Gjenganger

A gjenganger (Norwegian: Gjenganger, Attergangar or Gjenferd; Danish: Genganger or Genfærd; Swedish: Gengångare) in Scandinavian folklore is a term for a revenant, the spirit or ghost of a deceased from the grave. In reality, a gjenganger is not a ghost but a corporeal undead. They did originate in what was once Scandinavia. There, during the Age of Myths, parasitic worms, as small as inchworms, had found their way into the Physical World. They would enter living hosts and eat away at their lifeforce and as they drained it, they would multiply. Outside a living host, the worms dematerialize after only minutes, but inside, as they reproduce, the host’s heart stops. Their biology, now tainted by the Outer Darkness, mutates. They grow extra rows of teeth and their fangs are hollow. Through these, when they bite, large numbers of the tiny parasites squirm through and enter the bite. The hosts desire blood and flesh, perpetually hungry and when they inject it, the sustenance converts into more parasites.

Absinthe Van Gothen encountered a gjenganger in the Lone Fir Cemetery. It had eked out a place to exist there in a mausoleum. However, she needed to empower the loa spirit, Baron Samedi, to save the Bishops from Heloise Laveau. Though the creature desperately tried to share its affliction with her, Abby won the day.