Penanggalen

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The Penanggalen is a peculiar variation of the vampire myth that apparently began in the Malay Peninsula. According to the folklore of that region, a penanggalen is a detached female head that is capable of flying about on its own. As it flies, the stomach and entrails dangle below it, and these organs twinkle like fireflies as the penanggalen moves through the night.

The Penanggalen's victims are traditionally pregnant women and young children. Like a banshee focused on birth rather than death, the penanggalen perches on the roofs of houses where women are in labour, screeching when the child is born. Those whose blood the Penanggalen feeds upon contract a wasting disease that is almost inescapably fatal. Furthermore, even if the penanggalen is not successful in its attempt to feed, anyone who is brushed by the dripping entrails will suffer painful open sores.