So I made a promise before to @AngryKoala about writing about the horror creatures/mythological creatures of my country. Since there are so many, I can only go about this by parts, honestly. I hope you enjoy because I had to call a lot of grandparents for some info on these
Manananggal
This kind of creature has always been used to scare pregnant women into staying inside of their houses as soon as night comes because this creature mainly feasts on the fetuses inside the belly of pregnant women. Its tongue extends really long and slips into the navel to suck the fetus out of the womb. Its body is able to separate into half wherein the lower part stays on the ground while the upper body was said to have wings like a bat's and that's how it's able to get around
As for how to kill this kind of creature, my grandmother said that you should pour salt on the lower half of the body then burn it, as well as the upper half but doing so seems hard. They also say that religious relics work like holy water and crosses.
While searching through materials though, I did find that this kind of coincided with a Malaysian creature called the penanggal and unlike in Philippine folklore, it actually has an origin story where a woman tried to beautify herself by using black magic but in turn, she has to refrain from eating meat. She failed to do so, however so her wish turned into a curse that gave her this form
Aswang
This creature is the equivalent of shape-shifting creature in other cultures but the difference here is that it can transform into either a grotesque and unusually shaped figure, or to a black dog that follows you around. Which I both described in a short horror write up I made before (A friend pt 2 and A friend) . Its diet mostly consists of human flesh and in some cases, some livestock. My grandmother told me that If a black dog that has this weird stare starts following you, it's better to get it lost because it might be an aswang.
To ward off or protect yourself from an aswang, we use the tail of a stingray (I have no idea why but my granma has that at her house and refuses to throw it away just for that reason), then salt, garlic, ginger and other religious relics and prayers. kind of similar with warding off a manananggal but most mythological creatures here are thought to be warded off by religion
Another addition to this is the origin story it has here. Originally, before the spanish invaded the country, there were babaylan or witches that performed miracles. When the Spaniards arrived, the babaylan tried to ward them off by scaring the Spaniards away. They were said to use black magic which allowed them to shapeshift. But a drawback was that they couldn't change back. They were only able to do so by consuming fresh meat but in the end, it was only a temporary solution. That's why they had to keep consuming live animals, and eventually, humans. Just so they can stay in their human forms. Some stories say that the children of babaylans inherited that characteristic of theirs to shapeshift, as well as the diet so the legend never faded out from history
Tiyanak
The last for this part would be the tiyanak, which is described in some texts as vampires in the shape of infants. Here in the Philippines, It's what happens when a child dies unchristened, whether it was from a miscarriage, stillborns or if the child died from any other reason before the date of christening. It's said that souls of demons take over the body of a child and control it to feast on humans and also livestock
As for how to defeat this creature, My grandmother says it's the same as aswangs but it's better if you do a christening ceremony to also save the soul of the baby that the demon took. I'm not sure how such a thing happens though or if the bodies ever grow older but in some texts, they say they grow, and in some, the child retains the same shape unless defeated
That's the end for this part. I'd love to read about the other mythological creatures in your countries or if there are similarities to the creatures described up there. corrections would also be greatly appreciated because each version varies way too much
They are all scary😁. Specially the tiyanak.. If it was real and you encounter a cute baby and tried to cuddle it then suddenly Snap! The little creature turned into monster and now feasting your neck.. 😵😅