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Theresia Kaiser The Last Witch of Munich

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Known as the last witch of Munich, Theresia Kaiser was condemned to death in 1701. Still, her legend and what happened to her accuser bears a haunted mystery of what really happened to this young teenager at trial. 

The last woman accused of witchcraft and sorcery in Munich was Maria Theresia Kaiser, the daughter of a sergeant, born in Pfaffenhofen an der Ilm, and only 17 years old. She was executed and burned in 1701. There is a case report about another one in 1721, but this has not been proven. Therefore, Theresia Kaise was known as the last woman accused, tried and executed for witchcraft in Munich. 

Read More: Check out all ghostly legends from Germany

Where Falkenturmstrasse meets Maximilianstrasse, the Falkenturm (Falcon Tower) once stood. Also known as the “Witches’ Tower,” it served as a prison from the 16th century until its demolition in 1863. This is where she was imprisoned and is also rumoured to haunt. 

Falkenturm, wall tower of the outer city wall of Munich from 1840.

Theresia Kaiser is Imprisoned

Where today there are plenty of luxury clothing stores, the shadows of the Falcon Tower once loomed, opposite the National Theatre. There is still the street Falkenturmstraße named after it. A lot of prisoners came and left in this tower, and witches were supposedly imprisoned and tortured here as well. . 

One of the last victims of the witch hunt in Munich was Theresia Kaiser, a 17 year old girl. Her being accused of being a witch are said to have come after a high ranking court official is said to have denounced her when she was working as a maid of the Electorate. She was apparently rejecting his advances and he called her a devilish woman. 

The Witch Tower: Witch tower or Witches’ Tower (German: Hexenturm) is a common name or description in English and other European languages for a tower that was part of a medieval town wall or castle, often used as a prison or dungeon. The name is derived from the period of witch trials. Many of these towers were used to incarcerate those suspected or found guilty of witchcraft.

There were actually two towers by the second city wall they stood on. The falcon tower between Alter Hof and Neuveste, in which falconry equipment was temporarily stored and which later served as a prison. The witch tower was a neighboring tower of the Falcon Tower, which was also used as a prison.

According to her testimony she gave after torture, she was initiated into the secrets of magic by her cousin, Elisabeth, when she was just eleven, and taken by her to the witches’ sabbath on St. Thomas’ Night, a catholic feast day July 3rd. 

The Devil’s Ball

At this infernal ball, according to her account, entire cavalry units of soldiers and many lords and ladies appeared. A handsome cavalier with a large powdered wig approached her and asked her if she would renounce God. Several times she answered: no, But her cousin persisted, so that finally, after repeated questioning, she agreed.

The cavalier produced a large book and ordered her to write her name and age in it with her own blood. With a knife offered to her, she cut her left hand and signed it with her blood. Then there was dancing and people were naked. This gentleman then gave her a thaler, a gold silver coin, and then several more; but when she later wanted to examine them again, she found nothing but leather scraps in her hand. 

The devil had also tempted her to steal and taught her how to open locks with a knife or scissors. Supposedly, she stole thirteen times. The devil had also taught her to poison the Elector’s court chamberlain, Neufinger, and his wife, with whom she served in Munich. But because their children took pity on her, she did not do it, for which the devil tormented and beat her. 

In prison itself, the devil often urged her to murder herself so as not to fall into the hands of the executioner. The devil didn’t tolerate consecrated items on her, and in particular she had to take off her scapular, a Western Christian garment suspended from the shoulders. She was also said to have to remove her Monica belts, something coming from the tale of St. Monica, and it is said she would protect anyone wearing it. 

According to her testimony, she also had committed fornication with the devil several times. She was tried and condemned to death. Apparently required treatment by a competent doctor while in prison before she was executed. 

Her execution happened by the sword in Munich on September 17, 1701, and then her body was burned. 

The Legend of the Ghost of Theresia Kaiser

Even stranger than the testimony she had to give after torture, are the legends of what happened after. On the night before her execution, the devil, in the form of a bat, is said to have flown to her in her dungeon according to her guards. The next morning, she was found unconscious and naked on the floor, without her shirt. Her accuser was found hanged, or in some versions strangled in his house that same day. For reasons unknown, he was wearing the prisoner’s shirt.

The Falcon Tower: At the rear of what is now Maximilianstrasse 8 and its extension, the Witch Tower at the rear of what is now Maximilianstrasse 6, served as a prison from 1500 to 1826. Photo : Theresa Auer, Faculty of Tourism – Munich University of Applied Sciences – Digital Marketing & Management// Source

Today, a bus station at Hackerbrücke stands, where so many accused of witchcraft were once tied to a vertical tree trunk before being burned alive. At the spot where the Witches’ Tower once stood, Theresia can supposedly still be seen today: a translucent female figure, barefoot, with long hair. She covers her face with her hands and stands motionless. Then she vanishes back into nothingness.

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The One-Legged Jungle Ghost Kong Koi of Thai Folklore

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In the thick and dark jungle in the mountainous regions in Thailand, it is said something ghostly lingers. The Kong Koi ghost is said to be thirsty for travelers’ blood. But what exactly lurks behind the trees?

Deep within the forests and mountains in southeast Asia, there is a ghost lingering, hungry for travelers’ blood.. Known as Kong Koi, this being occupies a place in folklore that blends terror with mystery. Called the “one-legged demon,” it is bound to night, shadow, and the unexplained dangers of the wild.

Read More: Check out more ghostly tales from Thailand

The Phi Kong Koi (ผีกองกอย), is found in folklore in many parts of Thailand, stretching as far into Laos and Malaysia as well, being a part of many folklore’s, although the descriptions and ghost stories of this entity varies greatly. What is really haunting the thick forests in these parts?

The One-Legged Ghost

This particular ghost is not the easiest to describe as there are many variants. Most people never see the ghost at all, but claim to have heard it echoing in the night. The name Koi Koi, is given after the sound the ghosts make. It is described as a one-legged ghost, screaming Koi, koi, koi from its fly-like or beak mouth. 

Sometimes the ghost is described as an old woman hopping on one leg, screaming about how hungry she is. Some also describe it looking like a monkey or langur in the dark. In most cases, it is described as something ugly that can’t climb the trees and is after people passing through their domain in the jungle.

The Langur Ghost: The spirit of a deceased langur is said to inhabit the body of a living one. This transformation turns the animal into a fearsome, blood-sucking being. Also, among some groups that if one drinks the blood of a langur, the body will become invulnerable and immortal.

It is also vampiric in its nature and bordering as a vampire like creature and corporal spirit. The Kong Koi ghost is said to suck blood from travelers sleeping in the jungle. It is therefore advised that those going through the jungle should keep their feet covered, or crossed when sleeping. 

The Karen or Kayin group in southern and southeastern Myanmar have a different belief of the Kong Koi as well out for blood. According to them, the Phi Kong Koi is seen as a small, agile creature with small, sharp teeth and fangs used to suck the blood of its prey for nourishment.

The Fish Stealer

In some Lao folktales, Phi Kong Koi is depicted stealing food like fish from traps out of hunger, rather than solely preying on humans. In some retellings, the Kong Koi ghost even marries a human and have children with them. Sometimes it’s voluntarily, sometimes through kidnapping. 

According to the Tai Dam people in Nong Sung district, Mukdahan province northeast in Thailand, they have their own version of the Kong Koi ghost. They believe that Phi Kong Koi is a long-haired, very small  woman with backwards feet and red hair. Some say that she has a body shape similar to a monkey, but smaller than a monkey or a gibbon. They speak in opposites and riddles. 

They also believe that the Kongkoy ghost is living in caves or hollow trees, and foraging for food by catching fish in streams or rivers. Sometimes she steals fish or people’s belongings. It is also believed that fish or valuables found along forest paths should not be taken, as they belong to Phi Kong Koi, who will come to reclaim them. If taken the ghost may harm you by pulling out their livers, kidneys, intestines and eating them as food while they sleep

The Haunted Forest: The stories of the Kong Koi ghost seem to stretch across entire nations and beyond. One of the places it is said to haunt is the ancient “Dong Phaya Fai” (Forest of the Fire King) in northeastern Thailand. It had a terrifying reputation because of the numerous deaths it has claimed. It is said that anyone who enters rarely escapes alive, due to its rugged terrain. The area is teeming with ferocious animals and malaria, and is further complicated by tales of ghosts and spirits. Before the railway came through in the late 1800s, it could only be traversed by foot. The Phaya Fai forest became the Phaya Yen forest when the railway was successfully built. //Image: Ahoerstemeier

The Buddhist Monk Against the Ghost

One of the more well known sightings of this particular ghost comes from a Buddhist monk in Thailand, part of the Thai Forest Tradition. Luang Pu Waen Suciṇṇo (หลวงปู่แหวน สุจิณโณ; 16 February 1887 – 2 July 1985) was a former abbot of Wat Doi Mae Pang in the Chiang Mai province.

The Buddhist Monk: Luang Pu Waen Suciṇṇo spent his life as a Thudong monk until he became disabled. He lived alone, practiced alone in forests, and preferred seclusion. Until a royal Thai air-force pilot spotted him meditating in the sky, Luang Por Waen was a hidden gem in rural Thailand. Though he didn’t like fame, this incident made him the most popular monk of Thailand in that decade. One day, a doctor had a rare chance to ask him about the incident of the air-force pilot. ‘Do you think I’m a bird’ – was the reply of Luang Por. // Source: Wikimedia

One of the stories he did tell of though, was about the Kong Koi ghosts. He said that when he traveled in the jungle in Khammouane in Laos, with fellow monk, Luang Pu Tue Ajala Thamฺmo, they fought with many Phi Kong Koi at night. 

He described the Phi Kong Koi as the size of 13–14 years olds, thin with bulging bellies, dark brown skin, dark hair, and a chubby nose. Armed with small crossbows or arrows and shouted “Koi”. The group he was travelling with fought back by meditating, which protected them from the Phi Kong Koi. At dawn, the Phi Kong Koi surrendered and invited both of them to their home.

Do what you will with the fantastical tales about the fabled monk and his adventures as you will. What were the things they fought against in the jungle, really? Some say that it actually could have been what they called the Kha Ra Dae (ข่าระแด) an ethnic group, rumored to be cannibalistic. Although this is not really confirmed at all. 

Who were the Ka Ra Dae?: The term Kha in Thai, is in this context used as the word slave and the Laotian name of the tribe. It was often used on a group of people living in the jungle in the Mekong region that Thai people were enslaved. The Kha people do not call themselves as “Kha”, but call themselves as “Bru”, which means “mountain.” This happened until the reign of King Rama V as he started banning slavery. Could these encounters just be with other tribal groups in the jungle, and the stories about ghosts and blood sucking spirits sprouted from there? 

Origin of the Koi Koi Ghost

Koi koi is not the only name given to this blood-sucking vampire ghost. As most Thai ghosts, it is named as Phi (ghost) and something else. It has been called the Phi Pong (ผีโป่ง) or Phi Pong Kang (ผีโป่งค่าง; ‘mineral lick ghost’) as well as Phi Teen Diao (ผีตีนเดียว; ‘one-footed ghost’).

The Mineral Spirit: There is an additional explanation: Phi Pong refers to a spirit associated with natural salt licks (din pong), areas where wild animals such as deer, gaur, and elephants gather to obtain essential minerals from the soil. The spirit is thought to guard and oversee these sites, which are vital to the survival of wildlife.

As mentioned earlier, there is a lot of controversy about exactly where the stories about jungle ghosts come from. Many think that the encounters of the Kong Koi ghost is actually an encounter with other tribal people living in the mountain and jungle regions, and the ghost stories were actually from a fear of the unknown and also a dose of racism between the different groups.. 

The word koi (กอย) however has most often been used to mean “An ethnic group having black skin, curly hair in the Malay Peninsula, also known as Sakai.” Sakai is in this case referring to the aboriginal peoples of Malaysia. This term in this context most likely refers to the Orang Asli or the Semang groups of people in Malaysia. 

Now, the tales about the Kong Koi ghost are told in so many places that it is difficult to narrow it down to one specific group the stories first came from though. The theory that the jungle ghost is actually a jungle tribe that hasn’t been seen for a long time, has been much discussed. 

Footprints and Modern Sightings of the Kong Koi Ghost

Although the ghost stories about the Kong Koi ghost started in a time when the jungle and mountains were bigger, thicker and more difficult to go through and more uncertain at what actually was inside there, the stories about sighting the ghost have continued to this day. And much like with Bigfoot, it often starts with some mysterious footprints. 

In September 2016, strange footprints were found at a cave in the forest in mountainous Loei province in upper northeastern Thailand. This is also one of the more sparsely populated places in the country. The picture of the footprints taken by tourists visiting the Din Phiang cave on top of Phubobid. After posting them online, they went viral and reached the news. 

The picture seemed to show human feet, only smaller with three toes, more like a monkey. They were shown to some elders and a Buddhist monk, who claimed it had to be of the ghost. 

Perhaps it was only the footprints of a monkey or a langur, animals long connected with the legend. Perhaps it was only a hoax or a prank played on the tourists? The director of a local cultural agency said Phi Kong Koi are real and that they are ethnic group which has not been seen for a long time though. Could it be that the ghost stories are actually just long lost tribes living secluded in the caves and thick forest. 

An alleged sighting of the ghost people could follow on camera in mid-August 2024. This was from one posting on Youtube claiming his home in Surin province, also called Isan ,in the lower part of northeastern Thailand, had been invaded by the Phi Kong Koi. He and his wife had only been living in the house for about three months when  they began to hear strange tapping or knocking sounds on the outer wall of their second-floor bedroom almost every night. 

When investigating, he found nothing so he installed surveillance cameras, but nothing showed up. He sprinkled powder on the balcony and on the stairs leading up to the rooftop. The next morning, he discovered what appeared to be a large, human-like footprint, but only the right foot. It had six toes and a long, pointed big toe. He was convinced it was the footprint of the Phi Kong Koi. He insisted the event was real and not part of a content stunt. It is worth noting he was a Youtuber.

The videos started to catch attention, even ending up on the news. Associate Professor Veerachai Phutthawong, or Professor Odd, a lecturer in the Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Kasetsart University, had another theory though. If it were a real ghost, the force of walking wouldn’t put so much weight on the ground to leave such clear footprints as in the picture. But if it’s a human footprint, it’s possible that the foot stepping in ash, salt, or flour could appear larger because of the water evaporating. 

The mystery remained unsolved and in the quiet hours between sunset and sunrise, when shadows stretch long and paths disappear into darkness, the memory of Kong Koi still lingers in the imagination. Then again, if not a prank and not a ghost. Is it more comforting to have a strange human hopping around your house at night, or is it perhaps even worse?

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References:

<j)hya Anuman CJlajathon &dited by sr(argaret Boughlin 

Kong koi – Wikipedia

LAOS- Folklore Spirits and Legends: The Kasu, Phi Kong Koi & More – Studocu

ผวา! รอยเท้าปริศนาโผล่ขึ้นบ้าน

เปิดตำนาน ดงพญาไฟ-ผีตีนเดียว! ร.๕ เสด็จจึงกลายเป็นดงพญาเย็น สร้างรถไฟไปโคราชได้สำเร็จ!!

ผอ.วัฒนธรรม ยัน!รอยเท้าผีกองกอย จ.เลย เป็นเรื่องเข้าใจผิด!

Luang Pu Waen Suciṇṇo – Wikipedia 

Tai Kha

Folktales of the Kong Koi Ghost
Lao Folktales: Phi Kongkoi, the Ghost Named Kongkoi – Nye Noona

ผี กองกอย

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The Fat Ghost at Maxtor Gate at Maximilianplatz

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Through the city gates in Munich on dark evenings, people have long talked about being chased by a ghost around the Maxtor gate and the surrounding square, only described as a fat and pale man. 

At the side of Maximilianplatz, stands the Maxtor, the newest city gate in Munich. According to rumours, there is supposedly a ghost roaming the streets, said to chase unfortunate people to their front door. 

Read More: Check out all ghostly legends from Germany

The Maxtor was built in 1804 and 1805 after the older city walls had been demolished. The gate’s original name was “Prannerstor”. It was only in 1806 that it was renamed Max-Joseph-Tor in honor of King Maximilian I Joseph. From 1809 onwards, it was simply called Maxtor.

A few years earlier, a hospital stood on this site, next to a church and cemetery. But these buildings were demolished, and the Maxtor was erected and the ghost stories began.

The Fat Man Haunting Maxtor

Legend has it that a fat ghost haunts this spot. The story tells that he pursues pedestrians at night, right up to their front doors. Some sources trace the ghost back to a happening when a man encountered the ghost in an autumn evening, following him to his door. The local Munich man tried to fight him off with an umbrella, but the man vanished into thin air. 

Legend has it that the creature is not only a fat man, but also towers two-meter-tall and has a pale haunting face. It’s impossible to shake it off and when the victim thinks they’ve finally gotten rid, it suddenly reappears from a doorway.

Source

The ghost was sighted particularly frequently in the 19th century and onwards. It is said to appear particularly frequently when one passes through one of the small side gates for pedestrians and heads towards the Grotto Fountain found at Maximiliansplatz 18. It has also been seen around the Nornen Fountain on the opposite side of the square.

Source

Who could this ghost be? There are no names or death attached to this ghostly legend, but people have suspected the haunting could be from the old hospital or cemetery that once stood in this place. 

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References:

Maxtor (München) – Wikipedia

Dem Spuk auf der Spur: Schauergeschichten in und um München

11 Orte in München, die schaurige Geschichten zum Gruseln erzählen

Das sind Münchens gruseligste Ecken

Gruselgeschichten aus München: An diesen 14 Orten soll es spuken

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The White Lady of Köhlholz Forest

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In a forest near Kemoding in Germany, the pregnant Anna Schwarzenberger was murdered. Since then, people have spoken of the White Lady of Köhlholz, who finds no peace. A cross now stands as a reminder of this event.

A large wooden cross in the Köhlholz forest, directly on the B 388 near Kemoding, has been erected as a wayward shrine as a reminder of several events: terrible accidents along the dangerous road and a bloody murder that happened in 1831.

Read More: Check out all ghostly legends from Germany

The 2.5-meter-high “Fertlbauernkreuz” (Fertlbauer Cross) was built by initiative of Andreas Faltermaier from Kemoding, as a wayside shrine of the same name had long stood on this spot , but disappeared a few years ago. In the Kemoding area alone, a small hamlet belonging to the municipality of Fraunberg, several very different crosses can be found.

Köhlholz Forest: The forest can be found along the way to Kemoding Village, part of the municipality of Fraunberg, Erding district, Upper Bavaria.The village lies approximately six kilometers southeast of Fraunberg. Image Source

The Murder in Köhlholz Forest

The Köhlholz is one of the largest wooded areas in the district and stretches from Kreuthäusl on the B 388 to Danerberg, just before Ottering. Since the 19th century, the forest has been primarily known for a gruesome murder.

On July 31, 1831, a lover stabbed a young, heavily pregnant woman 14 times there. Because of people still living with the name in the area, his name is often retracted from records. He was an unmarried farmer known as MG from H. She was Anna Schwarzenberger from Lern ​​(Berglern). 

Read More: Check out all ghost stories in haunted forests

On that fateful night, he had tricked his lover into believing he was inviting her to the fair in Dorfen. After stabbing her, he then drowned her in a small pond when she was still alive, even after all of her stab wounds. The murder went undiscovered for almost three weeks until G. turned himself in. 

Anna Schwarzenhuber was eight months pregnant at the time of her death and the newspaper at the time, the Bayerische Landbötin, called the perpetrator a “reject of humanity.” G. was sentenced to death. However, his mother, through an appeal to the king, managed to have the death sentence commuted to life imprisonment in chains. G. presumably died in prison.

The Haunting of the Forest

Since then, the legend has persisted that Anna has never found peace. Since the 19th century, many coachmen have reported seeing the sad, heavily pregnant mother wandering about as a white figure. In the past, farmers used to drive their carts at high speed through the Köhlholz forest. 

Even today, she is occasionally sighted by walkers in the Köhlholz forest. Many people still report that they are overcome by a deep sadness when they drive through the Köhlholz. Driving through the Köhlholz forest, Anna is said to appear and sit in the passenger seat and gaze at you with large, sad eyes. 

Especially at the end of August and beginning of September, a faint crying or sobbing can supposedly be heard. It was during this time of year that Anna’s child was said to have been born.

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References:

An der B 388 bei Kemoding: Ein Kreuz für die weiße Frau vom Köhlholz 

7 wahre urbane Legenden aus München 

Fraunberg: Jedes Kreuz hat seine Geschichte 

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Soucouyant: The Skin-Shedding Vampire of the Caribbean

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As one of the shapeshifting vampiric witches of the Caribbean, the Soucouyant has been the nightmare for generations and the fear lurking in the dark. 

In the night traditions of the Caribbean, there exists a figure both feared and whispered about in equal measure. Known as the soucouyant, this being is not a ghost in the usual sense, nor a corpse risen from the grave. It is something far more unsettling. It is a living person who becomes a vampire by night, abandoning human form to hunt in secret.

The legend is most strongly rooted in the folklore of Trinidad, Dominica, Saint Lucia, and Haiti, where it appears in slightly different forms but always carries the same essential horror. The soucouyant is a woman, often elderly, who moves among her community unnoticed by day. At night she becomes something else entirely.

Shedding the Human Form

She goes by many names. In Guyana, Belize and Jamaica they call her the Ol’  Higue. In Suriname Asema and Hag in the Bahamas and Barbados. Belief in soucouyants is still preserved to an extent in Guyana, Suriname and some Caribbean islands, including Saint Lucia, Dominica, Haïti and Trinidad. The Soucouyant’s name comes from the French Creole “sucer,” meaning to suck, and “couir,” meaning to run or flow.

By day she appears as a normal woman. Either an elderly woman on the fringes of society, or even a young woman leading men astray.

After nightfall the vampiric witch removes her skin. The discarded flesh is hidden carefully, often in a mortar, a hollow tree, or a dark corner of her home. Sometimes, the repeated shedding of her skin made her human form unusually wrinkled. Described as a ball of fire or light, sometimes flickering like an ember carried by the wind she starts her hunt.

She slips through cracks in walls, under doors, through keyholes and shutters. Entering homes while the occupants sleep, she approaches her chosen victim and drinks their blood. The focus is often on the vulnerable. The sick, the elderly, and especially children are frequent targets in the stories. In some accounts she leaves small, bruise marks, easily overlooked. The victim simply grows weaker over time without understanding why. If she feeds too much, the victim will die, or become a Soucouyant self. 

The Danger of Discovery

The greatest weakness of the soucouyant lies in the skin she leaves behind. If it is found and destroyed, or treated with certain substances, she cannot return to her human form. Folklore across the Caribbean speaks of salt, rice, or hot peppers being used to interfere with her return. Sprinkling salt into the hidden skin is said to burn her upon reentry, killing her at dawn.

The skin of the soucouyant is considered valuable and is part of black magic rituals.

Rice has another function. The soucouyant is believed to be compelled to count grains if they are scattered in her path. This obsession delays her until sunrise, when she is caught outside her skin and destroyed by the light.

Regional Variations of the Vampiric Shapeshifting Witch

This creature has many regional variations that are so similar, they seem the same, or so different it seems like a different entity entirely. 

In Haiti, it is known as the lougawou and in the Dominican Republic it is known as the Lugarú, also known as the Galipote or Zángano. Here they are a mythical shapeshifter that is able to take the form of not just various animals, but also inanimate objects like trees or stones. It has incredible strength and is immune to bullets.  Like other versions of the legend, the Lugarú was also rumoured to be immortal, and maintained this state by prowling the night to drink the blood of children.

The Lagahoo and Rougarou: The Rougarou is a legendary creature in Cajun and Creole diaspora and a trickster in oral traditions in Métis and Francophone communities like a werewolf. In Trinidad and Tobago, a similar creature called “Lagahoo” or “La Gahoo” is more like a bloodsucking, shapeshifting sorcerer. At night, he is described as taking the appearance of a man with a coffin on his neck instead of a head, atop which are three lit candles. He carries a chain around his waist, which trails behind him, and commonly feeds on livestock. Sometimes, he is so tall his head disappears among the trees. To defeat him, he must be repeatedly struck with a stick doused in holy water and holy oils for nine days. He will then rapidly switch forms, from a savage dog, an angry bull, and stormy waves, before finally turning to mist. // Image: praline3001/Flickr

In Mauritian folklore, the Lougarou is a notorious figure mostly used to scare children, appearing during the full moon. Following Cyclone Hollanda in 1994, a form of Lougarou, known as Touni Minwi, was believed to visit women in their homes at night. This led to hysteria among the local population; many witnesses would affirm having seen frightful manifestations at night time, including apparitions of Lougarou. The Touni Minwi phenomenon led to a large mobilization of people in the capital, Port Louis, and in the village of Lallmatie.

Origins and Meaning

The soucouyant belongs to a wider family of night beings found across West African and Caribbean traditions. Her closest relatives include the loogaroo and other shapeshifting vampire figures brought through the transatlantic slave trade and reshaped in the Caribbean environment. Sometimes, The Loogaroo and the Soucouyant stories are so similar, they come across as the same creature.

Soucouyants belong to a class of spirits called jumbies. Unlike the ghost folklore which represents a wispy fog-like entity, the jumbee is cast as a dark, shadowy figure. Particularly in the case of the Firerass, or ole Higue is said to share the same compulsion to count sand, salt or rice. 

Jumbies: A jumbee or jumbie, also known as mendo or chongo in Colombia and Venezuela, is a type of mythological spirit or demon in the folklore of some Caribbean countries. “Jumbee” can be a generic name given to all malevolent entities. There are numerous kinds of jumbees, reflecting the Caribbean’s complex history and ethnic makeup, drawing on African, Amerindian, East Indian, Dutch, English, and even Chinese mythology. // Image: depicting the bloodsucking Old Higue it has been known as as well.

It is likely the origin of the Soucouyant as well as the Bahamian “Hag” have a strong connection to the Aje, or the witch of the Yoruba people. Many Bahamians who descended from the Yoruba referred to old Congolese women as witches who shed their skins in the night and sucked human blood.

The book, Items of Folk-lore from Bahama Negroes, written by Clavel and published in 1904, describes the Bahamian version: “when a hag enters your house, she always shed her skin. When you first see her, she appears like the flame of a candle floating about; in some way, she puts you to sleep, and resumes her body (but without the skin); she then lies on you, and sucks away every drop of blood that God has put in you.”

There is also another creature from Ghana and Togo where there is said to be an organ eating vampire called The Adze that appears as a firefly but reverts to its human form if captured. Where one type of Vampiric creature ends and another starts, is difficult to say, but there are certainly threads from all around the world to make up the horror of the Caribbean. 

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References:

Soucouyant – Wikipedia

The Soucouyant | USC Digital Folklore Archives

Soucouyants | FOLKLORISTICS

Jumbee – Wikipedia

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Hiyang Athouba: The Neglected and Forgotten Corpse Returned from the Dead

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In Meitei tradition, tales about the Hiyang Athouba warn about the dangers of not taking proper care about the dead and ill in your community and family. Left alone to decay, a corpse can sometimes rise as a vampiric monster. 

In the traditional folklore of the Meitei people of Manipur, death does not always mark an ending. Among the most feared supernatural beings recorded in ancient tales is the Hiyang Athouba, a revenant born not from curse or sorcery, but from neglect. It is a dead body that rises again, transformed into something predatory, aware, and deeply unnatural.

Read More: Check out all haunted legends from India

The Hiyang Athouba belongs to the category of Lai Phattaba, malevolent spirits within Meitei belief systems. Unlike wandering ghosts or ancestral spirits, it is explicitly physical. The danger lies not in an invisible soul, but in the corpse itself returning to motion.

The Manipur Vampire of Neglect

The story of the Hiyang Athouba (ꯍꯤꯌꯥꯡ ꯑꯊꯧꯕ) is and old one, perhaps from the ancient Kangleipak, a lesser known civilisation in modern day Manipur in northeastern India. With strong shamanistic traditions, some of their folktales have the same spirit. 

The Kingdom of Kangleipak: The Kingdom of Kangleipak (present-day Manipur, India) was an independent monarchy with a rich cultural and political history. Traditionally believed to have been founded in 33 CE by King Nongdā Lāiren Pākhangbā, Kangleipak was ruled by Meitei kings, who established a distinct administrative system and patronised the indigenous Sanamahism religion. // Image: Illustration of common people of Kangleipak.

Folktales in Meitei tradition have many cases where the dead have a transformation and come back as something evil. Traditional narratives describe the transformation occurring when a body remains unattended after death. Isolation is central to the legend. A person who dies alone, without funeral rites or communal care, risks becoming something else entirely. Folklore frequently notes a specific omen. If an animal, especially a cat, passes over the corpse, the transformation may begin.

The Returning Wife of Neglect

One widely preserved tale tells of a poor couple separated by necessity. They are poor people and are expecting a baby. The husband leaves home to earn money while his pregnant wife remains behind to rest and wait for his return. 

He gave her enough money to get by for a couple of months, and hopefully their neighbours would also assist when he went away. As months pass, resources disappear. She falls ill. Neighbors initially assist her but eventually withdraw, burdened by their own survival. Also anger toward the man made them eventually stop visiting her.

She didn’t get better though and she died alone in the house. No one knew about her death, and she left unattended for days. A cat jumped over her dead body. 

Days later, the husband returns at night carrying his earnings. When he calls for his wife, she answers from within to get in. At first nothing seems wrong. Yet her clothing hangs loosely, her hair is disordered, and her movements feel unnatural. Gradually he notices signs of decay beneath familiarity. Her teeth appear enlarged. Her gaze does not blink. She had become a Lai Phattaba, a Hiyang Athouba.

Lai Phattaba: (ꯂꯥꯏ ꯐꯠꯇꯕ), also spelled as Lai Phataba (ꯂꯥꯏ ꯐꯇꯕ),[1] is a term in the Meitei language that refers to an evil spirit. Meitei polytheism recognizes multiple evil spirits, which can be grouped according to their nature and domain. Hiyang-Athouba being a demonic and haunting spirit. When offering food to the Lai Phataba spirit, devotees always face east. This is considered the correct direction for prayer. It is believed to roam around the surroundings of every family. During the offering, the head of the family places the food on a plantain leaf set on a bronze plate. // Image: The long handed demoness Lai Khutsangbi aiming to the lonely house in the village, by Subadani, Ksh.

Realizing the truth, he flees into the darkness while Hiyang Athouba pursues him through the village. Doors remain closed. No one answers his pleas.  Some say it was simply night and no one heard. Some say they heard, but ignored. He survives only by climbing some lianas beyond the creature’s reach and waiting for dawn. With daylight, the being returns home and collapses once more into lifeless flesh.

The villagers later cremate the corpse immediately, understanding that destruction of the body is the only safeguard against further return.

The Persistence of the Dead

The Hiyang Athouba remains one of the clearest examples of a Southeast Asian corpse revenant tradition. Whose fault is it that she died, and whose responsibility is it that the dead doesn’t come back as a vampiric revenant? The husband or the bigger society? One thing is sure though. No one gains anything with a Hiyang Athouba on their tail. 

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References:

Hiyang Athouba – Wikipedia

Kangleipak – Wikipedia

Lai Phattaba – Wikipedia

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The Iron Maiden and the Haunted Jungfernturmstraße

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In the ruins of the Jungfernturm in Munich, some say the victims of the mythical torture device is still haunting the street where the tower once stood.

The Jungfernturm, or Maiden Tower on Munich’s old city wall was said to once be the site of feared death sentences and mysterious disappearances. Although the tower itself was torn down, still to this day, people still talk about experiencing strange things while walking through the street of Jungfernturmstraße. 

Read more: Check out all haunted places in Germany 

The Jungfernturm served mainly as a battery tower for the defence of the city, but according to legend, it is said the tower got its name from torture and executions carried out with the Iron Maiden said to be within it.

By Carl August Lebschée (1800–1877)

History of the Maiden Tower

The first city wall around Munich was built as early as the 12th century, but the construction of the defensive tower didn’t begin until 1493. It stood between the second city wall and the inner wall for the protection of its people. As it was a battery tower, it had no windows, only hatches for firing projectiles and it was difficult to say what went on inside of it from the outside. 

It could only be accessed from within the city. With the dismantling of Munich’s fortifications in 1791, it became obsolete as a means of defence and ended up as a storage room for the opera nearby. It remained in its place for over a decade before its demolition finally began in 1804 as a means to modernize and beautify the city.

The Iron Maiden and the Statue of Virgin Mary

Did something else happen within the tower though except for preparing for an attack on the city? According to the legend, death sentences were said to have been handed down in the Maiden’s Tower in secret. 

Most legends claim that the victims were taken to the tower by carriage. Often the legends talk about men in black being the ones taken from them. This is often in connection to the mysterious Guglmänner, a secret and veiled society in Munich, although officially, these were mourners at funeral processions. At night, these men in black robes with pointed hoods would knock on the door and collect the offender in a black carriage, taking him to the Jungfernturm.

The Guglmänner: Originally, they were attendants of a funeral procession. As early as the 14th century, penitents veiled themselves from head to toe, leaving only a peephole for their eyes. Since around the late 1990s, the term has mostly referred to a Bavarian secret society whose members see themselves as guardians of the monarchy and contribute to the perpetuation of the legends surrounding the death of King Ludwig II of Bavaria in 1886. Their motto, referring to the deceased, is Media vita in morte sumus , which translates as: “In the midst of life we ​​are surrounded by death.”

According to legend, there was a statue of the Virgin Mary at the tower, which the condemned man had to kiss before a trapdoor opened beneath him and he fell into a dungeon below, being impaled in the Iron Maiden torture device. 

The iron maiden: this mythical torture device, believed to have been first created in the 19th century. It consists of a solid iron cabinet with a hinged front and spike-covered interior, sufficiently tall to enclose a human being. While often popularly thought to have been used in the medieval period, there is no known mention of the iron maiden from before the 19th century. The most famous iron maiden that popularized the design was that of Nuremberg, first displayed possibly as far back as 1802. The original was lost in the Allied bombing of Nuremberg in 1945. The 19th-century iron maidens may have been constructed as a misinterpretation of a medieval Schandmantel, which was made of wood and metal but without spikes.

The Ghost of Captain Franz von Unertl

The popular legend links the mysterious powers of the Iron Maiden to the time of Elector Karl Theodor in the mid 1700s, whose secret committee, headed by the notorious Privy Councilor Lippert, issued banishments and death sentences without a court trial, carrying them out secretly and without fanfare. 

A time of unease in the realm: Between fighting for Bavarian reign, wars and the brewing French Revolution that would affect nobles across Europe, there was much unease and scheming going on in the shadows. Illustration showing Privy Councilor Lippert informs Karl Theodor that the people of Munich are dissatisfied and are resisting his orders.

According to this legend, individuals deemed dangerous to the state due to their revolutionary principles were suddenly arrested, taken to the residence, interrogated and condemned by the secret committee in the dreaded Yellow Room. They were then sent to the Maiden’s Tower to be murdered by the arms of the Iron Maiden.

One such alleged executed person was Captain Franz von Unertl. He was reportedly picked up from an inn by a horse-drawn carriage on the evening of January 6, 1796, after Munich had already dismantled its fortifications, and taken to the tower. The story tells that the Captain met his death by the Iron Maiden at 3:00 a.m. on January 7. 

Franz Xaver Josef Baron von Unertl: (21 February 1675 – 22 January 1750) was a Bavarian politician. Unertl was born in Munich. He served as Electoral Bavarian Privy Council Chancellor and Conference Minister. His role under the Austrian occupation during the Spanish Succession War remains dubious. He died in his home town of Munich.

However, we have no documentary evidence of such mysterious activities during the reign of Elector Karl Theodor. After his death, his successor, Elector Maximilian Joseph, later King, ordered an investigation into the proceedings of the secret committee on March 26, 1799. The thing is, only those dating back to 1796 were found. What happened before that had been destroyed. 

So were there actually secret executions at the Jungfernturm throughout the centuries it stood? Hard to prove, and no Iron Maiden was ever found. However, it is said that the executioner of Munich from this time told that he had once been forced to execute a person unknown to him in the Residence.

The Corpses in the Tower

So what was the truth? With no Iron Maiden found, it’s hard to prove the validity of the legend. However, the remains of people in the tower could point to the fact that more than one person died here. 

General Field Master and Chief Warrant Officer Josef Count von Salern told about a terrible find he encountered working with the costumes for the opera when he was Intendant of the Court Music in 1751. He noticed that a small piece of paving in the first-floor floor was sticking up slightly, making it easy to trip and fall. When they tried to repair it, they discovered a trapdoor leading to a lower room. A few masons lowered themselves into the hole below and found two unattached, almost completely decomposed corpses. 

These bodies with a pile of rags were then removed without further investigation and buried in the churchyard that was located right next door according to the Imperial Police Director Baumgartner. Could this be proof that the tower at least was used as a place of criminal justice? 

From Baumgartners story about the tower: Source

Demolition of the Tower

This tower was demolished and along with it, the proof. What we do have though it the reports from the Royal Police Director Baumgartner who said this: 

“Rumors always circulated among the people that in ancient times a secret court had operated in this tower and perhaps buried some victims there. When the tower was demolished, I, along with the city building director von Schede and the city master mason Ferdinand Zimmermann, examined every nook and cranny. At the top of the first floor, we found an old Gothic door, inside this door a bricked-up thwarted chamber, and at ground level a trapdoor. I descended a ladder with a mason and found myself in a burial chamber, where a kind of resting place had been prepared in a niche. I found no trace of chains or iron rings, but in the vault above the trapdoor itself, I did find an iron hook for a pulley, used to lower or raise things into the depths. There was a musty smell in this recess, and the floor was completely covered with moth husks, which are found on long-buried animals.” dead bodies were found. Some of the bones found inside were from the jaw of a dog.”

From all this, the most probable conclusion is that the Maiden’s Tower, in earlier times before it was used as a decoration storehouse, served as a prison of that barbaric kind.. Such cruel prisons were common in medieval castles, fortresses, and town halls. According to testimonies from people visiting it throughout the years, this would have happened between 1666, when Colonel-Master of Ordnance Baron von Rouyer examined it and found it completely empty, and 1724, when it was designated for the storage of opera decorations.

By Johann Georg von Dillis (1759–1841)

The Haunting of the Tower

Some claim that the screams of its victims who never returned from the tower still echo in the winds. On dark nights, people claim to hear their screams coming from the remains of the tower. 

It is said that on the night of January 6th to 7th, a man in a tailcoat and leather boots can be seen on Jungfernturmstrasse. This is the ghost of Captain Franz von Unertl, said to haunt the area. If it is so that he never went to the tower for his demise, and died in his home, could it be one of the other unfortunate people who fell into the clutches of an Iron Maiden?

The Remains of the Jungfernturm: Image by Moonmausoleum

The Remains of the Tower

The legend of an iron maiden as an execution machine appears in several cities and towns, but not much proof of its existence has ever been found. 

Not much remains of the former defensive tower today. Only a few remnants of the red brick wall on Jungfernturmstrasse still bear witness to its former location. A plaque commemorates it with the inscription: “Here stood the Jungfernturm, built in the year 1493, demolished in the year 1804.” 

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References:

Jungfernturm – Wikipedia 

Die Überreste dieses geheimnisvollen Turms mitten in der Münchner Innenstadt erzählen eine gruselige Geschichte über einen zum Tode Verurteilten – Sein Geist soll noch heute in der Nacht des 07. Januars durch die Straße spuken

Rest der ehemaligen inneren Stadtmauer in München – Jungfernturmstraße 0 (erbaut 1300) | Baudenkmal & Architektur 

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The Yara-ma-yha-who: Australia’s Daylight Vampire Beneath the Fig Tree

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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. 

Dreamtime: also referred to as the Dreaming or Tjukurrpa, which means “to see and understand the law” in the Arrernte language ,is a fundamental concept in Australian Aboriginal culture that encompasses a worldview connecting the human, physical, and sacred realms. It represents the beliefs, knowledge, and values of Aboriginal peoples, often shared through storytelling, art, dance, and ceremonies. Dreamtime stories convey the Creation myths and the ongoing relationship between the Ancestor Spirits and the land, illustrating how these spirits shaped the world and established connections among people and their environment. // Image: Source

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. 

David Unaipon: David Unaipon (1872-1967) was an Aboriginal Australian preacher, inventor, and writer who has been widely credited as the first Aboriginal published author from Point McLeay Mission in South Australia. During the late 1920s Unaipon was frequently described as among the best-known Aboriginal people in Australia and was often called upon by the Australian government to act as the sole spokesperson for the country’s Indigenous population.

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. 

The Collector of Tales: After David Unaipon wrote his book, an alleged misunderstanding developed between the author and his publisher. The result was that Unaipon’s collected folklore was published in 1930 by William Ramsay Smith, a Scottish doctor, who presented Unaipon’s work as his own, almost word for word, in Myths & Legends of the Australian Aboriginals. Unaipon’s original manuscript, Legendary Tales of the Australian Aborigines, was finally published, three-quarters of a century late, in 2006.

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.

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References:

Yara-ma-yha-who – Wikipedia

The Child-Eating Bloodsucker of Aboriginal Australian Nightmares

Dreamtime | Religion and Philosophy | Research Starters

David Unaipon – Wikipedia

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La Patasola: The One-Legged Hunger of the Colombian Wilds

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Deep from the Colombian wilderness, there is a vampiric entity said to lay in wait. The one-legged La Patasola is said to lure away those threatening to harm her forests. 

“I, as if, / but as you can see, / supposing that it was so, / the same as before, / if someone were to cast the same rhythm on me, / that was it, it depends on that, / I suppose you already understand me, / I don’t have to say more. / Patasola, do no harm / for your good is in the mountains.”
– Protection incantation  against the Patasola

Within the green and shadow-soaked wilderness of Colombia there are warnings that have outlived generations. Cautionary legends, woven from fear, morality, and the importance of untamed land. Among the most haunting of these figures is La Patasola, a monstrous feminine presence whose name means simply, and terribly, “the one-legged woman.”

She is both said to be a vengeful ghost as well as a guardian, occupying a strange and chilling role within Colombian myth. 

La Patasola at The Edge of the Jungle

According to legend, she appears first as an extraordinarily beautiful woman, often alone in the wilderness, seen by hunters, loggers, miners, or wandering men deep in isolated terrain. She may resemble a lost traveler, a mysterious maiden, or even someone intimately familiar to her victim, such as a lover or wife. In this form, she draws men away from companions and safety, luring them deeper into the jungle’s embrace.

Once her prey is beyond rescue, La Patasola sheds her human disguise and reveals the thing she truly is.

Descriptions vary by region, but nearly all agree on her defining horror: she possesses only one leg, often ending in a hoof-like appendage, and despite this grotesque anatomy, she moves with terrifying speed through forest and mountain. Her body is described as misshapen and horrifying, with tangled hair, bulging eyes, enormous fangs, and in some versions, a single breast or animalistic features that place her somewhere between woman and beast.

She is also said to sometimes transform into other animals like a large black dog or cow. In many accounts, she tears apart her victims with her feline like fangs, drinks their blood, or devours their flesh. Her violence is often explicitly vampiric, placing her among the broader family of blood-drinking folkloric entities while retaining a uniquely Latin American identity rooted in jungle terror rather than graveyard dread.

Origins Written in Blood

Like many folkloric monsters, La Patasola’s backstory changes depending on region, storyteller, and moral emphasis, but several themes remain consistent: betrayal, violence, and punishment.

The Patasola’s origin story varies, but usually follows the pattern of a scorned, unfaithful, or otherwise bad woman. Some believe that she was a wicked temptress who was cruel to both men and women and for this reason they mutilated her with an axe, chopping off one leg and throwing it into a fire. She then died of her injuries and now haunts the forests and mountain ranges.

One of the most common versions describes her as a woman whose infidelity led to catastrophe. In this telling, she was an unfaithful wife who betrayed her husband with another man, often his employer or close associate. When her husband discovered the affair, he murdered her lover and mutilated her, severing one of her legs before her death. Her spirit, cursed by betrayal and violence, returned to haunt the forests forever.

Other versions portray her as a cruel mother who harmed her own child, or as an immoral woman whose vanity and wickedness earned supernatural punishment.

Stories of her are often told close to mountain rangers, virgin forests or other thick forests and jungles. 

Another more urban variation of the legend places the origin of La Patasola in a more urban and specific context, reducing her to a specter associated with the legend of a woman cursed by her mother, whose tormented spirit materializes on the nights of Riosucio.

These stories reveal the moral architecture beneath the legend. La Patasola is frequently framed not just as a creature of fear, but as an embodiment of social anxieties surrounding sexuality, fidelity, motherhood, and female transgression. She becomes both a cautionary tale and supernatural consequence.

According to some accounts, the story may originate in the region of Tolima in Colombia, as the version found here: La Patasola: The Transformation of a Woman Victim of the Cholera of Love. Although it is said to be a Colombian legend, stories of her are also found in Ecuador and Peru.

La Patasola as a Guardian of the Wild

Beyond her role as predator, La Patasola occupies another fascinating place in Colombian folklore: protector of the natural world.

She is often said to haunt remote wilderness, particularly places threatened by hunters, woodcutters, or trespassers. Her legend seemed to flourish in the second half of the 19th century as colonization and cutting down the lush forest accelerated.

Read More: Check out all ghostly stories from haunted forests and jungles

Some stories tell about her blocking of certain roads to those intending to harm the wild, punishing those who exploit or disrespect the forest. She disorients hunters, sabotages pursuits, and terrifies those who intrude too deeply.

This duality makes her especially compelling. She is not evil in the simplistic sense. Like the jungle, she is beautiful, seductive, and lethal to those who underestimate her.

Some traditions describe her emitting horrifying screams or mournful cries that echo through mountains and valleys. Others speak of seductive singing, a supernatural lure that functions much like the sirens of older mythologies. 

The Protector of the Forest: La Patasola is often given the symbol of protector of the forest and her stories often include the battle between human kind and nature.

A Living Folklore

La Patasola remains one of Colombia’s most enduring legendary figures, especially in rural and mountainous communities where oral storytelling still preserves ancient warnings. She reminds of other female vengeful spirits, luring men to their death in South America, like The Legend of La Sayona  and even the story about the La Llorona. 

She can be interpreted as a ghost story, a feminist symbol, a morality tale, or an ecological spirit. She is at once colonial and indigenous, social and supernatural. And in the oldest parts of the Colombian wilderness, where roots twist like fingers and moonlight fractures through thick canopies, her legend still whispers a warning.

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References:

Patasola – Wikipedia

La Patasola Is the Vengeful Protector of the Andes

La Patasola | USC Digital Folklore Archives

La Patasola: Mito y Naturaleza | Mitos de Colombia 

CVC. Rinconete. Cultura y tradiciones. Bestiario latinoamericano (III). La Patasola, por Alexander Prieto Osorno.

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Kanjirottu Yakshi: The Vampire Spirit of the Sacred Vault B of Sri Padmanabhaswamy Temple

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Sealed away in Vault B of Sri Padmanabhaswamy Temple in Kerala is an old and bloodthirsty deity said to pray to atone for her sins. Known as the vampiric Kanjirottu Yakshi, people still fear her wrath and refuse to open her vault. 

Along the backwaters and shaded groves of Kerala, where river and forest blend into shadows long before nightfall, old folk tales speak of a being as beautiful as she is deadly. She is known as the Kanjirottu Yakshi, a female spirit once human, now hunting for blood. 

Read More: Check out all haunted legends from India

The yakshi spirits are a class of female nature spirits in Hindu, Buddhist, and Jain religious mythologies. The benign ones are worshipped as tutelaries and are attendees of Kubera, the treasurer of the gods, and also the Hindu god of wealth who ruled Himalayan kingdom of Alaka. There are also malign and mischievous yakshinis with poltergeist-like behaviours. Many folk stories feature murdered women reborn as vengeful yakshis. Among these, the Kanjirottu Yakshi is one of the most feared, admired, and enduring figures.

Yakshi Spirits: Here depicting The Besnagar Yakshi, from the 3rd–1st century BC.

The Vengeful Courtesan

Kanjirottu Yakshi, also known as Mangalathu Sreedevi or Chiruthevi was said to have been born into a Padamangalam family called Mangalathy. She grew up in Kanjiracode, a small village in Southern Travancore that is now in Tamil Nadu.

Said to have been a beautiful courtesan, she had a relationship with Raman Thampi, son of King Rama Varma and rival of Anizhom Thirunal Marthanda Varma in the 1700. She was also known as a flirtatious woman, playing with men’s feelings and driving them to financial ruin for sport. 

She loved her servant and palanquin-bearer named Kunjuraman though. The job of Kunjiraman was to carry Sreedevi and her brother Govindan on his back. He was a married man and one of the few that had no interest in her romantically. 

He was close with her brother, Govindan though, some even claiming they were lovers. They often shared the same room, but she didn’t do anything about this. Instead, she directed her anger toward his wife.

Frustrated and arrogant, she plotted to have his wife killed, although her brother intervened and stopped the plan by spilling it all to Kunjiraman. Thinking she had gotten her way, Kunjiraman agreed to sleep with her. But he was plotting for himself and murdered her to avenge his wife. Some say he strangled her to death when they were in bed together. Her brother turned a blind eye to his crime and protected his friend. 

After her death, she turned into a yakshi, the malevolent kind. She was reborn in the village of Kajirottu in Kundara as a grown woman, still as beautiful as always. Hunting Kunjuraman and terrorising the rest of the villagers, she drank their blood. She said that she would stop if he decided to marry her. 

Her brother was a devoted upāsaka and follower of Lord Balarama, a deity of farming. She made a deal with him that she would spend a year with Kunjuraman if she agreed to become a devotee of Narasimha after this year ended. 

Narasimha: is a deity in Hinduism, revered as the fourth of the ten principal avatars (Dashavatara) of the god Vishnu. Narasimha is venerated as a fierce protector who destroys evil and safeguards his devotees. He is the destructor of not only external evil, but also one’s own inner evil of “body, speech, and mind”

She also had to agree to pray for Govindan and his relationship with Kunjuraman in this birth and all subsequent ones. The yakshi swore on ‘ponnum vilakkum’ in agreement.

Later, she was installed at a temple that Kanjiraccottu Valiaveedu owned. devotees used to give ‘Pongala’ to the Sreedevi Yakshi Amma on Pooram on the first Friday in every Malayalam month except Meenom. This temple no longer exists, so where is she now?

Pongala: Pongala is a harvest festival of Kerala and Tamil Nadu. The name ‘Pongala’ means ‘to boil over’ and refers to the ritualistic offering of porridge made of rice, sweet brown molasses, coconut gratings, nuts and raisins. Generally women devotees participate in this ritual. Here from the Kalam Karikkal festival on Makara Chovva at Kalathil Sree Rudhiramala Bhagavathy Temple, Manatthala, Chavakkaadu, Thrissur. // Source

The Vampire of the Night in the Vault

The Kanjirottu Yakshi is now said to reside in Vault B of Sri Padmanabhaswamy Temple in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala. This is a Hindu temple dedicated to Vishnu. which supposedly also contains an enormous treasure and secrets inside of their sealed vaults.

Source

B vault is one of the six vaults of the temple and its original name being “Mahabharata Kallara” and is the largest cellar. A four-day Ashtamangala Devaprasnam conducted in August 2011 declared Kallara B as a “forbidden zone”. The enchanting and ferocious forms of this Yakshi are painted on the south-west part of Sri Padmanabha’s shrine. This is where Kanjirotty Yakshi is said to dwell. 

The temple was originally built in 6th century A.D., and later beautified further by the Kings of Travancore after 10 centuries. The royal family of Travancore is believed to be descendants of the adored saint Kulashekhara Alwar and are the ones watching over it.

Interior of the Padmanabhaswamy Temple from the early 20th century.

The vault remains unopened due to ongoing legal issues and the legend of the Yakshi, whom some believe will wreak havoc on the world if her prayers to Lord Narasimha within Vault B are disturbed by opening the vault.

Around a hundred years ago, when the area was grappling with serious famine, the temple authorities tried to open the chamber to use the treasure kept locked behind the doors. But, when they heard the sound of gushing ocean waves from behind the door, they stepped back and gave up the idea. Since then, it is believed that the chamber is connected to the Arabian Sea, and any attempt made with the modern technology to open the door will unleash catastrophes across the state and in Kerala.

Legend has it that in the 1930s, when a gang of temple invaders tried to siphon off the belongings of Vault B. But when they encountered Cobras, they fled the scene. 

In 2011 following the Supreme Court’s order five of them were opened and were found to be one of the largest treasure troves in the world. bags full of ancient gold coins, diamonds, gemstones, very heavy and huge gold and diamond necklaces.

The untimely death of Sundarajan, the petitioner, a month after the doors were opened. Another observer lost his mother to death as a result of the curse.

Kanjirottu Yakshi of Fear and Reverence

So what of the bloodthirsty Yakshi? Has all her years in prayers changed her terrorizing nature, or would she go back to her old ways if let out? 

Over the years, her deity has also garnered followers. Sundara Lakshmi, an accomplished dancer and consort of HH Swathi Thirunal Rama Varma, was an ardent devotee of Kanjirottu Yakshi Amma.

In July 2020, the Supreme Court of India upheld the rights of the Travancore royal family to manage the Temple. The royal family has maintained that they oppose the opening of Vault B, stating that it is a “secret and sacred place.” According to them, no amount of treasure hidden inside would be worth the danger of letting her out. 

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References:

Kanjirottu Yakshi – Wikipedia

Yakshini – Wikipedia

Kanjirottu Yakshi: Blood Drinking Tale of Kerala – Scientific Monk

Padmanabhaswamy Temple ‘Vault B’: facts about the scary, inaccessible chamber, Thiruvananthapuram – TimesTravel

Kanjirottu Yakshi – Alchetron, The Free Social Encyclopedia