Have you ever been told “sige ka, kukunin ka ng aswang!” as a child? There are different types of aswangs or shape-shifters pretending to be human but turn into animals at night.

It is believed that aswangs like to break into homes to find a human to victimized, and are particularly fond of unborn fetuses, or children who are easily tricked.

WHITE LADY

You’ll often hear this story from taxi drivers when passing through Balete Drive in Quezon City. It is said that the white lady usually haunts vehicles passing through, by appearing on their rearview mirrors, in a haunting white dress and no face.

It is said that the white lady was killed and raped by Japanese soldiers, while other versions say her death was caused by a car accident.

KAPRE

Kapres often depicted as a huge, hairy giant who lingers on top of huge, tall trees, and with a cigarette that never burns out. If you see a kid playing around at night and running in circles, it may be under the kapre’s spell. The way to stop it is to remove his clothing and wear it inside-out.

MANANANGGAL

It’s probably the Boysen Roofguard commercial that brought the manananggal to our consciousness. The manananggal is said to be a type of aswang, a woman with wings who can detach her upper body to fly away and prey on human fetuses, while the lower half remains still on the ground. It makes a “tik-tik” sound when it flies, so it’s a way also to detect if one is nearby.

DUWENDE

We were taught as kids to say “tabi-tabi po” while stepping on roots or passing by trees and such, out of respect for trespassing their homes. Otherwise, it is believed that we may be victimized by the bad duwende’s tricks, which could appear in forms of weird allergies or ailments.

TIYANAK

The tiyanak pretends to be a harmless baby in the woods, who wails and cries until a person arrives and rescues him. But then that happens, the baby transforms into a monster, with scary eyes and sharp teeth. It eats the well-intending person and then shapeshifts back to a seemingly innocent baby.

TIKBALANG

In Filipino folklore, it is believed that when it rains while it’s sunny, a tikbalang is getting married. This half-horse, half-human is believed to rape women in order to produce more tikbalangs. It is also believed that the tikbalang can mess with people’s minds, make them imagine things, or drive them crazy.

SIRENA

The sirena is very popular in Filipino pop culture. The famous Dyesebel on TV and the movies are after the mythical mermaid creature. As with Western portrayal, the sirena is also half-human, half-fish and would lure fisherman or sometimes fall in love. They are mainly protectors of the sea but come up ashore out of curiosity about human life.

Which of these have you encountered? Tell us below!