A TikTok meant to send shivers down the spine had South Africans gasping for air instead, from laughter, not fear, after an American content creator called the historic town Stellenkosh.
Global (01 November 2025) – Only South Africans could turn a spooky ghost story into a comedy special… and all it took was one word. An American influencer tried to share a chilling tale about a haunted wine farm in Stellenbosch but the second she said “Stellenkosh,” the entire country collectively lost it.
AshleeInc, a content creator from the US, posted a TikTok describing a “spooky story” she’d received from a supposed ex-employee of a Stellenbosch wine farm, one who allegedly witnessed “ghosts and chairs spinning.”
The story itself was meant to send shivers down your spine… but honestly, most of us didn’t make it that far. After about five seconds, laughter took over. We tried to listen carefully (five times, actually), but “Stellenkosh” just kept echoing louder than any ghostly whisper.
Naturally, we did what any self-respecting South African would do and headed straight for the comments.
And they did not disappoint.
“Girl I am apologising in advance for all the jokes that are coming your way. 🤣 We are all trauma bonded and use humour like it is our 13th language 🤣🤣”
“The moment I heard StellenKosh, I didn’t even listen to the story anymore, run straight to the comments…😂😂”
“Oh my Kosh!. 😨”
“i’m sorry how american are you? since when has a b been pronounced as a k”
“We as South Africans are so unserious!😁 I can’t listen to anything past Stellen-Kosch😂😂”
“I’m sorry, I’m sure your story is amazing, but we as South Africans have a very short attention span, once the kosh came out, it was over 😂”
And just like that, a haunted story became the funniest thing on TikTok this week. South Africans have always had this beautiful ability to laugh together… to turn even the most random moments into shared joy.
So, while the influencer might’ve been trying to scare her followers, she ended up uniting an entire nation in laughter instead.
And we love that. Oh my kosh.
@ashleeinc This is G’s spooky scary storytime submission about her experience working at a haunted wine farm + hotel in Stellenbosch, South Africa. #creepystories #supernaturaltiktok ♬ original sound – ashleeinc
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Adorable and indeed, as South Africans we enjoyed this for sure! I hope you were not busy drinking champagne at the time Brent or is it ‘Brett’?. 😅😂🤣😂🤣