Manananggal

The Manananggal come from the myths of the Bicol people of the Philippines. Their name is from the word “Tanggal” which means “to separate.” They look like women with bat wings who can split their bodies at the waist. Their intestines trail behind as they fly. They use their long thin tongues to drain the blood of pregnant women and also eat the hearts of their fetuses. Some stories claim they prey on men because they are ladies that were left at the altar. Sometimes the curse is from a black chick (a baby chicken, c’mon people) given to the future Manananggal which eats her internal organs but keeps her alive. Their attacks don’t always kill their victims but actually turned them into Mananggals. They fly at night and die if sunlight touches their detached bodies. They can be killed by putting trash, ash or salt on their lower halves. They transform from six or seven o’clock at night to dawn. Children may be targets if they misbehave, making the Manananggal a bogeyman figure. They eat the liver of bad children. They cannot enter houses and can only attack children who stay out after dark. Travelers at night can keep them away with a thorny branch.

Citations:

Collected Tales And Legends From The Philippines. N.p., Ukiyoto Publishing, 2020.

Maberry, Jonathan. Vampire Universe: The Dark World of Supernatural Beings That Haunt Us, Hunt Us, and Hunger for Us. United States, Kensington Publishing Corporation, 2006.

Ramos, Maximo D.. Creatures of Philippine Lower Mythology. Philippines, Phoenix Publishing House, 1990.