Soucouyant

 

 

ORIGIN

They are found in Dominican, Trinidadian and Guadeloupean folklore.

 

FIRST SIGHTED/RECORDED

They where first recorded a couple of hundred years ago during the times of harsh slavery in the islands. Some believe that they were tales that were made up by the slaves to scare their captors, others swear by their life that the creature, as well as the tales, are true.

 

APPEARANCE

By day, they appear as a normal old woman, but by night, when they take off their skin, they are the shape of a woman but completely engulfed in flames. They have bright red eyes and very long nails. They may also have wings, sharp teeth and a long tongue.

 

GENDER

Female

 

ALSO KNOWN AS

The name is also spelt as Soucriant. They are also known as Ole-Higue and Loogaroo (elsewhere in the Caribbean). They were also sometimes referred to as Loup-Garou (a type of Werewolf). This was a common term used to describe it, more common in the culture of Mauritius.

 

REPELLED BY

You can be rid of them by throwing a heap of rice either around the house or at a village crossroads. They will have to pick up all of the grains, which will be almost impossible to do before dawn, hence them perishing. You can also place some course salt in the mortar along with their skin which will prevent her from putting it back on.

 

MAGICAL POWERS/SKILLS

They practise Witchcraft, Voodoo and Black Magic. They will sometimes trade in the blood of their victims in exchange for evil powers which they will gain from a demon called Bazil, who resides in the silk cotton tree.

 

HISTORY/ABOUT

They are a cross between a Witch and a Vampire. By day, they live as an old woman who would usually live at the end of a village, and by night, she strips off her old skin, places it in a mortar and flies off as a fireball. She will enter her victims homes either through their keyhole or through a crack or crevice. When she seeks out her victim, she will suck out their blood through their arms, legs and any other soft part whilst they sleep. If she sucks all of their blood then the victim will either die and become like her or they will perish completely and leave their skin behind, which she will have to use. They are part of a class of spirit called Jumbees (Spirits or Demons). Some believe that the creatures herself was brought over from European countries as she had a lot in common with the French Vampire myths. Some beliefs are also intermingled with those of enslaved Africans.

 

CAN BE FOUND

In their human form, they are usually found on the outskirts of a village, usually in seclusion. In their Vampiric form they are easy to locate as they are covered in flames. You are more likely to see them when they are in the sky.

 

TALES

In the French Indies, especially the island of Guadeloupe, it was believed that the creature could actually be anybody and not just an older female (much to the protests of some of the more superstitious community). They were often called Soukougnan or Soukounian.

 

ANY SIGHTINGS?

Some Caribbean islands, such as St Lucia, Haiti, Dominica and Trinidad, still have some belief in the creature. It is even believed that her skin is valuable as it is used for black magic. As for sightings, there are no recorded ones as such but that could be because she is quite a taboo subject in these countries. It may even be led to believe that some old women are often accused of being one of these creatures due to strong superstition.

 

SIMILAR CREATURES

Aswang, Langsuir

 

Langsuir

 

 

ORIGIN

She is from Malaysian folklore.

 

FIRST SIGHTED/RECORDED

N/A

 

APPEARANCE

She is typically perceived as being very hideous with red eyes and long sharp nails. Her face is also decayed and she has long, sharp fangs. Their clothing tends to be of either green or white. In some places however, she is regarded as beautiful. Her hair is black and so long that it reaches down to her ankles. Her hair is long so that it covers the hole on the back of her neck.

 

GENDER

Female

 

ALSO KNOWN AS

Langsuyar

 

REPELLED BY

After death, glass beads can be placed in their mouths to stop them coming back from the dead. If you put one of their hairs in their hole or cut their claws, then they will become human again. You can also prevent the transformation by placing needles in the palms of her hands and a hen’s egg under each arm pit. Only a particularly powerful magician could drive her away or tame her. This was usually done with specific incantations.

 

MAGICAL POWERS/SKILLS

They suck blood through a hole which is allocated behind her neck. They are also able to fly and can transform into an owl to do so. She also has the ability to possess her victim so that she can suck their blood. This causes a slow and painful death for the victim.

 

HISTORY/ABOUT

They are very closely related to the Pontianak, but considered to be more dangerous. They are sometimes confused but they are actually very different. They are the spirits of women who suffered from labouring sickness which resulted in both the death of them and their child. She could turn into a Langsuir up to 40 days after her death. In Chinese, her name means "bad luck people". Her victims tend to be pregnant women, who she will either kill or cause to have a miscarriage. She is also said to fly into trees and attack children at night. She lets out terrible screams (known as an ngilat). If they have been domesticated then they are able to marry and have children. If they dance at a village merry making however, they will be reverted back into their old ways.

 

CAN BE FOUND

You are said to be able to encounter them near the shore of a river or sea.

 

TALES

There is a popular tale in Malaysia about a woman of exquisite beauty who, upon hearing the news of her child’s stillbirth, died of shock and became a demon.

 

ANY SIGHTINGS?

There appear to be many pictures and video footage found on the internet (whether this is a hoax or not is debatable). There are also plenty of local tales from people who have either seen or been in contact with her in some way. A lot of people say that they have seen her face on that of a black crow.

 

SIMILAR CREATURES

Pontianak, Vampire, Manananggal, Lamia

 

Jiang Shi

 

 

ORIGIN

Chinese mythology/folklore.

 

FIRST SIGHTED/RECORDED

It is unknown what time they actually originated but there is apparently wooden ledgers dating back to about 2,700 years ago.

 

APPEARANCE

They can appear as either a normal man or a hideous creature. They generally have long sharp black fingernails, long tongues and greenish-white furry skin. Their hair is either long and white or bald. They are badly decayed (although, this tends to depend on how long they have actually been dead). They appear to be dressed in clothes from the Qing Dynasty. Their arms are always stretched out. They are blind.

 

GENDER

Male

 

ALSO KNOWN AS

Chiang-Shih, Goengsi (Cantonese), Kyonshi (Japanese), and Gangshi (Korean), Simplified Chinese: 僵尸, Traditional Chinese: 僵屍 or Pinyin: jiāngshi. The translation literally means "stiff corpse" or Zombie.

 

REPELLED BY

They can be put to sleep by writing a certain spell on a piece of yellow paper and putting it onto their forehead. Another way of evading them is to hold your breath. They are blind so your breath is their way of detecting you. Like any other typical vampire, you can throw seeds or rice in their path, they will be compelled to count every grain before they carry on. Sticky rice is believed to draw out the bad spirit. Chicken eggs and the blood of a black dog are said to be used as repellents.

 

MAGICAL POWERS/SKILLS

They appear to have some sort of superhuman strength (not uncommon for a lot of these types of creatures). Rather than suck a person’s blood, they are thought to actually steal their breath. They also have a very vicious nature, everything from ripping off a person’s limbs to rape.

 

HISTORY/ABOUT

They are reanimated corpses that, literally, hop around. They kill living creatures so as to absorb their life essence. Their name comes from a practice in Chinese folklore where, if a family could not afford the travel to get a family member from where they died, they would hire a Taoist priest to reanimate the corpse so that it would hop back home for its burial. This is known as "Travelling a Corpse over a Thousand Li" (千里行屍). The priest would be the only one to transport them to their town as it was deemed bad luck for anyone to set their eyes on them. They done this at night only, ringing bells as they done so. This practise was popular in Xiangxi, where they used long bamboo rods to transport them. They are said to be created when a person’s soul fails to leave their body. These can come down to many factors, such as, a violent death, murder, suicide, improper burial or, quite simply, them just wanting to stay around and cause trouble. They are considered vampires by westerners (although, western influence is what actually brought the blood sucking influence into it). They have no self-awareness or independent thought, this is why they are also called zombies.

 

CAN BE FOUND

According to legends, during the day they either rest in coffins or hide in dark places such as caves. Can also be found in a hollow tree.

 

TALES

There are 2 oral accounts of transporting corpses in Liao Yiwu’s "The Corpse Walker". A lot of people speculated that the tales were made up by smugglers so that they could disguise the illegal activities and scare off the law. Some believe that they are made and controlled by a necromancer.

 

ANY SIGHTINGS?

In Mian County, in Chinas Shaanxi province, the rural folk never go out after dark.

 

SIMILAR CREATURES

Slavic Vampires