Malaysia

Mix of Evil SpiritsMalaysia’s different cultures create many scary supernatural beings, mixing Malay, Chinese, and Indian stories. The orang minyak (“oily man”) sneaks through villages, hunting victims. Pocong (ghosts trapped in burial cloths) hop endlessly towards living people. The penanggalan (a flying head with hanging guts) scares new mothers. Toyols (ugly child spirits) do bad things for their masters. The hantu raya (a powerful spirit) uses dark magic. City legends talk about the pontianak (a female vampire that hunts men) and the langsuir (a flying ghost woman). Each area has its own scary creatures: the shape-changing hantu belian in Sarawak, the child-eating hantu kopek in Negeri Sembilan. From busy cities to deep jungles, Malaysian ghost stories are a big part of the country’s culture.