even if it means finding a bride to join him in the afterlife.

As part of the lead up to FOLKLORE, all six episodes of the series have received preview screenings at a variety of film festivals ahead of the anthology's premiere.

FOLKLORE will launch on North American HBO services come February 1, 2019. The show has already received some very positive reviews, making this first-of-its-kind series something for international horror fans to check out for sure.