As part of the shapeshifting Aswang demons of the Phillipines, the Manananggal was soaring the sky in her bat-like appearance on her hunt for human blood. 

Magtatangal. A witch. They say that it flies and eats human flesh, but when it flies, it only has half its body, and that is why it is called that because it’s tangal which means that it can disengage, and he dislodges half of his body and carries the other half home.
— Fray Domingo de los Santos, Vocabulario de Lengua Tagala (1703)

In the haunted forests and rural villages in the Philippines lives one of the most terrifying figures. Known as the Manananggal, this creature is a type of vampire spirit that strikes under the cover of night, feeding on the living.

Unlike the typical vampire tales of Europe, the Manananggal is not a corpse that rises from a grave nor a spirit that floats invisibly through walls. It is a living woman by day who becomes a monster by night, revealing a grotesque dual nature that makes her one of folklore’s most haunting night beings.

A Woman Who Becomes Night

The legend holds that the Manananggal appears in human form during the day, indistinguishable from any ordinary person. She may be a neighbor, a villager, or a quiet woman passing through town. But when darkness falls, her body undergoes a terrible transformation. Its name comes from the Tagalog word tanggal, meaning “to remove,” because this being literally separates itself in two before it hunts. The torso splits from the legs. The lower half remains rooted to the earth, while the upper body sprouts bat-like wings and soars into the night on stealthy wings. 

Once airborne, the Manananggal hunts for her prey. She is very similar to other vampiric Visayan legends like of the Mandurug, vampiric being that live as people during the day. Sometimes the Mandrugo is said to have a bat-like appearance, but one thing setting them apart is the victims of the Manananggal. 

Read More: Mandurug is said to live in the region of Capiz and disguises itself as a beautiful woman. It sucks blood using a proboscis-like tongue. Some live in forests far from human communities, but the Mandurug can infiltrate human society by marrying into a community, either slowly draining their husband of blood or using him strictly as a hideout and leaving at night to raid other villages, thereby maintaining their cover. // Image: Capiz/ Source

The Manananggal’s favorite victims are sleeping humans, especially pregnant women. According to tradition, she uses a long, thin proboscis-like tongue to penetrate sealed doors and windows without disturbing the sleepers. With this horror-like organ she drains the blood of her victim or feeds on the unborn child inside the womb.

She is also said to target newlyweds and lovers, newborn children and men who were left before marriage. It’s not just a single bite, but often a slow death of feeding on them over a longer period of time. 

The Manananggal is not always hunting alone. The Tiktik is a type of bird that makes a “tik-tik” sound, warning people of the creature’s presence. As the sound gets louder, the farther away the Manananggal is. If it goes completely quiet, the Manananggal is too close for comfort. 

Image: Gian Bernal/Wikimedia

How to Battle the Manananggal

Can you fight against a creature like the Manananggal? According to legends, you have to strike on the body left behind while the Manananggal is out hunting. Folklore holds that if villagers find and sprinkle salt, garlic, or ash onto the detached lower half before sunrise, the monster cannot rejoin its body. When morning light arrives, the separated torso will burn and the creature will die. They are also thought to avoid daggers, light, vinegar, spices and the tail of a stingray, which can be fashioned into a whip and fight them. 

But the safest thing to do is to protect your house for the Manananggal before it gets close. Small containers of salt, ash and raw rice, and the smell of burning rubber are said to deter the Manananggal from approaching one’s house.

Birth of a Creature

But where does Mananaggal really come from? In some instances, shamanists or other practitioners of the occult have also been called Manananggal, using the word as a type of witch. And according to some lore, a Manananggal is not born, but created. 

The Filipino Shaman: Filipino shamans, commonly known as babaylan, were shamans of the various ethnic groups of the pre-colonial Philippine islands. Babaylan were women serving in spiritual leadership roles or effeminate men (asog or bayok). There are also sorcerers who are said to have hereditary powers. This type of sorcerers are often conflated with the aswang, evil vampire-like supernatural beings capable of appearing human (or were originally human). The Spanish colonization of the Philippines and the introduction of Catholic Christianity resulted in the extinction of most native shamanistic practices and persecution of the practicioners. // Image: Babaylan Festival in Bago City by Hptina24

Some say that to become a Manananggal you need a special ointment and an egg containing a black chick. While chanting a special incantation you should anoint yourself with the ointment and place the egg in your armpit until it disappears.

Other traditions say when a Manananggal does not kill their victims outright they will turn into another Mananaggal.

Origins of the Manananggal Legend

The Manananggal appears most prominently in Tagalog and Visayan folklore, especially in Capiz, but similar beings are recorded throughout Philippine culture. The Manananggal is a part of the Aswang, or evil spirit lore in the Phillipines. 

Aswang is an umbrella term for various shape-shifting evil and malevolent creatures in Filipino folklore and the Spanish colonists noted that the aswang was the most feared among the mythical creatures of the Philippines in the 16th century. Aswang are traditionally described as one-dimensional monsters and inherently evil by nature, with no explicable motives beyond harming and devouring other creatures.

Among the Aswang types, the Manananggal is also often compared to the Wakwak, a vampiric and bird-like creature as well. The main way to tell the difference between the Manananggal and the Wakwak is that the Wakwak cannot separate its torso from its body.

Wakwak: The Wakwak is a vampiric, bird-like creature in Philippine mythology. In some places the Wakwak is believed to be another form a vampire can take or a type of witch-like entity. The Wakwak is generally described as a very large bird with either feathery or leathery wings, which is said to be as sharp as a knife. It is often described by old folks to have long sharp talons, which it uses to slash its victims and to get their heart. The sound associated with the Wakwak is considered to be an indicator that something is nearby. 

Colonizing Folklore

There are many witness accounts written down from the Spanish colonizers about the locals witnessing these types of entities. But what is the truth about the Manananggal legends, and exactly who shaped it into being what it is today?

The Manananggal legend is most likely from colonial times. The way to repel these entities are very similar to European vampire lore, especially Balkan lore. Chances are that the Spaniards likely villanised and demonized the Aswang entities when they came with Christian missionarries, trying to convert them from their pagan ways. 

The Spanish Colonizing the Phillipines: The colonization of the Phillipines by the Catholic Christian Spaniards shaped the way we view Filipino mythology today. // Image: The Principalia of a rural parish in colonial Philippines, joining the Holy Week procession. Illustration, c. 1870.

Spanish chroniclers like Antonio de Morga and Francisco Ignacio Alcina provided some of the earliest written accounts of Philippine beliefs and have therefore shaped them a lot in terms of how we view them. 

Why the Manananggal showed up during this time period is up for debate and even some conspiracy theories. Some speculate during this time of conversion, the Spaniards created the legend of the Manananggal, as an attempt to draw the local people out of the forests and into the cities. Making them easier to control.

What the truth is difficult to say today, and how the Manananggal legend changed and was shaped before colonisation is tricky as the lack of written documentation. 

A Legend Alive in Story

In modern times the Manananggal remains one of the Philippines’ most iconic supernatural figures. She appears in horror films, literature, and oral storytelling. 

When the moon rises and the world grows quiet, some still say she watches from treetops and rooflines, awaiting the moment when the last lamp goes out and the night feeds again.

Newest Posts

• 

  Manananggal: The Night Splitter of Filipino Folklore29. June 2026

  As part of the shapeshifting Aswang demons of the Phillipines, the Manananggal was soaring the sky in her bat-like appearance on her hunt for human blood. 

• 

  The Atoning Vrykolakas Vampire in Santorini25. June 2026

  After a man died before atoning for his crimes, he came back from the dead as a vampiric Vrykolakas when his wife failed to follow his final wishes. What followed was a month full of terror and haunting.  

• 

  The Vrykolakas Vampire in Patmos23. June 2026

  After terrorizing his village, the Vrykolakas Vampire from Patmos in Santorini were taken to an inhabited island and set on fire. The question is, did it really work?

• 

  The Churel: The Vengeful Vampire Woman of South Asian Folklore22. June 2026

  Fueled by anger and vengeance, the vampiric Churel of South Asian folklore, is said to haunt down men to drain their blood as a vengeful spirit brought back from the dead.

• 

  The Shoemaking Vrykolakas Vampire from Pyrgos Castle19. June 2026

  After a humble life as a shoemaker on Santorini in Greece, a man was said to have come back as a Vrykolakas, the vampire of Greek folklore. But for this Vrykolaka, it wasn’t to devour human life that kept him going. 

• 

  The Sea Draug: The Ghostly Fisherman of the Norwegian Coast18. June 2026

  Thought to be haunting the dark seas of the north, the Sea Draug is a ghost of the drowned fishermen’s and other unfortunate souls who perished on the waters. 

• 

  The Haunted Jane Street Hotel: Echoes of the Lost Sailors17. June 2026

  After tragedy struck and the Titanic sank to the bottom of the Atlantic ocean, the surviving crew members were sent to The Jane Street Hotel in New York. According to stories, they are still haunting the rooms, where the trauma of their tragedy lingers. 

• 

  The Silent Music Haunting Hald Pensjonat16. June 2026

  Who can be haunting the old Hald Pensjonat in Mandal? Playing soft piano music in the afterlife, and rumours about the footsteps of a Norwegian pirate seems to linger. 

• 

  The Mandurugo Vampire Bride of Philippine Folklore15. June 2026

  Hidden among human society, the vampiric Mandurugo creature is slowly draining her unassuming husbands of their blood and life to sustain her eternal youth and beauty. 

• 

  The Ghostly Guardian of MS Nordstjernen12. June 2026

  The MS Nordstjernen spent decades bringing passengers north across the arctic sea, and although the waters can be brought this far north, it always seemed to reach port unharmed. Some think that it could be Ernst, the ship’s ghosts.

• 

  The Cabin in the Woods where the Forest Watches Back 11. June 2026

  The DNT Cabin Flisberget deep in the mystical forest of Finnskogen, bordering Norway and Sweden has a lot of strange tales coming from it. So much so, that it was voted the scariest cabin in the country. 

• 

  The Haunted Devonshire Park Theatre: The Phantom Violinist of Eastbourne10. June 2026

  Could one of the musicians on the Titanic be haunting the Devonshire Park Theatre in Eastbourne, England? Who is the person behind the ghost said to still be playing the violin?

References:

Manananggal – Wikipedia

Aswang – Wikipedia

https://mythologicaencyclopedia.com/Manananggal