The Pontianak

In the Malay world of Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore, few spirits are feared like the Pontianak, the vengeful ghost of a woman who died in pregnancy or childbirth. Folklore says she appears as a strikingly beautiful pale woman in a white dress, her long black hair hiding a monstrous face, drifting near banana groves in the still of night. Her presence is announced by an infant's distant cry and a sweet floral perfume that curdles into a stench of decay as she draws near. Villagers tell how she preys chiefly on men, luring them close before revealing sharp claws and feasting on their organs. Traditional lore offers defences: a nail or sharp iron driven into the hole at the nape of her neck is said to turn her back into a lovely, obedient woman, while removing it unleashes her fury again. Tied to the sorrow of mothers lost too soon, the Pontianak endures as one of Southeast Asia's most iconic supernatural figures, haunting countless films, campfire tales and warnings to walk carefully past the banana trees after dark.