Salina Christmas

Literally means “severed” or “detached”, referring to the bodiless state of this type of vampire. Penanggalan is a vampire that flies around without a body. The head, often that of a woman, flies about with its trachea, lungs, gut and intestines trailing behind, exposed to the elements. Its notoriety earned the vampire a mention in Hikayat Abdullah, published in 1859 by the Malaccan scholar and writer Munshi Abdullah, much to the amusement of his employer, Sir Stamford Raffles.

The penanggalan is similar to the Japanese yokai or demon, rokurokubi, whose head would also stretch or detach from the body whilst it flies about looking for blood. There is a possibility that the story of the bodiless vampire entered Japan a long time ago when trade between the country and Southeast Asia flourished. It could also be that the bodiless vampire is a myth commonly shared by the peoples of East and Southeast Asia of Austronesian origin or influence.