According to Waray and Western Visayan folklore, the amalanhig or maranhig also known as amamanhig or amaranhit is a person who came back to life after death and feeds off the blood of the living, usually compared to a mix of a zombie and a vampire. Upon turning undead, the amalanhig lives in the woods or the forest as a bloodsucking creature. It looks like an emaciated corpse with a body so stiff that it can’t climb a crooked tree. It also cannot cross any body of water because if it gets wet, the creature is reduced into a heap of worms that must be destroyed before it could form back. The creature’s presence is usually made known by the stench of rotting flesh in the air. Day or night the amalanhig attacks individuals it meets, sucking their blood through their nose until they die. The victims then turn into amalanhig as well. Other tales say the amalanhig tickles its victims to death.
There are various reasons why a person becomes an amalanhig including the one mentioned above. It is said that when a flightless aswang fails to pass its “being an aswang” to an heir it comes back to life after it has died to haunt its relatives and feed on the people. Other amalanhig are deceased people seeking closure for an unfinished business, a murder victim back for revenge or a deceased miser who came back to life to guard its wealth or to pass it on to a deserving individual. The amalanhig with unfinished business are relentless in pursuing persons they have chosen to fulfill their wish. Others do nothing but sit and yawn outside the house of their loved ones after coming back to life and will only move on if told to rest in peace.
It is believed that tying red thread or a strip of red cloth around the big toes of a corpse before burial prevents the deceased from turning into amalanhig.
Amalanhig means “stiff one”.
The Amamanhig of Mahanlod
In a certain barrio called Mahanlod in the town of Hamindan, a man became sick. When he was about to die he asked to be allowed to chew (betel quid). He was given betel nut, betel leaf, lime and a little tobacco. He chew these for several hours that at last he became dizzy and vomited until his eyes rolled and hung over his cheeks. He stayed in this state for a long time. One day when no one saw him, he jumped from his bed and chased anyone he saw. He was very strong although he was very thin. On his way he met five men. He caught them, suck the blood from their noses and they became amamanhig. The went to the forest and chased all the people they saw. They caught many people that their number increased tenfold. (Source: Bisaya Beliefs in the Vicinity of Capiz by Amparo Barza (1927) from the Otley Beyer Collection).
References:
Ramos, Maximo D. The Aswang Syncrasy in Philipine Folklore. Philippine Folklore Society, 1971
Ramos, Maximo D. The Creatures of Midnight. Phoenix Publishing, 1990
Ruiz, Ruel N. Elemental, Engkanto, Atbp. Of Man and Myths
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