Balan-balan is a ghost of Sabahan folk mythology, also known as Penanggalan or Hantu Penanggal in West Malaysia.
Famous in Kota Belud, it is also called ‘B kuasa dua’ which means B to the power of 2, because you’re saying the b-word twice.
You’re not supposed to say its name aloud as legend says you summon it closer to you every time you say “balan-balan.”
However, some believe this entity is not a ghost, but a woman who practices black magic.
According to legend, the balan-balan is able to detach its head with lungs, stomach and intestines attached, leaving its body behind to hunt. It usually hunts at night but can leave its body any time it wants. It has a preference for the blood of pregnant women, women who recently gave birth and newborns.
A balan-balan is said to be able to pass through walls and ooze up through the cracks of the floorboards in the house.
To return it to its human form, simply soak its entrails in vinegar and—voilà!—it will reconstitute itself and become a normal person again.
One of the widely known ways in local folklore to destroy a balan-balan is to pour broken glass into its empty neck cavity – assuming you have found its headless body.
Some say that the balan-balan traits are inherited, passing down from one generation to another from mother to daughter.
There are other related myths in Asia of supernatural entities with similar modus operandi and appearances.
Perhaps there are no immigration boundaries for those in the mystical world.
1. Manananggal, the Philippines
Imagine a vampire that detaches itself from its lower body to hunt and uses huge bat-like wings to fly. Swap out the typical Hollywood fangs for a long, piercing tongue and there you have it: a manananggal.
A manananggal feeds on sleeping, pregnant women, sucking on the blood or hearts of fetuses with its tongue.
To kill it, just sprinkle some salt, crushed garlic or ash on the lower part of the body.
Then it would not be able to rejoin itself and would be killed by sunrise.
2. Kuyang in Kalimantan, Indonesia
Kuyang are believed to be women practicing black magic in search of immortality.
To increase their power, they have to feed on babies and women who just recently gave birth.
Some who claimed to have seen a Kuyang said it is just a flying head.
According to an article in Banjarmasin Post, if you are able to catch it, it will grant any wish in exchange for you to keep its secret.
Apparently the best advice is to ask for ‘Minyak Kuyang’ or kuyang oil which has the power to return objects to you even after you have given them away.
Ideally, you would be able to rub kuyang oil on your money and watch it magically return to you after making your purchase.
3. Leyak in Bali, Indonesia
Similar to Kuyang, leyak are humans practicing black magic.
Interestingly, they have a mistress or a queen, a witch named Rangda.
They say leyak haunt graveyards, feed on corpses, and have the power to change themselves into animals.
In daylight, they are like ordinary humans but at night their heads break loose from their bodies.
Unlike balan-balan which is known to be only females, it is believed that three leyak – typically composed of two females and one male – float around together terrifying people.
4. Krasue in Thailand
Krasue is believed to be an entity consisting of a floating head and a will-o’-the-wisp.
However, the origin story for Krasue is more romantic than might be expected.
According to one version of the legends, a certain Khmer princess had a forbidden love affair with a younger man of lower status.
As with all forbidden love stories, she was caught with her lover and condemned to death by burning by the Siamese aristocrats.
The princess managed to implore the help of a sorceress before her sentence, asking her body to be unharmed by the fire.
But the spell came too late and the only parts that remained untouched by the fire were her head and some of her internal organs. She was then cursed to live as a Krasue ghost.
The 2019 Thai film Inhuman Kiss is inspired by Krasue. It follows the story of a Krasue in 1940s Thailand who lives a normal life as a woman during the day but whose head detaches from her body at night to seek out fresh blood.
5. Phi Kasu in Laos
A Phi Kasu is a woman who separates her head from her body, taking her inner organs and flying around to look for victims.
She uses her long tongue to suck out her victim’s organs.
Although it is possible to harm a Phi Kasu, traditional beliefs hold that she is ultimately invincible and cannot be killed.
6. Nukekubi, Japan
In the land of the rising sun, rokurokubi is a type of Japanese apparition.
There are two types of rokurokubi; one with a long, stretchable neck, while another is like the balan-balan whose head comes off and flies around called nukekubi.
How do you kill a nukekubi? According to traditional tales, the simplest method is to move its headless body to another location. When the head returns and cannot find the body to reattach itself to, the creature is destroyed.
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