Ghoul - Evil Undead Creature from Arabic Mythology

Ghoul is a character from Arabian mythology. It is an evil spirit or monster, undead, devilish, who eats human flesh. It has no particular image of representation. Sometimes it is considered as the evil female spirit of the desert. They are ugly and stink of death.

The word ghoul means to take away. It is used for gravedigger by profession, someone who is creepy or Graverobber. Modern Arabs use the word to frighten disobedient children.

Ghoul steals coins, drinks blood, eats human flesh and devours young children. When it eats the dead, it can take that person’s form. There are similarities between ghouls and vampires. Ghouls are also repelled by sunlight, are night creatures, have sharp teeth and claws, but they are not intelligent. They are just driven by their hunger, and they will eat meat, not just suck blood.

In some versions, if a human drinks blood from the vampire he can turn into a ghoul. The vampire becomes human’s superior. Human must continue to drink blood from vampire once a month and then he does not age, heals quicker, is stronger and faster.

If male and female ghouls have offspring, a formless thing, it is consumed by their mother.

Ghoul is shapeshifting demon, living in the desert, taking the form of animals, usually hyena. It preys on victims, slays and eats them.

In some stories, ghoul is jinni, a creature made of a wonderful and smokeless fire. Jinni can be good or evil. It is believed that ghoul originates from Iblis, in Islam, the Devil or Shaitan, who is a jinni refused to obey Adam.

According to the legends, church bells scare away hostile creatures. It is better to trick them than to fight them. The only way to kill it is by one blow because the other blows would resurrect it from the dead.

In Arabian folklore, ghoul is connected with the graveyard. It spends time in uninhabited places and burial grounds. It is believed that they feast in catacombs with conquered armies.

Ghoul is mentioned in the famous book One Thousand and One Nights.

In the early years, when medicine was not developed enough, a patient could be buried alive, so when he raised from the dirt the story of ghoul could begin.

Ghoul found its place in the modern era. It is a character in television series Supernatural, in many video games, books, Japanese manga Tokyo Ghoul and its anime, famous game Dungeons and Dragons and in many movies.

The British movie The Ghoul, from 1975, tells a story about a missionary in India whose son developed a taste for human flesh. The father locked his son up in the attic and sent victims as food to his son.

In the novel The Graveyard Book, written by Neil Gaiman, ghouls are small creatures who build their extradimensional world and traveled through gates. They named themselves after the first person they eat.