Uncanny Atlas

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Everything in the atlas

Every published entry, A to Z. Each one says what kind of claim it is.

45 entries

The ap, also spelled ahp, aap or arp, is a Cambodian spirit: a woman whose head and organs leave her body at night to look for food. It is the Khmer relative of the Thai krasue.

Something ToldObscurity 7 of 7

Aswang is a Filipino umbrella name for a range of flesh-eating night beings. The oldest record here, from 1589, places the belief in the Visayas and says it was absent among the Tagalogs.

Before you read on. Kentaro Azuma (Kyoto Review of Southeast Asia, 2012) found that aswang rumours can be used to justify discriminating against and excluding particular people. A 2015 Rappler essay by Wel Mendoza says people with X-linked dystonia parkinsonism in Capiz have been linked to aswang, and that the stigma led some families to hide them, leaving them with little or no medical care.

Something ToldObscurity 1 of 7

Claimed sighting

Bukit Timah Monkey Man

An ape-like creature said to live in the forest of Bukit Timah, Singapore. Reported sightings reach back to the 1800s, and Wikipedia calls its existence disputed.

Something SeenObscurity 6 of 7

The dwende is a small house and earth spirit of Filipino folklore, sharing its name with the duende. Isabelo de los Reyes wrote in 1889 that the local figure had taken on traits of native spirits.

Something ToldObscurity 5 of 7

Religious tradition

Engkanto and diwata

Diwata and engkanto are spirits of Philippine belief. Colonial writers recorded the word divate in 1573, and people interviewed by GMA News in 2013 still described diwata as real and dangerous.

Provenance · Living tradition

A spirit of Indonesian belief, described as having a jet-black body and large fangs. Its name traces back to the Sanskrit gandharva, and Kompas has reported the 2021 death of a child in Temanggung, suspected killed by parents who believed a genderuwo possessed the child, and a 2025 case in Banyumas where a man sexually abused a 14-year-old under the pretext of a ritual to drive out a genderuwo.

Before you read on. The belief has harmed children. In 2021 a child in Temanggung died, suspected killed by both parents, who believed a genderuwo possessed the child after an adviser urged a cleansing ritual (Kompas); in 2025 a man in Banyumas sexually abused a 14-year-old under the pretext of a ritual to drive out a genderuwo (Kompas).

Something ToldObscurity 1 of 7

Religious tradition

Hungry Ghost Month in Singapore and Malaysia

The lunar calendar's seventh month, when many Chinese Buddhists and Taoists in Singapore and Malaysia believe the gates of Hell open and spirits wander. Communities hold rites and offerings for the dead and stage shows for them.

Provenance · Religious tradition

The jenglot is a creature that Wikipedia calls an actively believed myth, one many people hold to be real. A 2009 study in the Malaysian Journal of Medical Sciences found jenglot hair unlikely to come from any animal species.

Something Left BehindObscurity 4 of 7

The kapre is a giant of Philippine folklore. Wikipedia says its modern image grew out of racist depictions of Negrito peoples by Christianized lowlanders in the Spanish period.

Something ToldObscurity 1 of 7

Religious tradition

Keramat shrines

Keramat are holy places of Malay communities where people make vows, often linked to pious figures. Singapore's Kusu Island has three, visited by Malay and Chinese pilgrims, while religious authorities in Malaysia and Brunei have acted against the practice.

Provenance · Religious tradition

Somewhere You Can Go

The krasue is a Thai ghost pictured as a woman's floating head with her innards hanging beneath, said to feed at night on raw or rotting food. Neighbouring countries tell of close relatives.

Something ToldObscurity 1 of 7

A Balinese figure pictured as a flying head trailing its heart, lungs and liver, said to seek out pregnant women and newborns. Miguel Covarrubias wrote in 1937 that the Balinese blamed leyaks for most of the island's troubles, sickness and death among them.

Something ToldObscurity 6 of 7

Religious tradition

Ma'nene, the Toraja rite for the dead

Ma'nene is a rite of the Toraja people in which the bodies of the dead are taken from the grave, washed, groomed and dressed in new clothes. One Torajan quoted in the press says it also brings together relatives who live far away.

Provenance · Living tradition

Somewhere You Can Go

Religious tradition

Mae Nak Phra Khanong

Mae Nak is the ghost of a woman who died giving birth while her husband was at war, the most popular Thai ghost story according to the Bangkok Post. Her shrine on Sukhumvit Soi 77 in Bangkok draws devotees who bring offerings and requests.

Provenance · Living tradition

Somewhere You Can Go

The manananggal is a Filipino night creature said to split at the waist and fly off with its upper half, leaving the legs behind. It has relatives across Southeast Asia, most of them flying heads.

Something ToldObscurity 1 of 7

The mangkukulam is the witch of Philippine folklore, a person believed to harm others with spells and potions. The name first appears in Juan de Plasencia's Customs of the Tagalogs, written in 1589.

Before you read on. People in the Philippines accused of black magic were often shunned and in many cases attacked, especially during the Spanish colonial period, according to Wikipedia. In one mid-nineteenth-century case a curate ordered the killing of 57 people he suspected of sorcery.

Something ToldObscurity 3 of 7

Manila Film Center

On 17 November 1981, scaffolding collapsed during the Manila Film Center's rushed construction and workers died. The death toll is disputed, and a legend grew that bodies were left in the concrete and haunt the building.

Somewhere You Can GoObscurity 5 of 7

Maria Makiling of Mount Makiling

Mount Makiling in Laguna is widely held to be the home of Maria Makiling, a diwata of legend. José Rizal wrote her story down in 1890, and people still repeat superstitions about her, such as never carrying the forest's fruit home.

Somewhere You Can GoObscurity 6 of 7

Mi Novia by Juan Luna

A painting by Juan Luna that Wikipedia says is rumoured to be cursed, though Esquire Philippines tells its curse story about a Luna work titled Portrait of a Lady.

Something Left BehindObscurity 7 of 7

Religious tradition

The nuno sa punso is a tiny old spirit said to live in earth mounds. People still say "tabi tabi po" to ask its leave when they pass, a courtesy on record since about 1731.

Provenance · Living tradition

Religious tradition

The ruler of the southern sea, also called Kanjeng Ratu Kidul. The Yogyakarta palace ties its labuhan offering at Parangkusumo to her promise to help Panembahan Senopati and his descendants.

Provenance · Religious tradition

Somewhere You Can Go

Old Changi Hospital

A disused former hospital at Changi, Singapore, owned by the state. Since it was abandoned it has gathered ghost stories, from a nurse said to walk the grounds to poltergeists.

Somewhere You Can GoObscurity 5 of 7

Orang minyak (the oily man)

A figure of Malay belief, a man coated in black grease who carries off young women at night. It first appeared in Singapore's Berita Harian in October 1957, and the name has since been attached to a rape reported in 2005 and to rumours in Melaka in 2017.

Before you read on. The orang minyak name has been attached to an attack by a man: in 2005 Bernama reported the suspected rape of a nurse at a hospital nurses' hostel by a knife-carrying man covered in oil. The figure has also prompted machete-armed village patrols (Live Science, 2012) and a 2017 police appeal in Melaka to stop spreading rumours (Malay Mail).

Something ToldObscurity 4 of 7

Phi pop is a Thai belief in a spirit that can live inside a person, which Silpa Wattanatham magazine says probably began in the northeast. Accusing someone of harbouring a pop has been used to shut people out.

Before you read on. Accusing someone of harbouring a phi pop has been used to isolate people a community dislikes, often those whose behaviour sets them apart (Bangkok Post, 2016; anthropologist Srisakra Vallibhotama via Voice TV, 2017). In 2017, unexplained deaths in Amnat Charoen province were blamed on an outsider man said to be a pop (Voice TV).

Something ToldObscurity 7 of 7

In Thai belief, phi tai hong is the ghost of a person who died a sudden, violent death, such as by murder or drowning, often without proper funeral rites.

Something ToldObscurity 7 of 7

An Indonesian ghost shaped like a corpse bound in its burial shroud. The BBC says Indonesian folklore treats pocong as souls of the dead that are trapped.

Something ToldObscurity 1 of 7

Pontianak (kuntilanak)

A female spirit known as the pontianak in Malay and the kuntilanak in Indonesian, found in the beliefs of Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore. Sources tie her to a woman who died in childbirth and to a stillborn child.

Something ToldObscurity 1 of 7

Religious tradition

Rakshasas are beings found in Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and the folk Islam of Indonesia, according to Wikipedia. A Rigveda hymn to Agni hails him as their slayer, and in the Ramayan Ravan calls himself their king.

Provenance · Religious tradition

Santelmo is the Filipino name for a ball of fire said to lead night travellers astray. The name comes from St. Elmo's fire, though Wikipedia says the folk light is described more like ball lightning.

Something SeenObscurity 1 of 7

Sathorn Unique Tower

An unfinished 43-storey skyscraper in Bangkok, left incomplete in an economic crisis. People in nearby communities believe it haunted or unlucky, pointing to a former graveyard under it and its shadow on the temple Wat Yan Nawa.

Somewhere You Can GoObscurity 6 of 7

The sigbin is a goat-like night creature of Philippine folklore, said to drink blood from its victims' shadows. A Facebook video said to show one caught in Surigao City was rated false by Rappler in 2020.

Something ToldObscurity 4 of 7

Religious tradition

The 37 nats of Myanmar

The 37 nats are the chief spirits of Burmese folk religion, each said to be a person who died a violent death. Believers in Myanmar honour them with offerings and festivals, including a yearly gathering for the Taungbyon brothers that draws tens of thousands.

Provenance · Religious tradition

The 99-Door Mansion (Caledonia House)

Caledonia House, an abandoned mansion in Penang, Malaysia, built for the Ramsden family and rumoured to be haunted since John St Maur Ramsden was shot dead there in 1948.

Somewhere You Can GoObscurity 6 of 7

The Depok babi ngepet hoax (2021)

In April 2021 a video of a wild boar being put into a cage drew crowds of residents in Bedahan, Sawangan, Depok, as a babi ngepet. Police declared it a hoax and arrested the organiser, a local religious teacher, whom a court sentenced to four years in prison.

Something ToldObscurity 1 of 7

Claimed sighting

The Diplomat Hotel, Baguio

A former Dominican retreat house on Dominican Hill in Baguio City, known as the Diplomat Hotel, which paranormal believers say is haunted because of its Second World War history.

Somewhere You Can GoObscurity 5 of 7

The German Girl of Pulau Ubin

A shrine on Pulau Ubin, Singapore, to a German girl said to have died in a quarry in August 1914; William L. Gibson found no evidence her family lived on the island and traced the story to a man named Chia, first in print in 1987.

Somewhere You Can GoObscurity 4 of 7

The Naga fireballs of the Mekong

The Naga fireballs are glowing balls said to rise from the Mekong River, between Thailand and Laos, on the night Buddhist Lent ends. Many believers hold them sacred, and they draw tourists every year.

Somewhere You Can GoObscurity 5 of 7

The White Lady of Balete Drive

A woman in white said to appear to drivers on Balete Drive in Metro Manila. Accounts date the first stories to 1949 or 1952, and where the story began is disputed.

Somewhere You Can GoObscurity 4 of 7

The balete tree

A tree that Philippine folk belief has long tied to spirits. A missionary chronicle from 1738 describes people honouring it, and Wikipedia says some still see it as home to beings such as the kapre and tikbalang.

Something ToldObscurity 6 of 7

The manglalabas in the widow's house

Three days after a father's death, a manglalabas starts coming to his family's house at night. It throws stones, breaks the water-jars and pinches the widow, and the family decide to leave.

Something ToldObscurity 5 of 7

The penanggalan

A being of Malay belief that flies at night with its entrails hanging below it. Walter William Skeat's Malay Magic (1900) quotes Munshi Abdullah's account of it.

Something ToldObscurity 3 of 7

The tikbalang is a Philippine forest being, most often pictured as a very tall figure with horse's hooves or a horse's head. Records run from a 1589 list of Tagalog phantoms to modern sculpture. None of these sources counts it among the aswang.

Something ToldObscurity 2 of 7

The tiyanak is a Philippine creature that takes the form of a baby and cries in the forest to lure travellers. Its oldest recorded form, from 1589, was the lament of a woman who died in childbirth.

Something ToldObscurity 4 of 7

An undead infant of Malay and Indonesian belief, known as the toyol or tuyul, that shamans call up through black magic, often for financial gain. A 2009 scam used the belief to rob an elderly woman.

Something ToldObscurity 4 of 7

Wakwak is a Philippine name for a bird-like night creature said to carry people off. Some use it as another word for the aswang; others treat it as a being of its own.

Something ToldObscurity 4 of 7