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A Cautionary Tale of the Vampiric Guaxa from Asturia

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Stalking the northern valleys in Spain, the vampiric Guaxa witch from Asturian legends stalks the night. Although no one is safe, the starved and thirsty monster is especially after the blood of the children. 

In the foggy landscape in Asturia in northern Spain, a vampiric figure is said to linger in the cracks of shadows, waiting for her prey. They say: “wherever a breath of air passes, the Guaxa passes .” An entity between the witch and vampire, she is after the blood of children. 

Read More: Check out all ghostly stories from Spain

Asturia, once an ancient kingdom encompassing most of northern Spain is now confined to a coastal bit overlooking the Atlantic ocean. Even so, the old languages of Asturian are still spoken in the valleys by the elderly, and the tales they have to tell are that of monsters and witches. 

The Vampiric Guaxa Witch

The Guaxa is said to be an old and thin woman-like entity, ugly and covered in warts. She is said to have a single sharp tooth she stalks her prey with. The Guaxa is not often seen at all, and is often said to be invisible, slipping through small cracks of people’s houses like the chimney, and even the keyhole. 

Because she is either invisible, or just seen at night, it is believed that she hides in caves or hollow tree trunks during the day. 

As with many vampiric beings from southern Europe, she is associated with owls or other nocturnal birds. Some also associate the Guaxa with the coruxa (owl), closely linked to witches, and thus consider the Guaxa to be a witch herself.

Curuxa the Barn Owl: The Curuxa are a nefarious omen, especially if they land over the house of an ill person as those inside will die.  It is also said that les bruxes like to shapeshift into a barn owl to fly where they see fit and sneak into forbidden places to steal. Overlapping and sharing a lot with the Northern Portuguese vampire witch Bruxa. // Image: Source

She sneaks into people’s homes in the middle of the night and feeds on them with her one sharp tooth. Children are preferred, but also young women and handsome men are in danger. She doesn’t kill them at once, nor does she transform her victims to one of her own. She slowly kills them, draining their life, bit by bit. In Asturia, people can say “It looks like the Guaxa has swallowed you,” when people have lost a lot of weight, as the Guaxa slowly over time drained people’s lives. 

Protection from the Guaxa

But how do you protect yourself from an invisible supernatural being no one can find or kill? The best thing to do is keep her at a distance. In Astorian tradition there is often talk about the cigua, a talisman of sorts in the form of an amulet. It is shaped like a closed fist in a black chiastolite stone, often known as St. Peter’s stone. 

The Black Jet Hand: Mostly, giving the finger is an obscene gesture meant to offend. In Portugal, Brazil, and some places in Spain, such as Galicia and Asturias, it is a gesture of good luck, or even wishing good luck. It is also believed to ward off evil eye and protect oneself from evil. In these countries, an amulet of a hand performing the fig sign is worn as a good luck or protective charm. In Asturias, these amulets are made from Jet, and it is usual to give them to young kids to protect them from evil eye. In Spanish these amulets are called “Higas”. In Galician language and Portuguese language they are called “Figas”, and in Asturleonese language they are called “Ciguas”.

Another option is protection rituals for people who have been attacked by a Guaxa. These individuals had to drink a preparation made from alicorn, that is actually unicorn horn, that had been macerated with pieces of deer antler and fragments of silver. 

In the case of children, they could also be given a small bag containing 10 grams of rice, which was hung around their necks with a black thread tied with nine knots.

The Guajona Vampire Witch from Cantabria

Asturia shares a lot with the other northern regions in Spain, like Galicia to the west and Cantabria to the east. In Cantabrian lore you will find another vampiric entity that looks and behaves so similar to the Guaxa that many think that this is actually the same story with different names. 

So what is the difference between the tale of the vampiric witch Guajona from Cantabria and the Astorian Guaxa?

The lore behind the Guaxa follows a lot of the same steps as with the Guajona. She’s described as an old woman, sneaking into people’s homes to drink their blood with her single sharp tooth. She is also just seen during the night, but this lore doesn’t insist on her being invisible as much. She is thought to slumber underground during the day. The word Guajona is most likely from Arabic roots meaning beast, and sometimes, this version is also called Lamia. 

The Legend of Lamia: A lot of European myths about vampiric beings can be traced back to the Ancient Greek legend of Lamia, the child-devouring monster that were also known to haunt people and suck their blood as a daimon. As well as sharing many similarities between the legend of Lilith and other ancient succubus entities.  Read more: The Beautiful Queen Lamia Who Became a Vampire Monster. // Image: Lamia (second version, 1909) by John William Waterhouse.

Similar creatures are found in Galician lore as well, going under the name of the Meiga Chuchona. As mentioned, northern Portugal also has the Bruxa legend. The question: where did the legend evolve from? Should these entities be seen as the same creature with different names, or is their geographical regions and variations enough to make them separate beings in folklore?

How old is the Legend of the Guaxa?

The Guaxa is often talked about as an old being from ancient Indo-European folklore. But exactly when did the legend of the Guaxa emerge from the shadows?

The legend of the Guaxa was first written down by Jove and Bravo in the Myths and Superstitions of Asturias from 1897. By this time, the legend had been greatly influenced by modern fears and monsters as well as Christianity. Many think that she is merely a version of the witch figure. But was there a Guaxa pre-Christian Asturia?

The word Guaxa comes from the Asturian language, guax, guax, the onomatopoeia for the sound of owls. In one of the earliest descriptive studies of the figure, Aurelio de Llano denies her belonging to the Asturian mythical pantheon, considering her nothing more than a witch, a term derived from the Latin word “striga”  or stryx, meaning a nocturnal bird).

As mentioned it is also thought that the legend of the Guaxa is branched off from the figure of Lamia from Greece as well as the vampire of Germanic legends. But how far does a legend have to exist before it becomes canon?

For example, in 1480 we know of lawsuits and accusations in the Royal Chancery of Valladolid against Teresa Prieta, a resident of Xove (Gijón), for practicing the profession of Estriga (witch) to enter other people’s houses and suck the blood “mostly of children.”

Read More: Teresa Prieto The Witch of Jove and Spain’s First Vampire Case

The Vampiric Witches of Spain

What lurks in the misty woods in northern Spain? As the fog weaves through the ancient trees, the air becomes thick with mystery and intrigue. Legends speak of elusive creatures and spirits that roam these enchanted forests, whispering secrets to those who will listen, while the rustle of leaves and the distant calls of unseen wildlife create an atmosphere teeming with life and wonder. Perhaps one of them is the blood thirsty monster of the Guaxa?

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References:

Guaxa – Wikipedia, la enciclopedia libre

Guaxa – Viquipèdia, l’enciclopèdia lliure

Guaxa, la bruja bebedora de sangre

SERES MITOLÓGICOS ASTURIANOS: LA GÜAXA 

El grimorio de bestias: Guaxa

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Loogaroo: The Shape-Shifting Vampire of Caribbean Folklore

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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. 

In the islands of the Caribbean, especially within Haitian and Louisiana Creole folklore, there exists a creature whose legend has frightened generations and crossed oceans into wider ghost traditions. This being is known as the loogaroo, blending European, Indigenous and African horror across the Americas.

Unlike the European vampire that rises from the grave, the loogaroo is a living body transformed, a creature that sheds its human form at night to hunt unseen. 

Origin and Name of The Loogaroo

The term loogaroo is widely recognized in Haiti, Grenada and other French speaking parts of the Caribbean as well as Louisiana. It is derived from the French loup-garou, meaning “werewolf,” but over time the creature became distinct from its European counterpart that the settlers brought with them. 

The Loup-garou: Traditional tales about the Loup-Garou are found in French colonies and European folklore. The Loup-Garou, which literally means ‘wolf-werewolf ‘,  is believed to be a cursed man. s an individual who can shapeshift into a wolf or therianthropic hybrid wolf–humanlike creature, either voluntarily or involuntarily due to a curse or other affliction. Because of European colonisation, similar legends blended with the locals, especially in the French colonies.

The legend of the Loogaroo differs greatly from its namesake though. In the Caribbean context, the loogaroo is most often depicted as a woman with shapeshifting abilities who feeds on human life force rather than sheep or livestock.

In later adaptations of the myth, Loogahoo is a man that has been corrupted by wealth and has dealt with the Devil to keep his status. He is often disguised as a charming and well dressed man, to lure young women to their deaths. He primarily draws blood from the stomach and abdomen.

Her origin stories vary. In some, the Loogaroo is a woman who has made a pact with dark forces and is actually more of a witch-like vampiric being than the werewolf name would say. Not only does she have to feed herself to live, she also has to supply her dark lord with fresh blood. Therefore it is much closer to the Soucouyant myth, another shape-shifting and blood-sucking creature in Caribbean folklore than the werewolf myth of the Loup-garou.

The Soucoyant: The Soucouyant is a folklore character who appears as a reclusive old woman (or man) by day. By night, they strip off their wrinkled skin and put it in a mortar. In the form of a fireball, they fly across the dark sky in search of a victim. The Soucouyants can enter the home of their victim through any sized hole such as cracks and keyholes. Soucouyants suck humans’ blood from their arms, necks, legs and other soft regions while the victim sleeps, leaving black and blue marks on the body in the morning. The soucouyant practices black magic. Soucouyants trade their victims’ blood for evil powers with Bazil, the demon who resides in the silk cotton tree.

Read More: Soucouyant: The Skin-Shedding Vampire of the Caribbean

In some versions of the myth, she is cursed because of her own cruelty in life. What remains constant is that she loses her human appearance at night and becomes something that moves through the shadows, hunting under the cover of darkness.

A Skin Hanging from the Kapok Tree

By day, the Loogaroo appears as a normal woman, often described as an elderly or mysterious figure who lives on the fringes of society. At sunset the loogaroo slips out of her human skin and hangs it on a tree, in some sources specified as a silk cotton tree called the Devil Tree. 

The Silk Cotton Tree: This tree, also called Kapok Tree is one of the most feared trees in the West Indies, and thought to attract spirits and supernatural spirits. According to the folklore of Trinidad and Tobago, the Castle of the Devil is a huge C. pentandra growing deep in the forest in which Bazil, the demon of death, was imprisoned by a carpenter. Still to this day, there are problems every time someone wants to cut down these trees, because people fear what resides inside of the trees. One occurrence being when they constructed the East Coast Highway in Guyana some years ago. 

Many storytellers describe her as a floating ball of light, similar to the will-o’-the-wisp and corpse candle, or as an amorphous shape that enters houses through cracks and crevices. In some tales she retains partial human features. In others she becomes indistinct, a dark mass of movement that evades clear sight.

She is said to enter homes at night, especially where doors or windows are left open, and suck the vital force of sleepers. Some accounts claim she is biting the victim’s shoulder or neck or draws life through an unseen touch or presence. Unlike the classical vampire biting for blood, the loogaroo’s feeding is described more as an unseen siphoning of energy or breath. In some versions of the myth, the Loogaroo’s bloodlust is insatiable, and she is compelled to collect blood for the devil in exchange for her powers.

The Loogaroo is said to roam the night in search of blood, which she needs to sustain her powers. She typically preys on vulnerable people, especially children and the sick. The victims are often found weakened, ill, or pale in the morning. Some die without medical explanation. 

Protection and Ritual to Keep the Loogaroo at Bay

In cultures that believe in the loogaroo, specific practices developed to protect the community. One common method is to sprinkle grains of rice or sand around the house or on the ground outside as The Loogaroo is compelled to stop and count each grain, often losing track of time and being caught by the dawn before she can finish and she has to go back to her skin without feeding. 

Another method involves finding the Loogaroo’s skin while she is out hunting. If someone discovers her hidden skin, they can sprinkle salt or pepper on it. When the Loogaroo returns to her skin at dawn, the irritation from the salt or pepper will prevent her from re-entering it, thus weakening or even killing her.

The loogaroo is particularly obnoxious to dogs, and any person at whom apparently without cause dogs will bark furiously, or even endeavour to attack, is accounted infected with the vampire taint. It is supposed that the loogaroo will frequently molest animals of all kinds, and indeed in Trinidad and especially on the Spanish Main the horses suffer greatly from the attacks of large vampire bats. It is necessary that all the windows and ventilation holes of the stables and cattle pens should be firmly secured by wire netting to prevent the entrance of the bats, which are greatly able to harm any animal in whose flesh they manage to fasten their teeth.”

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.

Legacy of the Night Spirit

In modern Caribbean culture, belief in the loogaroo has faded in many urban areas, but the legend survives in rural storytelling, literature, and popular media. It even travelled back to Europe, where places with a bigger Caribbean diaspora such as Shepherd’s Bush in London had stories of the Loogaroo lurking in the dark.

Her ghost remains alive in the story, in fear, and in the quiet hours before dawn with her skin hanging from the Devil Tree. 

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References:

Loogaroo – Wikipedia 

Loogaroo – Monstropedia

Beware The Mystical Silk Cotton Tree: Haunted Caribbean 

Ceiba pentandra – Wikipedia

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The Kuntilanak and the Pontianak: Vampiric Ghosts of the Banana Tree

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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. 

In Indonesia, particularly on the islands of Java and Kalimantan, there exists one of Southeast Asia’s most haunting and widely feared spirits known as the Kuntilanak. She is said to be the restless ghost of a woman who died during childbirth or in a violent circumstance, forever trapped between life and death. In Malayan folklore where the story is also told, she is called the Pontianak. 

Read More: Check out all ghost stories from Indonesia and Malaysia

Her domain is said to be in hollow banana trees and if you smell the sweet scent of Jasmine or the frangipani flower, it might just be the ghost of a woman who died in childbirth. And she might be after your blood. 

The Woman in White of Southeast Asian

The Kuntilanak is believed to originate in the spirit of a woman who died while pregnant or during childbirth. There are different variations of the legend throughout Asia, as we will get more into later. In traditional belief, dying in such a vulnerable state without completing the life cycle left the soul restless and unanchored.

The Kuntilanak is often depicted as a long-haired woman dressed in white as an astral female spirit. In modern media, she is often portrayed as a Woman in White. Often, her dress is depicted as blood-smeared. It is also often a traditional kebaya or funeral shroud.

She lures in unsuspecting men to devour and sometimes also for some sort of revenge. Some say that the phantom is an invention of Malay wives who wanted to discourage their husbands from random sexual encounters with women that they met on the road at night. Or perhaps it acts as some sort of subconscious warning to men to leave women alone at night. 

Signs that a Kuntilanak is nearby include the sound of an infant crying and the smell of plumeria flower followed by the smell of decay.

The Vampiric Creature of the Night

Another thing the Kuntilanak spirit is depicted as, is a monstrous transformation when she has lured her prey, more like a beast or type of vampire than a ghost. 

The Kuntilanak suddenly turns and reveals that her back is hollow, much like the Sundel bolong the prostitute ghost with her large gaping hole on her back.

Another version of this figure depicts her as a woman with long, sharp fangs and fingernails that she is said to use to feed on her victims, digging them into their stomachs and devouring their organs and blood. In some versions, she is also said to have wings she can fly away with making a ke-ke-ke sound as it flies.

The Ghost in the Tree

Banana trees are by nature hollow at the center. In Javanese and Malay belief these hollows are places where spirits can dwell. The Kuntilanak is said to hide in the hollows of banana trees, emerging at night or when someone passes too close. This is why it’s advised to ask permission from the spirits and guardians before entering a jungle. Kuntilanak are also said to favor certain trees as their “dwelling places,” such as the hibiscus tree, which grows leaning to the side (popularly called “waru doyong”).

When she appears, her wail is a long, high-pitched cry that carries over fields and villages, chilling listeners with its sorrow and fury. Those who hear the cry are believed to be marked by her presence.

The legend holds that the Kuntilanak may call out a person’s name, drawing them nearer with a voice that sounds familiar, kind, or beckoning. They usually announce their presence through baby cries. It’s said that if the cry is loud, she is far away, but if it is soft, then she is nearby. It is also said that if you hear a dog/wolf howl she is far away, but if it’s whimpering, she is nearby.

According to Javanese beliefs and traditions , a kuntilanak will not harm a pregnant woman if she always carries nails, knives, and scissors with her whenever she travels. This is why scissors, needles , and knives are often placed near a baby’s crib. According to Malay beliefs as well, sharp objects like nails can ward off attacks by the Pontianak.

Kuntilanak can be subdued by plunging a sharp nail into the top of her head. Sometimes the story goes that she doesn’t die from this, but once again becomes a normal woman. Sometimes even a good wife. Although, be careful to never remove the nail ever again as she will go back to her old ways. 

The Malayan Pontianak

As mentioned, the Kuntilanak of Indonesia is also called Pontianak in Malaysia. But what exactly is the difference? There are many Malay ghost myths, remnants of old animist beliefs that have been shaped by Hindu-Buddhist cosmology and later Muslim influences. Some ghost concepts such as the female vampires pontianak and penanggal are shared throughout the region. Often these two names are conflated to one being, just in different languages. 

There are some things that are more quintessential Malayan lore though than you would find in Indonesia. The Pontianak is similar to another entity found in Malayan folklore, the Langsuir. This is a vampiric ghost of a woman who died in childbirth in Malaysia is often connected with the stories of the Pontianak where the Langsuir is the ghost of the mother who died in childbirth, and the Pontianak is the child who died in stillbirth. Modern popular culture often confuses the pontianak with its mother the lang suir. However, traditional myth is clear that the pontianak is the ghost of a dead baby and not a pregnant woman.

There are also some traditions for the Malay Pontianak that are followed. To prevent this ghost to form, as with its mother the lang suir, a needle is placed in each of the corpse’s hands and a hen’s egg under each armpit. The Pontianak is also said to locate their prey by sniffing clothes that are left out to dry, which is the reason Malay’s refuse to keep their clothes outside at night. Also whistling after night is said to draw evil spirits. 

An interesting thing is how the Pontianak stopped showing up in modern media for a long time in Malay media. Films about her had mostly stopped being produced by the 1970s and in the 1990s, the Malaysian government censored horror films. These laws were relaxed in the 2000s, which brought on another wave of films, including the feminist Pontianak Harum Sundal Malam. She once again became something shared in media and culture to this day. 

The City of Pontianak

Pontianak, capital city of Indonesia’s West Kalimantan province, shares its name with the fearsome monster. Perhaps a little confusing, the Indonesian city is given the Malayan name for it. 

Pontianak is said to have been founded in 1771 as a Malay fishing village, near a delta on the trade route of the Kapuas River. The legend of the city of Pontianak holds that the city began as an old trading station, infested with ghosts until Syarif Abdurrahman Alkadrie and his army drove them away with cannon fire. 

Read More: The City of Pontianak and the Vampiric Ghost its Named After

He also cut down all of the trees they could be hiding in, then constructed a mosque and a palace on the site. These buildings became the city and the seat of the Pontianak Sultanate. Holiday celebrations often include firing bamboo cannons to pay tribute to the Sultan.

Some claim that the vanquishing of the ancient creature in Pontianak was a metaphor about how the area entered to a place of a more modern era, ridding itself of old superstition in order to take on new ones. But old stories are hard to get rid of completely. And if they are still firing cannons, did she vanish at all?

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References:

Kuntilanak

The Indonesian Frontier Town Named for a Jungle Vampire – JSTOR Daily 

Kuntilanak – Wikipedia 

Kuntilanak – Wikipedia bahasa Indonesia, ensiklopedia bebas

(DOC) INDONESIAN GHOST KUNTILANAK IN FOLKLORE AND MASS CULTURE

Pontianak

The Indonesian Frontier Town Named for a Jungle Vampire – JSTOR Daily 

Kuntilanak – Wikipedia 

If Singapore has a lion, why should Pontianak not have a ghost? – National – The Jakarta Post

The ultimate survival guide to Malaysian superstitions and ghosts

Ghosts in Malay culture – Wikipedia

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The City of Pontianak and the Vampiric Ghost its Named After

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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 Kuntilalak ghosts, thirsting for blood and vengeance.

The seductive but bloodthirsty Kuntilanak is a popular character in Malay horror films and novels, where she typically lurks around forested areas with abundant banana or banyan fig trees, waiting for her victims she can drain dry. 

The ghost of the Kuntilanak or the Pontianak as she is known in this city, has given name to the capital of the West Kalimantan on Borneo island, as it was said the place was filled with ghosts. Not just ghosts though, bloodthirsty ghosts, lurking in the deep jungle. 

The Pontianak City Founded on a Coast of Ghosts

Pontianak, capital city of Indonesia’s West Kalimantan province, shares its name with a fearsome monster. Perhaps a little confusing, the Indonesian city is given the Malayan name for it. Throughout most of Indonesia, she goes under the name Kuntinalak. 

Pontianak is said to have been founded in 1771 by Syarif Abdurrahim, near a delta on the trade route of the Kapuas River as a fishing village, with the equator line passing through it. There does however seem to have been a more ancient civilisation living here in the late 17th century. The city is also sometimes known as Khuntien in Teochew and Hakka and was a Malay state on the western coast of Borneo in the late 18th century until 1950. 

A nobleman of Arab descent, he was given land because of the strategic importance since the river served as the main trading route for transporting goods from the interior of the island. 

The delta was also home to pirates and building a fortress against them was also an important task. It is said that when they first came by boat, they noticed many disturbances and frightening sounds coming from the thick and dark jungle that surrounded them. The disturbances were perceived as evil ghosts and they frightened the people they didn’t want to stay. 

To scare away the ghosts, Syarif Abdurrahim fired cannon to keep them at bay. The city was built on swampy ground and tropical forest subjected to regular flooding by the river, requiring buildings to be constructed on piles to keep them off the ground. He also cut down all of the trees they could be hiding in, then constructed a mosque and a palace on the site. These buildings became the city and the seat of the Pontianak Sultanate. 

It went through many hands, until it became a part of the Republic of Indonesia after the Japanese surrendered after the second world war. Because of its history and blended population, it has a culture unlike other places in Indonesia. But did they really rid themselves of the ghosts said to roam here?

The Pontinak or the Kuntinak Ghost

But what exactly is a Pontinak, or the Kuntinak that the ghost is known as in the rest of Indonesia?

The Kuntilanak is believed to originate in the spirit of a woman who died while pregnant or during childbirth. Banana trees are by nature hollow at the center and in Javanese and Malay belief these hollows are places where spirits can dwell. The Kuntilanak is said to hide in the hollows of banana trees, emerging at night or when someone passes too close to drain them of their blood and life like a vampire. This is why it’s advised to ask permission from the spirits and guardians before entering a jungle and take certain measures. 

Some people also claim that the origin of the name Pontianak comes from the Malay language, namely ponti, from the acronym for tall tree, something the place was before turning into a city. 

The Ghost as a Citizen Today in Pontianak

To this day, the story of the Pontianak is important for the city, both as history, and everyday life. There used to be annual festivals in order to commemorate the founding of the city, during which people fired the bamboo cannon and thereby symbolically evicted Kuntilanak. Almost like they still have to do it to keep her at bay.

During the New Order the annual event and the cannon disappeared. However, some citizens have set up cannon again in recent years. An annual festival is still held in Pontianak during which meriam karbit, special carbide cannons made from wooden logs, are fired to ring at the end of Ramadan.

In recent years, the people of Pontianak city stand divided over how to honor their namesake. For years, plans of raising a statue of the Pontianak were put forth. There had long been rumors and ideas about these plans, but it seemed more real when Kartius, head of the Youth, Tourism and Sports Agency in West Kalimantan. Kartius proposed the idea to build the statue, arguing that the monument would increase tourism. Towering over 300 feet, the ghost would dwarf the buildings around it.

Protests started and banners with “Community Movement to Reject Ghost Statue.” They turned up outside of the parliament building, although no official moves had been done.  Turns out, not every person was eager for the idea of their childhood nightmare turned into a tourist attraction. A poll showed 98% of residents were opposed to the idea. 

Fear to attract the ghost perhaps? 

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References:

Kuntilanak – ScienceDirect

The Indonesian Frontier Town Named for a Jungle Vampire – JSTOR Daily

Pontianak – Wikipedia

The Time a Town Was in an Uproar Over a 300-Foot Ghost Statue

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Langsuyar: The Night Vampire of Malay Folklore

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From the despair of a mother dying in childbirth, a blood thirsty spirit rises in her place. With her alluring appearance and ability to transform into flying entities, she is one of the feared vampires from Malay folklore. 

From the Malay Archipelago is a creature both feared and cautionary known as the Langsuyar or the Langsuir. This spirit is a type of vampire that emerges under very specific and tragic conditions. 

Read More: Check out all ghost stories from Malaysia

The Langsuyar is not just another night ghost, but the spirit of a woman who died in childbirth. Transformed, a spirit driven by hunger, regret and in some cases, vengeance. The legend has survived for generations across Malaysia, Indonesia, and Singapore, haunting the night and the edges of village life.

A Death That Cannot Be Rested

At the core of the legend is the belief that a woman who dies in childbirth, or shortly after giving birth, may rise again as a langsuyar. Often after she suffered from a laboring sickness called meroyan. Forty days after burial, her spirit rises as a Langsuyar if proper rituals are not performed. 

Some stories also suggest that betrayal by her husband contributes to her transformation after he’s been cheating. 

In one version, the Langsuir was a beautiful woman who lost her child. When she heard about the stillbirth, she died of shock and became a demon. Upon hearing the news of other stillbirths, the woman claps her hands and flies off to a tree where she perches. The stillborn child becomes the Pontianak.

The Pontianak: The Pontianak is the spirit of the stillborn child and the Langsuyar is the mourning mother. In some versions and stories, the two exist as spectral counterparts in this tragic ghost tale of a mother and her child separated by death. // Image: Malaysian model of a langsuyar.

In most tales, the langsuyar looks like a normal woman and is sometimes described as beautiful by day with hair down to her ankles, often appearing in a green robe. At night, especially near the moonlit hours, her true form emerges.

Her hair becomes unkempt and her fingernails grow sharp like claws. Her eyes gleam red with hunger. In some versions of the legend she has wings like a bat or a bird. Her name is believed to originate from helang, the Malay word for eagle, but it’s often an owl she is compared to. 

Her voice becomes a shriek that carries across forests and fields. Travelers and villagers alike speak of hearing her call at night. Some versions of the tale say she calls out names familiar to her victims, drawing them closer into darkness.

A Predator in the Night

The langsuyar is associated with dark forests and rural areas where she hides. It is also connected with certain trees and the parasitic fern “sakat,” growing in dark green clusters and is said to be a common resting place for her kind. Woodcutters do exorcisms to protect themselves from Langsuyars and other spirits when they harvest wood from the poisonous Rengas trees in Malaysia.

Asplenium nidus (Sakat Fern)

In many stories, the preys upon men and children who travel alone at night as well. She approaches quietly, her feet barely touching the ground, until she is near enough. Then she feeds. In some tellings she bites at the neck, drawing blood and life, but most often her feeding is through her small hole at the back of her neck covered by her long hair. 

Signs and Omens of the Langsuyar

Langhui, Langhuā!
Your beak is stumpy,
Your feathers are cloth of silk,
Your eyes are “crab’s eye” beans,
Your heart is a young areca-nut,
Your blood thread in water,
Your veins the thread for binding on cock’s-spurs,
Your bones twigs of the giant bamboo,
Your tail a fan from China.
Descend, O Venom, ascend Neutraliser,
Neutralise the Venom in the bones,
Neutralise it in the veins,
Neutralise it in the joints,
Neutralise it within the house,
Neutralise it within the jungle.
Descend, O Venom, ascend Neutraliser,
And lock up this Langsuir.
Descend, O Venom, ascend Neutraliser.

Chant of the Sakai people and a charm against the Langsuir from Pagan Races of the Malay Peninsula.  While repeating the charm, the sufferer would be rubbed with the leaves or root of the “kělmoyang,” possibly Chamacladon, Homalomena, or Alpina conchigera.

Traditional practices to protect against the Langsuyar vary by community, but most have to do with the burial practices. After death, family members could place glass beads in her mouth, chicken eggs under her armpits, and steel needles in her palms to prevent the corpse from rising as a Languyar. The leaves of the gandasuli were also considered to be a powerful charm against Langsuyars.

There are stories where the Langsuyars were defeated though. It was believed that if her nails and hair were cut and stuffed into the neck cavity, the Langsuyar would lose her powers and revert to a normal woman. In some stories, she becomes a wife and a mother again, almost like a second chance at life.

This can go on for years. But folklore warns that if she ever experiences joy again where dancing is particularly mentioned, her supernatural form will return and she will go back to the forest where she came from.

A Legacy of Fear and Folklore

The earliest written mention of the Langsuyar appears in the English anthropologist Walter William Skeat’s Malay Magic (1891), which recorded tales of local spirits and beliefs in Selangor on the west coast of Malaysia. Of course, the legend existed long before that, although it’s uncertain exactly how old it is. Female and bloodsucking entities that can transform to a winged being, have existed for ages in various forms and stories throughout southeast Asia. 

In modern Southeast Asia, belief in the literal existence of the langsuyar has faded among many, although it still happens that a sighting of the Langsuyar causes panic. 

In 2013, villagers in the Pasir Puteh district in Kelantan, in the northeastern part of Malaysia, bordering Thailand reported sightings of a langsuyar that was terrorizing the town. This state is one of the poorer and conservative muslim parts of the country, and perhaps one of the more superstitious as well? 

The residents in several villages described seeing a long-haired Langsuyar flying and shrieking in the night. The fear spread and reached the news and local authorities urged the villages to remain calm and pray together to repel the spirit. It didn’t die down until a local shaman entered the scene though. He claimed to have captured four of the creatures and put them away. A local religious officer acknowledged the existence of the spirit, but cautioned against talk of magic as it may be sacrilegious.

The Langsuyar embodies ancient fears about death, motherhood, and the consequences of an interrupted life. Her wail echoes among trees, across fields, and in the quiet imagination of anyone who hears a woman’s cry in the night. 

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References:

Langsuyar – Wikipedia

Langsuir

Skeat, William Walter (1900). Malay Magic

https://web.archive.org/web/20160603133323/http://malaysianreview.com/32993/penduduk-kampung-solat-hajat-halau-hantu-langsuir

Langsuyar | Legends From Around The World | Stronghold Nation

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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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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 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.