Myth: Aswang

 In Filipino culture, the Aswang is an umbrella term that describes a variety of shape-shifting creatures that haunt, stalk, and have the intent to kill their victims. 

The Manananggal

The Aswang takes on different forms: Vampires, The Viscera Sucker, Weredog, Witches, and Ghouls. The pictures above represent the Viscera Sucker, more commonly known as the Manananggal (ma-nuh-nung-gal). This straight-out-of-hell creature takes on the appearance of a young, light-skinned, and long-haired woman during the day. During the night, it grows wings and slices its torso in half, making sure to hide its lower half while the upper half goes searching for prey. Its diet is said to consist of internal organs and most favorably fetuses of pregnant women. While they are reported to live in the dense, mountainous forests of the Philippines, they infiltrate communities and villages through marriage. 

The whole concept of Aswangs is one of the most fascinating myths to me because, as a little kid growing up in the Philippines, I've always been exposed to scary stories and superstitions in a predominantly Catholic country. In fact, one of my family relatives said that when she was a teenager in the Philippines, she saw a White Lady with her own eyes as she was walking home one night. A white lady is a female ghost that wears a white dress and may appear during the night or day. Although these creatures don't actually exist in the real life, it's so thrilling to think about how much of an impact they would make in the real world. Think about a dystopian society where governments around the world create agencies to eliminate Aswangs or other types of ghosts--just like Ghostbusters but widespread.