Not all vampires rise with the moon and dwell in dark castles. Some wait in the heat of the Australian wilderness. Like the monster Yara-ma-yha-who from Aboriginal folklore, found under the Australian Fig Trees.
In the mythic landscapes of Aboriginal Australian storytelling a devouring creature lurks from the Dreamtime cosmology. The Yara-ma-yha-who belongs to no crypt, no ruined castle, and no midnight hunt. It dwells instead in branches heavy with leaves.
Read More: Check out all ghostly stories from Australia
According to recorded versions of the legend, particularly those preserved by David Unaipon, the Yara-ma-yha-who is a vampiric being from southeastern Aboriginal traditions, notable not only for its grotesque appearance but for the bizarre, cyclical horror of its feeding.
The Thing in the Tree
The Yara-ma-yha-who is often described as a small, red, frog-like humanoid creature, with an enormous head, a wide toothless mouth, and sucker-like appendages on its hands and feet. Its body is unnatural from the outset, evoking something both childlike, absurd and deeply menacing.
Its preferred habitat is the fig tree. The weary traveler, escaping heat beneath its branches, unknowingly places themselves directly beneath danger. It drains blood using the suckers on its fingers and toes, attaching itself to the body in a manner more parasitic than predatory.
After partially draining its victim, however, the Yara-ma-yha-who does something even stranger. Rather than simply kill, it swallows the person whole. It then drinks water, falls asleep, and later regurgitates the victim. The prey emerges alive, but altered, described as shorter and redder than before. This process repeats over successive encounters until the victim becomes shorter and shorter, eventually transformed into another Yara-ma-yha-who. Some say after the third time.
It is active during the day, not at night. According to legend, one possible means of surviving an encounter is to play dead until sunset, exploiting the creature’s daytime habits.
Child Warning and Cultural Function
Like many folkloric beings, the Yara-ma-yha-who likely served practical as well as spiritual purposes. Recorded traditions suggest the story may have been used to warn children against wandering, misbehavior, or resting in dangerous places alone.
Scholars and commentators have proposed various speculative inspirations for the Yara-ma-yha-who. Could it perhaps have come with Malay settlers telling about the tarsier primate from Southeast Asia? Or is it perhaps a story spinning on the Thylacoleo carnifex, a carnivorous marsupial that dropped onto its prey from the tree tops.
And somewhere, in the oldest corners of story, where sunlight burns and fig branches sway without wind, there remains the possibility that not every red thing in the leaves is fruit.
Newest Posts
- The Ghost of the Psychic Anne Brandfjell Haunting the old Sjømannsskolen in Oslo
Is the ghost of Anne Brandfjell, a famous fortune teller and wise wife from Norway haunting the old Maritime school in Oslo? - John Mulligans and the Pub Ghost on Poolbeg Street
A stop on the haunted pub crawl through Dublin, one of the stops would be John Mulligan’s. Stories about glass and bottles flying from the shelves has haunted the place for decades now according to the people behind the bar. - The Ghost of General Birthe of Elingaard
Ruling her Elingaard Manor house with an iron fist, the noble Birgitte Kaas is said to haunt it in her afterlife as well. But what is the truth of her strange disappearance and whispers about a deal with the devil? - Loogaroo: The Shape-Shifting Vampire of Caribbean Folklore
Hanging her skin in trees every night, the vampiric Loogaroo across the Caribbean goes out to hunt for blood to quench her thirst as well as pay her dark lord for her dark powers. - The Devil’s Castle in the Aubinger Lohe and the Hidden Treasure
Said to be the location of a hidden treasure, the old nobles from the Devil’s Castle in the Bavarian hills are said to roam the forest, still searching for it. - The Devil’s Footprint in Frauenkirche in Munich
Inside one of Munich’s landmark churches, something devilish is said to be stamped on the floor. In the middle of the room, a black footprint is clearly seen, named The Devil’s Footprint, as he was said to have left it there. - The Cursed Black Cat at Promenadeplatz in Munich
Once the house of a greedy grain speculator, the haunted house at Promenadeplatz in Munich is said to be haunted by the man in the form of a cat, as penance after a curse drove him to ruin. - The Kuntilanak and the Pontianak: Vampiric Ghosts of the Banana Tree
At the cusp of a vengeful ghost and a vampiric entity, the Kuntilanak of Indonesia, or the Pontianak as she is called in Malaysia, is after both vengeance and to devour her victims. - The City of Pontianak and the Vampiric Ghost its Named After
How haunted is a city to be named after its ghosts? This is the case of the Indonesian city of Pontianak, said to have been haunted by the fearsome ghosts known as the Pontianak or the Kuntinalak ghosts, thirsting for blood and vengeance. - The Lady in White Haunting Ebersberg Forest
Said to haunt the area around The Hubertus Chapel in the vast Ebersberg Forest in Bavaria, Germany, the Lady in White is seeking revenge for those refusing her a ride. But is she truly the only thing haunting this old and mystic forest? - The Plague Dance and the Dragon who Brought it to Munich
Once, a plague ridden Lindworm was said to crawl out from the darkness, and attack the people of Munich. After defeating the dragon, and ridding themselves of the plague, a ceremonial dance has been danced through the city for over 500 years. - The Plague Visits Munich at Alter Peter Church
Fantastical legends foretelling the Black Plague exist throughout Europe that would leave whole cities without any living. In Munich, Germany, a legend talks about a mysterious black hooded figure at the cemetery of St. Peter’s church being the omen of death.
References:
The Child-Eating Bloodsucker of Aboriginal Australian Nightmares
Dreamtime | Religion and Philosophy | Research Starters
