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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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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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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.

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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

Ukategorisert

The Churel: The Vengeful Vampire Woman of South Asian Folklore

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Fueled by anger and vengeance, the vampiric Churel of South Asian folklore, is said to haunt down men to drain their blood as a vengeful spirit brought back from the dead.

Across South Asia, there are countless legends of spirit beings that stalk the night and prey on the living like a vampire. Among the most feared and vivid of these is the Churel (चुडैल in Hindi and چڑیل in Urdu), a female spirit often associated with death, betrayal, and unfulfilled fate. 

The Churel appears in stories from all over South Asia, but is perhaps most predominantly told in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Nepal, and today she remains one of the most potent ghost figures in regional folklore. Her presence is distinct, terrifying, and symbolic.

A Spirit Born of Suffering

The legend tells that a woman might become a Churel under tragic or unjust circumstances. Most commonly after she died during childbirth or pregnancy, but also that she was murdered by her family or husband can make her come back as the bloodsucking Churel. 

Instead of finding peace, she becomes trapped between realms, bearing resentment and a thirst for retribution. This way, she is known as an entity much like a vengeful ghost as well as a vampiric or even demonic creature. 

Other names she is known under: There are so many variations of this legend, she also comes under different names depending where her tales are told. She is called Chudail, Chudel, Churrail, Churreyl among otheres. In Gugarat she is also known as Jakihn, Jakhai, Mukai, Nagulai, Alvantin. In Punjabi they are often called Pichal peri or pichhal pairī.

The Churel is often described with a face that may be hideous and distorted. Her hair is long and unkempt. Her eyes are dark and burning with rage, her breast saggy, and her hands like claws. They are also described to have pig faces with large fangs or human-like faces with sharp tusks

Her appearance is based on what people deem unattractive in their time and culture it seems like. Sometimes she has the ability to shapeshift into a beautiful woman or a little girl to lure the men to her. 

One thing about her appearance she is known for is her backward-facing feet. Something that could be the only way to set her apart from other livingn women when she appears in her beautiful form. 

The Backward Facing Feet Vampire in Other Cultures: In Dominican folklore, people have the legend of ‘La Ciguapa’, a beautiful woman roaming through the trees at night. The only way you can tell she’s something other than human is by her backwards facing feet, and she as well lures men into their death. How did such a similar legend appear on the opposite side of the world? Some believe that it has African roots. Some believe it came with the Spaniards from the classics.  

Predator of the night

In folklore, the Churel is known to stalk men and especially young men traveling alone at night. She may call to them in the voice of a loved one, lure them to isolated places, and then reveal her true form. At that moment, the victim becomes trapped by fear and confusion.

Some tales describe the Churel’s attack as sucking the life force or blood from her victims. She is often said to attack people from the youngest to the oldest, or perhaps most handsome to the least. Working herself through families and friend groups. Legend also tells about Churel’s kidnapping of young men, imprisoning him until he is elderly, or else using him sexually until he withers and dies.

It is also said that she is a danger to new mothers as well. In other versions, the Churel’s goal is not consumption but revenge. Her victims may be men who wronged women, men who harmed others, or simply those unlucky enough to encounter her.

She stalks her prey close to graveyards, forests, crossroads and cremation grounds, feeding on her victims blood, and even semen. Some are said to die instantly, some youth surviving her initial attack is slowly wasting away and dying. 

Types of Churel According to Lore

Although it is a rather old legend spanning across countries, languages and religions, the variations of the legends are vast and many. There are those who have tried to break the types of legends down into three categories though. 

Most Churel are Soshi Churel, women who were neglected in life and now stalk men to drain their blood and semen. Often they will be particularly fond of the blood of their own relatives.

Some Churel specifically target and molest children. Known as Poshi Churel, they only feed upon children and are submissive to their husbands, should he still be alive.

Toshi Churel, and are kind and beneficial to their families. They often become protectors of their family and serve their husbands after death.

Regional Variations of the Legend

But from where does the legend come from, this particular bloodsucking monster with her feet backwards? The Churel myth likely originated in Persia, where similar spirits were said to arise from women who died with unfulfilled desires. And there are Persian accounts of travelers seeing reversed footprints and by mistake, running right toward her. 

The legend spread into South Asia and merged with local traditions. In some accounts, they are associated with demonic entities or identified with dakinis female spirits or servants linked to the goddess Kali.

The Dākinī: The concept of the ḍākinī varies by context and tradition. In early Hindu texts and East Asian esoteric Buddhism, it refers to demonesses who consumed human flesh or essence. In Hindu Tantric literature, Ḍākinī is a goddess linked to specific chakras or the seven elements of the body. In Nepalese and Tibetan Buddhism, ‘ḍākinī’ can signify fierce female embodiments of enlightened energy or spiritually developed women who aid Tantric initiates in achieving enlightenment.

There are many variations of the legend, many of them found in Uttar Pradesh in northern India. Among the Korwas of Mirzapur, a woman who dies in a lying room for childbirth can become a Churel. The Pataris and Majhwars say a girl who dies during pregnancy or in an “unclean” state becomes a Churel, appearing as a girl in white who lures men into mountains. To free the captives they need to sacrifice a goat. 

The Kharwars believe that when the soul leaves the body, it becomes air but if it comes in contact with a person, the soul becomes troublesome. The Bhuiyars claim a girl who dies before 20 days of age becomes a Churel.

In Punjab, it is believed that women who die without proper funeral rites related to their bed may return as Churels. In Punjabi they are often called Pichal peri or pichhal pairī (ਪਿੱਛਲ ਪੈਰੀ, پچھل‌ پيری), meaning reversed footed. They are said to roam the mountains of India and Pakistan and are found in the Himalayas, though it occasionally comes from the mountains and enters some Indian villages.

In Pakistan, sightings are usually reported in the rural mountainous regions of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, however sightings in the Punjab province are also occasionally reported.

The Reversed Feet Tribe: Abarimon or antipode in mythology are people whose feet are reversed, however, in spite of this disability, were able to run at extreme speeds. This majestic tribe was first described in Europe by Pliny the Elder, in his book, Natural History (VII 11), who believed them to be native to India or somewhere in the Himalayan mountains.

In Gujarat, any woman who dies unnaturally may become a Churel, though earlier traditions linked this specifically to lower-caste women. In South Gujarat, a village near Mandvi is battling an unusual crisis as it is named the same as the monster, creating problems for the locals. For more than a decade, villagers have been striving to change the name. They say they do not even know how the village came to be called Chudel. Families face difficulties during marriage negotiations. Young men struggle to find brides, as many families hesitate to send their daughters to a village with such a name. Similarly, girls from the village find it hard to secure matches elsewhere, as prospective grooms are reluctant to visit.

It is also believed if a woman died during the Diwali festival, she would return as one of the undead as well as days where she was menstruating. Churel is also the word for a living witch.

Rituals and protection

The best way to avoid a Churel is to prevent her creation. Across regions, people believed in various ways to protect themselves from a Churel and various rituals to appease or ways to content them, like spitting three times, reciting prayers and other spiritual rituals. 

In Tamil culture human priests gather and collectively propitiate her with offerings. In some villages, a Stonehenge-like structure is used to ward off the Churel.

How to prevent a Churel Forming: The body of the woman is anointed with five different products of a cow and sacred texts recited. The place where she died is cleaned thoroughly and mustard (Sarson) is sprinkled on the spot, and along the path used to carry the body. Mustard is said to grow in the land of the dead, and the sweet smell keeps her pacified. Sometimes a Baiga who is someone who pacifies spirits, will step in. In some villages, people believed that placing a corpse face down or burying it in a specific posture would prevent the spirit from rising. If Hindu, the remains are cremated as per Hindu tradition.

The Churel in modern memory

Today the Churel appears in South Asian horror films, television dramas, and contemporary storytelling. She is often depicted as a terrifying female figure, her feet turned backward, her eyes glowing in moonlit fields.

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References:

Churel – Wikipedia

The Name Of This Gujarat Village Has Become A Curse For Its Women

Pichal Peri – Wikipedia

Rajaram Narayan Saletore (1981). Indian Witchcraft. Abhinav Publications. pp. 121–2. ISBN 978-0-391-02480-9

Ukategorisert

The Skotta of Ábær From the Bone

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Hidden away in a bone for years, the ghost and Skotta of Ábær was sent on a mission to harass a farmer in northern Iceland. However, they lost control of her, and have since been haunting them all. 

On the eastern bank of the glacial river Austari-Jökulsá, north in Iceland an abandoned farm sits with a haunted story that stretches much further back in time and across the northern part of the country. For a long time, the Áabær farm, meaning the farm between rivers, was the location of a Skotta ghost, and because it was a very known ghost story at the time, the origins also have a lot of different versions. 

Read more: Check out all ghost stories from Iceland

But to get back to where it all started, we have to travel to Skagafjörður to the time when the ghost was called both The Árbær or Nýibær Skotta, depending on what version of the story you get. 

The Nýibær Skotta Origin

Ólafur was the name of a farmer who lived at Tinnársel in Austurdalur in Skagafjörður; he was considered versed in sorcery. Once he was traveling in Svartárdalur in Húnavatnssýsla and came to Bergsstaðir at night, and as he rode past the churchyard, he happened to look in and saw a man wrestling with a newly-raised ghost. 

The ghost was just about to overpower him. Then Ólafur called out to the man: “Bite her in the left breast, you cursed one.” Ólafur rode on his way, and it is said that the man used this advice and it worked. But the man conceived envious hatred toward Ólafur for knowing better, and it is said he at once raised the ghost and sent it against Ólafur. Ólafur, however, was prepared with his sorcery and forced the ghost down into a horse or sheep bone, put it in a chest, and kept it there for the rest of his life. But just before his death, he asked his daughter Guðbjörg to burn the bone after he had passed away, but to be careful not to remove the stopper unless she was in dire need. 

Fylgur/Fylgja: The Old Norse Ghost

There were many different types of ghosts in Norse mythology and that the vikings believed in. One of them was the Fylgjur or Fylgja ghost, or Attending Spirits that we can find traces back in Iceland since the 12th century. These were originally a ghost of a very physical substance that interacted with the real world as if they were a part of it still. 

Read Also: Check out the Irish Fetch ghost, that has a huge resemblance to the norse Fylgja. 

Fylgja attached themselves to people that they haunted. They could also attach themselves to buildings or even entire towns. Many stories also talk about it being a generational haunting where the ghost decides to haunt all of the descendants of the original person it cursed. Most often the female line of the family. Perhaps because of its origin as a female spirit. 

Icelandic Ghosts and Ghouls: Fylgja or the draugr ghosts attached themselves to people that they haunted. They could also attach themselves to buildings or even entire towns. Many stories also talk about it being a generational haunting where the ghost decides to haunt all of the descendants of the original person it cursed. Most often the female line of the family. // An illustration to the Icelandic legend of the Skeleton in Hólar Church (Beinagrindin í Hólakirkju). From Icelandic Legends : Collected by Jón Arnason, illustrated by Jules Worms.

In the Fylgjur stories from the middle ages, the spirits could be a beneficial one, almost like a messenger to help with the person’s path of life, some sort of totem animal or guiding spirit. But when the folklorist of Iceland started collecting old oral tales from farmers in the 17th century, the Fylgjur ghosts had drastically changed from its pagan old norse roots, throughout time, religious belief and superstition. 

One thing that really changed was the Fylgjur’s purpose of haunting the living, and it was rarely to be of any help. Many stories talk about how they were wronged and it caused their death. They then came back to take revenge and were dangerous, even deadly. 

Female Icelandic Ghosts

One of the popular names for the female ghosts was Skotta that really means to dangle, like hair or a tail. This comes from the traditional Icelandic headwear women wore together with the Faldbúningur dresses worn since the 17th century. Except the ghosts are said to have the headgear on backwards so it streams behind her like a tail. 

The Skotta Ghost: Icelandic woman in the 18th century faldbúningur with the spaðafaldur cap that the Skotta often are described wearing.

Skotta falls under the Old Norse Mythology of a Fylgja, that were supernatural spirits that followed or latched onto people. They could be animals, they could be goddesses or come in dreams. 

But the tales of the Fylga evolved and when we read about Skotta, they were not like totem animals or someone coming with your prophecy like in the old sagas. Icelandic ghosts are often described as being not like apparitions, but in real flesh that interacted with the living. And when we read about Skotta, the female version, she was highly dangerous and also deadly.

The Different Variations of the Legend

Now, as most legends that are well known and old, there will be different variations on it. In this case, it’s mainly the names and relations that are jumbled up. Someone says that Ólafur was actually a man called Jón who lived at Ábær and had a daughter named Guðbjörg. In other versions, Jón was Guðbjörg’s husband. In some versions, her husband was called Eiríkur.

At that time there was a farmer at Tinnársel or Nýibær named Sigurður or Guðmundur. He was rather harsh and wanted to keep Ábær’s livestock from grazing there. The couple at Ábær wished to drive Sigurður away, but it did not succeed. Then it came into Guðbjörg’s mind that now would be the time to open the bone. She pulled out the plug, and smoke burst forth from it. Then she saw a fly or smoke fly out of it and immediately changed into the form of a woman, who asked what she should do.

The Skotta is described as being the size of a twelve-year-old girl, though sometimes she has appeared troll-like. She wears a brown homespun skirt and a black wool sweater; sometimes she has been seen in a sheepskin jacket or clothes and with a brown peaked cap without a tassel.

The Haunting of The Skotta of Ábær

When Guðbjörg conjured the ghost that her father had left her, she ordered her at once to go and drive Sigurður away from his farm. In some versions she actually tells the ghost to go kill him. 

The ghost-woman went immediately and tormented Sigurður so severely that he had to sleep at other farms, for he said he had no peace to sleep at home because of the devil who pursued him. He managed to defend himself from her killing him, but she left him half-crippled. The following spring Sigurður abandoned the cottage because of this misfortune. 

But when Skotta had finished her mission, she returned home to Guðbjörg and asked where she should now go. Guðbjörg was then at a loss for what to say, and so the Skotta began to torment her, and it ended with Guðbjörg becoming insane. Madness has ever since run strongly in her family, and one woman closely related to her, possibly her daughter, Guðrún who killed herself by cutting her own throat.

Many stories were told about the Skotta and still are, of her mischief; she kills both sheep and cattle at Merkigil and elsewhere. Sometimes she is seen climbing up among the beams of the baðstofa and hanging there at night. Once she was seen sitting on a dung heap, throwing manure clods, while Jón and Guðbjörg’s bull was in the cowshed. Once men went to fetch a breeding bull at Miklabær, but just before they came, a heifer in the cowshed let out a terrible bellow and dropped dead. The priest, Reverend J. J., who was there, refused to let them have the bull, saying they had poor spirit-following since the Skotta was with them.

After Guðmundur the farmer had moved away from Nýibær to Krákugerði, he once rode out on Uppsalamýrar at dusk. Before he realized it, it was as if his horse’s legs were swept from under it, and Guðmundur was thrown off and broke his leg. When he stood up again, he saw the Skotta hopping across the moor and disappearing behind a hill.

Once Páll the shepherd fell asleep in the sheep-house at Merkigil, in the place called Miðhús. As he was drifting off, the Skotta came and tried to strangle him, but he woke up, and then she vanished.

When Hjálmar the farmer lived at Nýibær (some say at Bólu), he once came upon the Skotta as she was killing a sheep. He drove her out beyond the Tinná river, and she has never managed to cross it again, for Hjálmar was considered resolute.

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References:

Íslenzkar þjóðsögur og æfintýri/Draugasögur/Ábæjar-Skotta – Wikiheimild

Ábær – Wikipedia

Ísmús | Þorgeir reið frá einvíginu og var sár

Íslenzkar þjóðsögur og æfintýri/Draugasögur/Árbæjar- eða Nýjabæjar-Skotta – Wikiheimild

Ísmús | Rímur af Fertram og Plató

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The Curse of the Hítardals-Skotta

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After old friends clash after falling out, a curse is put upon the other. For generations, the Hítardals-Skotta is said to have haunted their family and village, sometimes even said to be behind their deaths. 

Once there was a priest in Hítardal called Vigfús Jónsson, the one behind the first Icelandic children’s book in the 18th century. This is a valley west of Iceland and there is a priest residence there with the same name. Hítardalur became a vicarage and was considered one of the best in the country. Many prominent priests served there, some of whom were well-known scholars. The town of Hítardalur is known for being the site of the deadliest fire in Icelandic history on 30 September 1148 where more than 70 people perished. 

Read more: Check out all ghost stories from Iceland

One time, one of his closest friends from his schooldays who also worked as a priest somewhere east was accused of a crime and disrobed at the Althing parliament. It isn’t really said what kind of crime it was. 

Source

Vigfús was present in the courtroom and watched his friend be sentenced and in the end he attacked his former friend. Perhaps he was drunk, or just upset about the crimes of the friend he thought he knew. He grabbed his sleeve and the friend also became angry. 

He said: You, who was supposed to be my friend, were the first to grab my robe. You might be regarded just as well as me in the near future. 

With these words, he cursed his old friend and a Skotta was sent on his behalf as a vengeful spirit to haunt him and his family.  

Fylgur/Fylgja: The Old Norse Ghost

There were many different types of ghosts in Norse mythology and that the vikings believed in. One of them was the Fylgjur or Fylgja ghost, or Attending Spirits that we can find traces back in Iceland since the 12th century. These were originally a ghost of a very physical substance that interacted with the real world as if they were a part of it still. 

Read Also: Check out the Irish Fetch ghost, that has a huge resemblance to the norse Fylgja. 

Fylgja attached themselves to people that they haunted. They could also attach themselves to buildings or even entire towns. Many stories also talk about it being a generational haunting where the ghost decides to haunt all of the descendants of the original person it cursed. Most often the female line of the family. Perhaps because of its origin as a female spirit. 

Icelandic Ghosts and Ghouls: Fylgja or the draugr ghosts attached themselves to people that they haunted. They could also attach themselves to buildings or even entire towns. Many stories also talk about it being a generational haunting where the ghost decides to haunt all of the descendants of the original person it cursed. Most often the female line of the family. // An illustration to the Icelandic legend of the Skeleton in Hólar Church (Beinagrindin í Hólakirkju). From Icelandic Legends : Collected by Jón Arnason, illustrated by Jules Worms.

In the Fylgjur stories from the middle ages, the spirits could be a beneficial one, almost like a messenger to help with the person’s path of life, some sort of totem animal or guiding spirit. But when the folklorist of Iceland started collecting old oral tales from farmers in the 17th century, the Fylgjur ghosts had drastically changed from its pagan old norse roots, throughout time, religious belief and superstition. 

One thing that really changed was the Fylgjur’s purpose of haunting the living, and it was rarely to be of any help. Many stories talk about how they were wronged and it caused their death. They then came back to take revenge and were dangerous, even deadly. 

The Haunting Begins

After this it went all downhill for Reverend Vigfúsi who ended up not taking care of his children as they were promised to die young because of the ghost haunting them. Together with his wife,  Katrin Thordardottir, they had at least five sons and a daughter. One by one they died at the hands of the curse, materializing as a female figure with a spear on her head and a hook looking at them as they died.

This caused Reverend Vigfús and his wife a lot of grief, but nothing could be done about it as the ghost they named Skotta harmed both men and beast in Hítardal where she followed the people of the village with bright lights and ill intentions.

Female Icelandic Ghosts

One of the popular names for the female ghosts was Skotta that really means to dangle, like hair or a tail. This comes from the traditional Icelandic headwear women wore together with the Faldbúningur dresses worn since the 17th century. Except the ghosts are said to have the headgear on backwards so it streams behind her like a tail. 

The Skotta Ghost: Icelandic woman in the 18th century faldbúningur with the spaðafaldur cap that the Skotta often are described wearing.

Skotta falls under the Old Norse Mythology of a Fylgja, that were supernatural spirits that followed or latched onto people. They could be animals, they could be goddesses or come in dreams. 

But the tales of the Fylga evolved and when we read about Skotta, they were not like totem animals or someone coming with your prophecy like in the old sagas. Icelandic ghosts are often described as being not like apparitions, but in real flesh that interacted with the living. And when we read about Skotta, the female version, she was highly dangerous and also deadly.

People Chosen to be Haunted

In Reverend Vigfús’s home they had a son named Eiríkur. He grew up and never had Skotta with him and it was never noticed that Skotta followed him or any of his descendants

Eiríkur later became a clergyman at Reykholt and seemed to have been at peace. But Hítardal and the home of the priests seemed to be forever haunted. After Reverend Vigfús Jónsson’s death at 69 on 2. January in 1776, the ghost followed the place throughout time of the next tenants like Reverend Halldór and Reverend Björn, and then Reverend Björn’s sons, Ólafi in Ferjukot and Reverend Benedikt 

Especially the farmer Hannes at Hamrend in Miðdálar seems like he was particularly bothered by the ghost. Hannes was suffering from a terrible illness for a long time, which led to his death, and the Scots were supposed to have played various pranks on him. Then when Hannes died, blaming the ghost, his brothers were invited, but they left immediately and the funeral was outside, mostly at the urging of Ólaf’s wife Sigríða. 

As the funeral procession for Hannes happened, there was a worker in Hamraendi at the time called Þórhalli. He suddenly felt that his hand was being taken, and this was accompanied by such a strangeness that he became very uncomfortable and ill. From then on it seems that Þórhalli didn’t fare well, although when the first written stories about this ghost were collected, he was still alive. It seems that by then, she is starting to fade and that she has almost nothing to wear.

The Ghosts Teams Up

Once both names, Hítardals-Skotta and Hvítárvalla-Skotta, came together at a wedding. One of the invitees who was there saw that they took the food from the plates of the guests during the party without them being aware. But because the man had something with him, he wounded them both outside the door and left them standing there and you could see, but none of the few dishes were finished, and on top of that he made them spit in front of each other for mockery and laughter in front of the guests. to others. In the second time, they fought names for tricks, but it is not mentioned how that game ended.

Read also: Hvítárvellir-Skotta comes to Haunt a Family for over 120 Years

The Last Story from Hítardals-Skotta

Another live witness to this story when it first was written down was from a Margrét in Selárdal. Apparently, when you ride south from Hítardal over the so-called Bjúg, you go right by the meadows in Selárdal. Now it so happens that when one rides south from Hítardalur over the so-called Bjúgur, one passes right by the meadows in Selárdal.

One summer Benedikt, as so often before, was mowing the meadows with his people, while the livestock grazed just in front. Then he says: “Now soon someone will be coming from Hítardalur,”—something he had often been in the habit of predicting, and it had always come to pass. Immediately after he says: “I wish that she, that wretch over there, wouldn’t kill my sheep,” and at that very moment he flings away the scythe, and the sheep are startled, with one ewe leaping into the air. Benedikt runs to the river and drowns her in the stream that flows nearby, and then mutters a little over her. Did he finish the ghost off? Or perhaps she is still roaming the rugged hillsides and wanders along the windy shores?

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References:

Íslenzkar þjóðsögur og æfintýri/Draugasögur/Hítardals-Skotta – Wikiheimild

Bryan—Icelandic Fylgjur Tales and a Possible Old Norse Context

Rev Vigfus Jonsson (1706–1776) • FamilySearch

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The Eyjafjörður Skotta Sent to Torture the Women of the Fjord

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After insulting some Dutch fishermen, a ghost was sent to torture the local women in Eyjafjörður in Iceland. For a long time, The Eyjafjörður Skotta was said to have been behind several deaths of both cattle and people. 

Along the longest fjord in Iceland, all the way north, there was a ghost that got her named from the place she was roaming. Her name was Eyjafjörður-Skotta.

Read more: Check out all ghost stories from Iceland

It is said that some Dutchmen came ashore at Vöðluþing by the fjord. German, Dutch and French traders became more prominent in the mid-17th century for fishing business. The Dutchmen were, according to the stories, very bold and went after the local women. Something that the women themselves did not care for at all. One of the women then mocked them with gestures and possibly some curses, which angered them greatly and made them want revenge. 

When they later returned overseas, they purchased from a sorcerer the sending of a female ghost to Iceland. According to the story this happened in the Netherlands, however, the way it went about in the stories is very quintessentially an Icelandic haunting where they raise someone from the dead to send on a revenge mission. This is where the Skotta ghost comes in. 

Fylgur/Fylgja: The Old Norse Ghost

There were many different types of ghosts in Norse mythology and that the vikings believed in. One of them was the Fylgjur or Fylgja ghost, or Attending Spirits that we can find traces back in Iceland since the 12th century. These were originally a ghost of a very physical substance that interacted with the real world as if they were a part of it still. 

Read Also: Check out the Irish Fetch ghost, that has a huge resemblance to the norse Fylgja. 

Fylgja attached themselves to people that they haunted. They could also attach themselves to buildings or even entire towns. Many stories also talk about it being a generational haunting where the ghost decides to haunt all of the descendants of the original person it cursed. Most often the female line of the family. Perhaps because of its origin as a female spirit. 

Icelandic Ghosts and Ghouls: Fylgja or the draugr ghosts attached themselves to people that they haunted. They could also attach themselves to buildings or even entire towns. Many stories also talk about it being a generational haunting where the ghost decides to haunt all of the descendants of the original person it cursed. Most often the female line of the family. // An illustration to the Icelandic legend of the Skeleton in Hólar Church (Beinagrindin í Hólakirkju). From Icelandic Legends : Collected by Jón Arnason, illustrated by Jules Worms.

In the Fylgjur stories from the middle ages, the spirits could be a beneficial one, almost like a messenger to help with the person’s path of life, some sort of totem animal or guiding spirit. But when the folklorist of Iceland started collecting old oral tales from farmers in the 17th century, the Fylgjur ghosts had drastically changed from its pagan old norse roots, throughout time, religious belief and superstition. 

One thing that really changed was the Fylgjur’s purpose of haunting the living, and it was rarely to be of any help. Many stories talk about how they were wronged and it caused their death. They then came back to take revenge and were dangerous, even deadly. 

Female Icelandic Ghosts

One of the popular names for the female ghosts was Skotta that really means to dangle, like hair or a tail. This comes from the traditional Icelandic headwear women wore together with the Faldbúningur dresses worn since the 17th century. Except the ghosts are said to have the headgear on backwards so it streams behind her like a tail. 

The Skotta Ghost: Icelandic woman in the 18th century faldbúningur with the spaðafaldur cap that the Skotta often are described wearing.

Skotta falls under the Old Norse Mythology of a Fylgja, that were supernatural spirits that followed or latched onto people. They could be animals, they could be goddesses or come in dreams. 

But the tales of the Fylga evolved and when we read about Skotta, they were not like totem animals or someone coming with your prophecy like in the old sagas. Icelandic ghosts are often described as being not like apparitions, but in real flesh that interacted with the living. And when we read about Skotta, the female version, she was highly dangerous and also deadly.

The Eyjafjörður Skotta Haunting the Fjords

The ghost the Dutchmen raised was called Eyjafjörður Skotta because of her haunting territory. She was to kill and torment all the women in Vöðluþing. It is said that she first came ashore at Sauðanesi on Upsaströnd, a stretch of coastline west of Eyjafjörður. 

Today Sauðanesi is a deserted farm and has been since 1957. But in between 1597-1680 Þorvaldur the poet Rögnvaldsson lived there. He was considered a very learned man and was watching when the Skotta came ashore. Some, however, have heard that it was then Þorvaldur the old Magnússon who lived there, not very long before, and both were called poets of spells and much learned; but more people reckon it was Þorvaldur Rögnvaldsson.

Þorvaldur was down by the sea when he saw this ghost approaching, while the Dutch were fishing out at sea. She appeared as a woman in foreign dress, with a red peaked cap and bare arms up to the elbows. Þorvaldur addressed her in verse and asked who she was and what her errand might be. She said she was Flemish (others say Finnish) and that her task was to torment or else kill all the women in Eyjafjörður. 

He managed to stop her from harming the women, but she was so powerfully conjured that Þorvaldur could not prevail entirely against her. He was forced to allow her to kill his best cow, and in addition to kill a cow on every third farm in Eyjafjörður, and to play other tricks upon men and livestock for a long time. She was also said to have been behind the murder of a drowned man in the Eyjafjörður River.

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References:

Sauðanes (Upsaströnd) – Wikipedia, frjálsa alfræðiritið

Eyjafjarðar-Skotta

Íslenzkar þjóðsögur og æfintýri/Draugasögur/Eyjafjarðar-Skotta – Wikiheimild

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Cheuksin (厠神): South Korea’s Vengeful Toilet Goddess

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One of the most evil house deities in Korean Folklore is the spirit said to haunt the toilets. If you don’t enter respectfully, Cheuksin will wrap her long hair around your neck and strangle you to death when you are at your most vulnerable, at the toilet.

Ah, public restrooms—the universal hotspot for supernatural nightmares. If you thought Japan had a monopoly on haunted bathrooms with Aka Manto and Hanako-san, think again. South Korea has its own toilet deity, and she is angry, violent, and living in the filthiest stall with a grudge and murderous intent.

Read Also: Check out all ghost stories from Korea

Cheuksin (厠神), the goddess of outhouses and one of the most terrifying spirits in Korean folklore from a time when the toilets were darker, colder and outside of the family home. She doesn’t ask you cryptic questions like Aka Manto, and she doesn’t just make eerie noises like some wimpy poltergeist. No, Cheuksin takes her haunting to a whole new level—with murderous rage, long snake-like hair, and an explosive temper.

Feature Image: Sammi Sparke

The Legend: The Goddess of the Outhouse

Long before modern indoor plumbing, Korean households relied on outhouses—small, isolated structures separate from the main house. People have always felt rather vulnerable when sitting on the toilet, more exposed and afraid. And because old-school Korean outhouses were dark, eerie, and full of filth, naturally, something terrifying had to live there.

Enter Cheuksin, the guardian of restrooms, the queen of the latrine, and the nightmare of anyone with a weak bladder. Her worship is a minor part of the Gashin cult, and she is not the best known household deity. There were no gut, or shamanistic rituals dedicated to Cheuksin, unlike the other household deities. This was because she was said to be an evil and malevolent spirit, more like a toilet ghost than a goddess, really. 

The entity is said to have several names throughout the years and places. She was called Cheukganshin (측간신), Byeonso Gwishin (변소 귀신), Dwitgan Gwishin (뒷간 귀신), Buchul Gaxi (부출 각시), Chikdo Buin (칙도 부인) and Chigwi (치귀) among other things.

She is said to appear as a young girl, something she is said to have been once, her hair 150 cm long and she is said to spend her time counting her strands of hair, furious to be exiled to live as a toilet ghost in the outhouse. In the original texts it was said she was pictured as a concubine in fancy clothing, but today Cheuksin is mostly pictured as a ghost in white like the Korean Virgin Ghosts.

Read Also: The Korean Virgin Ghost

The bloody version: The virgin ghost has evolved into a more bloody and violent ghost than before. She is also said to be the visual image people picture when describing ghosts like Cheuksin as well. // Source: Screengrab from Hometown Legends: Gisaeng House Ghost Story.

When the toilet ghost appeared, Koreans tended to avoid the toilet for three days during the year, when the date had a number six in them. Like on the sixth, the sixteenth and twenty-sixth day in the lunar calendar. Or when someone dropped a shoe or a child fell into the pit toilet. Or even when she was just angry for some reason. 

When this happened, Koreans held a ritual called jesas dedicated to the toilet ghost, often offering Tteok, meaning dung rice cake or nonglutinous rice, all thought to banish evil spirits. This also happened when a pig got sick or when they built the outhouse. 

Jesa Ceremony: The ancestral rituals known as Jesa in Korean, have been practiced since the legendary Dangun era in ancient Korea. Today, Jesa functions as a memorial to the ancestors of the participants. Jesa are usually held on the anniversary of the ancestor’s death.

She was a dangerous Gashin, or household deities and hated children. She liked to push them into the pit toilet. If a jesa wasn’t done at once to appease her, the child who was pushed into the pit would live to grow up. 

Cheuksin was believed to embody a trip of cloth or white paper on the outhouse ceiling. She lurks above, watching and waiting for foolish mortals who dare to enter. 

When entering the outhouse, you should cough three times. Cheuksin was known to use her long hair to attack the intruder if not, her snake-like hair slithering down from the ceiling. She waited until her victim was at the most vulnerable and wrapped her long hair around the neck and strangled those who offended her to death. If she touched you with the hair, you would grow sick and die, and no mudang or shaman could help you. 

If you somehow escape her initial attack, don’t think you’re safe. Cheuksin can curse you, ensuring you suffer horrific misfortune after leaving her domain. People who mock her or forget to show respect often find themselves falling mysteriously ill or suffering from severe accidents.

Origins: Where Did This Nightmare Come From?

Cheuksin is deeply rooted in Korean shamanism and folklore, dating back centuries. She was once considered a household deity, part of the Gasin (家神), the family guardian spirits that protected different parts of the home. They each had their rites and their purpose and was worshiped for a long time. Today however the tradition is mostly died out, although there are some traces of it still lingering, mostly as ghost stories.

“Female Mou-dang (shaman) dancing for deities”(무녀신춤)

The Genshi gods is found in The Munjeon Bonpuri (Korean: 문전본풀이), meaning ‘‘Book of the Door’, and is a myth of Jeju Island regarding the deities that are believed to reside within the house. In this story, the whole lists of household deities are presented as they were once human, alive and well, until they ended up as lingering spirits.

Read Also: The Haunting on Jeju Island

And what about Cheuksin? Who did she use to be?

How a Woman Became The Toilet Goddess – The Munjeon Bonpuri

Noiljadae is the ultimate villainess of this tragic Korean folktale, and let’s be honest—she’s as cunning as she is cruel. She starts as a charming innkeeper’s daughter who seduces the gullible Namseonbi, convincing him to squander his wealth on wine and gambling. She doesn’t know it yet, but she will end up becoming the famed toilet spirit of the nation. When her lover is broke and useless, she kicks him to the curb, leaving him to go blind and starve in a filthy shack—a classic case of “used and discarded.”

But Noiljadae isn’t done yet. When Namseonbi’s devoted wife, Yeosan Buin, comes to rescue him, Noiljadae lures her to a bottomless icy lake and drowns her. She then assumes Yeosan Buin’s identity, thinking she’s about to live a lavish life with Namseonbi’s family. Unfortunately for her, the youngest son, Nokdisaengin, is no fool. He quickly sees through her lies and sets a clever trap: when she demands his liver as a cure for her fake illness, he tricks her into eating a boar’s liver instead. When she pretends to be miraculously healed, her deception is exposed, and her fate is sealed. Cornered, she hangs herself in the bathroom.

For her wickedness, Noiljadae is cursed to become Cheuksin, the vengeful toilet goddess, forever banished to the filthiest corner of the household. Being exposed by a child, field her hatred for them. Her enmity with the resurrected Yeosan Buin, now the kitchen goddess Jowangsin, creates a divine grudge match, leading to a long-standing Korean taboo: never place the bathroom next to the kitchen. Because even in death, Noiljadae’s spite lingers.

The Toilet Goddess in the Modern World

While other spirits, like the Jowangsin (kitchen god) or Seongjushin (house god), were worshiped with offerings and prayers, Cheuksin was more of a necessary evil. You didn’t worship her—you feared her.

Her job? To maintain order in the filthiest part of the house. If people disrespected the restroom, she would punish them. If they followed the rules, she would simply remain unseen.

Cheuksin has a lot of similarities with the Chinese Toilet Goddess, although the Chinese poets treated her legacy a little bit kinder. In both the stories, she was a concubine, or mistress, and died in the toilet, forever to haunt it. Except that in China, the goddess was worshiped and revered, while in Korea she was just… well. feared. 

Read more: Zigu (紫姑): The Lady of the Latrine – China’s Most Unsettling Restroom Ghost and Goddess 

But as Korea modernized and outhouses became a thing of the past, Cheuksin faded from common belief to a mere whisper of a good ghost story. Still, some old buildings and rural areas are said to be haunted by her, especially in places where old traditions still linger.

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References:

Cheuksin: The Chilling Tale of Korea’s Outhouse Goddess — The Kraze

측신 – 위키백과, 우리 모두의 백과사전

정랑각시 – 나무위키 

Munjeon bon-puri – Wikipedia

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Spiorad na mBarna and Moll O’Shaughnessy Restless Spirit

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A heinous murder sent shockwaves in the small village known as Barna in Ireland. Ever since then Spiorad na mBarna or Moll O’Shaughnessy as the murderer was named, has said to be haunting the place. 

Every corner of Ireland holds its own ghostly secrets, and within the rural landscape outside Newcastle West in Co. Limerick lies one of the nation’s most chilling tales—the legend of Spiorad na mBarna, which means the Spirit of Barna in Irish or Old Barna. 

Read More: Check out all of the ghost stories from Ireland

This haunting story traces its origins back to the late 1800s, with a woman named Moll O’Shaughnessy being the real woman behind the legend of the ghost that is said to still linger in Barna. 

Moll O’Shaughnessy the Murderer

Barna, even in modern times, remains a small community where everyone knows everyone, but in the late 1800s, it was even more so. Thus, the shocking and brutal murders committed by Moll O’Shaughnessy sent shockwaves through the area. 

Moll was seen as a good natured, calm and nice mother and wife and well liked in the community. This was until she mercilessly murdered her husband and their young child in a fit of uncontrollable rage. Showing that we might never truly know a person and what they are capable of. There was no answer as to why she did it, and the villagers certainly didn’t give her much time to explain her actions.

The villagers were shocked and the community’s response to her heinous acts was equally gruesome—they sentenced her to a gruesome death, rolling her in a barrel lined with sharp and rusted nails down a hill according to some legends.

Another version says she was caught in the act and hanged. The third version of the legend claims that she died of natural causes and she was doomed to walk the grounds for eternity as penance for her crimes. 

The Restless Spirits of Spiorad na mBarna

Over the years following her execution, residents of Barna claimed to have encountered Spiorad na mBarna spirit in various forms. Sometimes, she appeared as a weeping woman, while other times, she manifested as a rabid greyhound, spreading terror throughout the surrounding areas. 

It is said that when the Spiorad na mBarna haunted the village as a hound, she would torment the farmers during harvest. When she showed up in her human form, it was said she would try to get on the horses of men passing the area after dark.

Her reign of fear culminated in yet another murder when an unfortunate rider passed under the Old Barna Bridge and emerged lifeless on the other side—victimized by the bloodthirsty Spiorad na mBarna.

Seeking Redemption:

With their community terrorized, the distressed locals called upon a holy man from the nearby Parish of Athea to exorcize the malevolent spirit that wouldn’t let the locals alive. 

According to legend, he imposed a penance on Moll’s restless soul and it is said she had to “emptying the Red Sea with a thimble full of holes”, whatever that means. 

While this act seemed to quell her murderous rage, the memory of Spiorad na mBarna still lingers in the West Limerick region. Many claim to have encountered her spirit, and the eerie details of her haunting continue to captivate and perplex.

A Face in the Stone of the Old Barna Bridge

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Perhaps the most chilling detail of this ghostly legend is etched in stone—literally. The Old Barna Bridge, still standing today, bears the image of a face—a face forever captured in a scream of terror.

What’s more, numerous witnesses attest that this eerie visage moves within the bridge’s stones. It may appear in the top right-hand stone, lower down, or even on the opposite side of the bridge. Passersby often stop to count the stones and point out the spectral face they say is the Spiorad na mBarna etched into it.

As you pass beneath the shadow of the Old Barna Bridge, the feeling of being watched may send shivers down your spine, making this chilling tale of a restless spirit one that will stay with you long after the daylight fades.

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References:

Haunted Ireland: The terrifying tale of Spiorad Na mBarna | The Irish Post 

Old Barna | Haunted Limerick, Ireland | Spirited Isle