The Ultimate Vampire Resource and Directory

Arguably the most disgusting entry on this list, the Penanggalan is a creature that looks like a woman by day, but detaches its head from the rest of its body at night to go off flying in search of victims, with its spinal column and all of its internal organs dangling from its neck (before you ask, no, this is not something we just made up, but an actual Malaysian legend). The organs glow in the dark for that cool retro look and can be used like tentacles to remove any obstacles the Penanggalan comes across (it can also grow its hair at will for that same purpose, just like those Barbie dolls you can give haircuts to).



When it spots a house, the Penanggalan will zero in on it and try its hand (or should we say “tentacle”) at a little breaking and entering. If successful, it will devour any newborn babies within. If the house can’t be broken into (and for those babies’ sakes we’re hoping it can’t), the Penanggalan will instead stretch out its incredibly long tongue under the house and make it slither through the cracks between the floorboards to gain access to the sleeping occupants. Once the tongue finds its way to your bedroom, it will stick itself into you, and the Penanggalan will use it as a straw to drain you to death from a distance, like a warm Long Island ice tea.



And in case you haven’t found everything you’ve just read crazy enough to convince you to never, ever set foot in Malaysia, then consider this: At the end of every night, the Penanggalan has to “pickle” its entrails by soaking them in vinegar so they will shrink and fit inside its body again.

The Callicantzaro spends most of the year in the netherworld (wherever that is) and only emerges on the 12 nights between Christmas and the Epiphany, probably because it knows those are the nights we’re most likely to be too drunk on eggnog to run. Though just the sight of its black twisted face, red eyes, and fang-filled mouth are enough to sap the holiday spirit out of any party it crashes, the Callicantzaro isn’t content with merely ruining everyone’s fun, and will tear apart anyone it encounters with its long claws, before devouring them.



According to Greek lore, any child born between Christmas and the Epiphany will eventually become a Callicantzaro. Scary, huh? But fear not, parents, there is a cure: All you have to do is hold your doomed, newborn infant’s feet over a fire until its toenails are singed, thereby breaking the curse.



But what would the holidays be without a family reunion? Touchingly, the Callicantzaro remembers its family from back when it was human and is known to eagerly seek out its former siblings wherever it goes . . . only to devour them when it finds them.