Ghosts, Ghouls & Goblins - Malaysian Style

This is the most famous Malaysian ghost. The Pontianak is the classic Malaysian Female Vampire. According to the legend, a Pontianak is either the restless spirit of a dead pregnant woman or the vengeful spirit of a woman murdered by her own lover.

The former version generally does little harm except probably scaring the heebie-jeebies out of you. She would usually be found standing by the side of a road cradling her tombstone like a baby and asking for a ride to her graveyard.

The later is very violent, known to go on a blood lust until she either kills her lover or the male ancestor of her lover.

The classic Pontianak would have very long hair flowing down to her hips, usually covering her face, full white dress sometimes with bloodstains, long fangs and long fingernails. When she's near, you will smell a very strong flowery smell.

Oh, and she can also fly.

You could liken a Toyol to an Imp.

A Toyol is actually a baby that had died at childbirth. The dead baby is revived by a Bomoh (a Malaysian shaman) using dark magic.

The main intention of creating a Toyol is to use it to steal for its owner. The Toyol will go from one house to another at night, looking for money and jewelry which it will steal for its owner.

There are three ways of preventing a Toyol from stealing from you. The first method is by scattering beans around the floor where you keep your money. The Toyol will be distracted by the beans and will spend the entire night trying to count the beans.

The second method is by placing some sweets near your money. Instead of stealing the money, the Toyol, being formerly a child, will steal the sweets instead.

The last way is by placing toys near the place where you store your valuables. the Toyol will stop and spend the entire night playing with the toys instead.

In order to sustain the Toyol's loyalty, the owner of this imp will feed it with his own blood every once in a while. A Toyol that is not fed will eventually go on a rampage.

This is one of the worst spirits to encounter. The Polong is actually the enslaved spirit of a murdered person. The Bomoh would pour the blood of the murdered person in a small bottle for a couple of weeks before using dark magic to invoke the spirits. When the Polong is ready, the bottle will begin to emit sounds of crying and moaning. Then, periodically, the owner would feed it some of his own blood to tie the demon to him.

A Polong does not have an identifiable form. It is created to be used as a weapon and is only unleashed when the Bomoh wants to badly hurt or kill someone.

If it is no longer fed with blood, the Polong will grow extremely wild and go on a bloodhunt.

A Pocong is the ghost of a dead person still bound in its death shroud.

When a Muslim person dies, he is wrapped tightly in his death shroud and placed into his grave without a coffin. Over a few weeks, the cloth will begin to degenerate and fall off and the spirit of the person is released.

However, if the body is still bound by its death shroud after more than 40 days, the person will rise from the dead as a Pocong, still wrapped up. Because it is tightly bound, all the Pocong can do is hop.

All that needs to be done is to untie the shroud and the spirit will be released. The Pocong is generally harmless.

The name translates as "Supreme Ghost", the Hantu Raya is actually the leader of a legion of demons. A person who has made an alliance with the Hantu Raya will be granted immense power over man and spirits. In exchange all it wants is to be provided with whatever it asks for, some occasional offerings and a new owner before the current owner dies. The Hantu Raya will then be inherited from generation to generation.

If the current owner fails to provide it a new owner, he will suffer horribly when dying and return either as a zombie or become one of the Hantu Raya's minions.

The ones above are the most famous ghosts and demons in the Malaysian society. But the list doesn't end there. Below you'll find the rest of the family, a whole list of other lesser ghosts and demons in Malaysia.

1. HANTU AIR- This is not really a ghost but more an elemental spirit that lives in the water, such as lakes or rivers.
2. HANTU ANAK GUA BATU - A spirit that lives in small caves.
3. HANTU APU - This is a spirit that loves to hang around parties and gatherings.
4. HANTU BAJANG - A spirit takes on the shape of a fox. It has an owner and lovers to disturb children.
5. HANTU BALUNG BIDAI - An evil spirit that lives in water. It is flat and shapeless and will wrap itself around anyone swimming in its water and drown them.
6. HANTU BANDAN - A spirit that lives under waterfalls.
7. HANTU BANGKIT - The ghost of a murdered person which hangs around his grave.
8. HANTU BATU - This is a formless ghost that loves to throw stones at passers by.
9. HANTU BELIAN - A spirit that takes on the form of a tiger.
10.HANTU BERUK - A spirit that takes on the form of an ape and usually possesses dancers.
11.HANTU GALAH - A very tall and thin ghost.
12.HANTU GENGAL - An evil spirit that causes a person to be mute.
13.HANTU GOLEK - Just like the Pocong, this is a ghost that is bound in its death shroud. But rather than hopping, the Hantu Golek rolls on its side.
14.HANTU GUNUNG - A spirit that lives on mountains.
15.HANTU BULU - This is a demon that is summoned by practitioners of black magic.
16.HANTU HANTUAN - A spirit that lives in forests.
17.HANTU HARIMAU/KERAMAT- A spirit that lives and protects graveyards.
18.HANTU JAMUAN - A spirit that must be invited to any party or gathering or else it will wreck havoc.
19.HANTU JEMBALANG - This is a spirit that is bound to a certain area. If any construction is done at that area, offerings need to be made to appease it.
20.HANTU JERAMBANG - An evil spirit that lives in the middle of the sea and loves to cling on the mast of passing ships.
21.HANTU KUANG - This spirit has 100 eyes.
22.HANTU KUBUR - The generic term for any ghosts that haunts graveyards.
23.HANTU KUDA - A spirit that resembles a horse and possesses dancers who do the Kuda Kepang dance.
24.HANTU LANGSUIR - Another name for Pintianak, mainly used for a woman who had died while she was pregnant or while giving birth.
25.HANTU LANGUT/LONGGAK - A spirit with the head of a dog and body of a man, it loves to hunt.
26.HANTU LUBANG - Spirits that live in large holes or between large rocks.
27.MAMBANG - Very ancient demons that originate from Indonesia.
28.HANTU BISA - An evil spirit that causes blood poisoning.
29.HANTU BUJANG - Hantu sembelih muda, belaan pawing perempuan di selatan Thai.
30.HANTU BUNYI-BUNYIAN - A formless spirit. Just a voice in the forest that beckons to people, causing then to lose their way.
31.HANTU BUTA - A spirit that causes blindness.
32.HANTU DAGUK - Sort of like a will-o-wisp, it resembles smoke or mist ans is usually the ghost of a murdered person.
33.HANTU DENAI - A fierce demon that lives in forest and has the characteristics of a wild beast.
34.HANTU PUSAKA - A spirit that had been summoned by a Bomoh and is handed down from one generation to the next.
35.HANTU PUTERI - A spirit that will seduce men and lead them deep into forests where they will get lost.
36.HANTU SONGKEI - A spirit that protects animals and frees from from a hunter's trap.
37.HANTU TENGGELUNG - A headless ghost.
38.HANTU PELAK - A ghost that is seeking revenge and haunts the place where he had died.
39.HANTU PENANGGALAN - A femals vampire.
40.HANTU KOCONG - An evil spirit that roams graveyards and pounces on passers by.
41.HANTU KERTAU - An evil spirit with the head of a wild boar and horns of a deer, it preys on woman during childbirth.
42.HANTU JERANGKUNG - A skeletal ghost of a murdered man.

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