Penanggalan

In Malay folklore, the penanggal or penanggalan is a nocturnal vampiric entity or ghost. Its name comes from the word “tanggal” meaning to remove or take off, because its form is that of a floating disembodied woman's head with its trailing organs still attached. From afar, it twinkles like a ball of flame, providing an explanation for the will-o'-the-wisp phenomenon. The penanggalan exists by different names in every country of Southeast Asia. It is known as balan-balan in Sabah, leyak in Bali, kuyang in Kalimantan, palasik in West Sumatra, kra-sue in Thailand, kasu in Laos, ap in Cambodia, and manananggal in the Philippines. In most of the folklore, the penanggalan is a living person by day and a monster by night, but in reality, the penanggalan is a type of physical undead.

They are typically created when an Asian witch, one that practices black magic, is killed or dies during ritual. By the next moonrise, her head will tear from her body and seek out prey every night until killed. They can also be Risen, in that a corpse can become a penanggalan through the use of necromancy and death magicks. In either case, little of the original person remains and the penanggalan will seek out the living. Penanggalans have long tongues that work like an insect proboscis. It will slither into the mortal, and appear as a kiss, when in fact the penanggalan is sucking out blood and the lifeforce of their target. Their floating entrails are akin to tentacles that also have a stinging effect like a jellyfish, though it stings the very soul rather than harming the body. Once killed by a penanggalan, their victim will rise as one as well and so continue to spread.