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There are many Malay ghost myths (Malay: cerita hantu Melayu; Jawi: چريتا هنتو ملايو), remnants of old animist beliefs that have been shaped by Hindu-Buddhist cosmology and later Muslim influences, in the modern states of Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore and among the Malay diaspora in neighbouring Southeast Asian countries.
The penanggalan or penanggal is a nocturnal vampiric entity from Malay ghost myths. It takes the form of a floating disembodied woman's head, with its organs and entrails trailing from its neck. From afar, the penanggalan is said to twinkle like a ball of flame, similar to the will-o'-the-wisp phenomenon.
Pages in category "Malaysian ghosts" The following 15 pages are in this category, out of 15 total. This list may not reflect recent changes. ...
The Malay word for ghost is hantu. However, this word also covers all sorts of demons, goblins and undead creatures and are thought to have real physical bodies, instead of just apparitions or spectres. The most famous of these is the pontianak or matianak, the ghost of a female stillborn child which lures men in the form of a beautiful woman.
Image credits: peonie666 #3 Saturday, January 14, 2012 Granny's Ghost. Somehow this lady's husband managed to appear in this photo despite passing away seven years before.
She is often dressed in a blood-smeared white dress. The Kuntilanak is also described as changing into a more monstrous form when she captures her prey which is typically men or helpless people. Because she is bloodthirsty and has a carnivorous nature, a Pontianak can also appear as a beast or a ghost, resembling the Dracula vampire.
In his book Malay Magic, Walter William Skeat, an English anthropologist, recorded the origins of the langsuyar myth, as told by Malays in Selangor: . The original Langsuir (whose embodiment is supposed to be a kind of night-owl) is described as being a woman of dazzling beauty, who died from the shock of hearing that her child was stillborn, and had taken the shape of the Pontianak.
In Malaysian, Bruneian and Indonesian folklore, Bunian people or Orang bunian (Indonesian pronunciation: [o.raŋ bu.ni.an]) are supernatural beings said to be invisible to most humans, except those with "spiritual sight". While the term is often translated as "elves", it literally