Amalanhig

In Hiligaynon-speaking communities of Panay, people tell of the amalanhig, a dead person who comes back. The name also appears as maranhig or amaranhig. Storytellers link it to the aswang, the shape-shifting night creature. In this belief, an aswang must pass its curse to another person before it dies. If it fails, the dead body cannot rest. It climbs out of its grave and attacks the living.

Two versions are told. In the first, the amalanhig bites the neck of its victim. In the second, which people say survives by word of mouth, it chases anyone it sees. When it catches a person, it tickles the victim until the person dies of laughter and fear. This second form is rare among Philippine monster stories.

The amalanhig looks like an ordinary person, with one small clue. Some tellers say the upper canine teeth are larger than normal. Because it is both a corpse and a hunter, writers often call it the Philippine form of a vampire. Written accounts of this belief are modern; no Spanish-era record is known.