Ghoul (Arabic: الغول, al-ghūl, French: goule) is a monster or demon appearing in Arabian mythology, dwelling in deserts, graveyards, and other desolate places. In Islamic mythology, ghouls disguise themselves as beautiful women, lure travelers to them, and consume them. Many Western horror writers have also written about ghouls. In Western tales, the creatures are said to plunder graves, but this vice is absent from Arabian ghouls. A recurring theme in Western descriptions is the nocturnal orgies of male ghouls and wicked human women. Other terms used in translations of horror literature include corpse-eater, ghost, devil, and grave demon.
Etymology
The Arabic word ghūl is masculine, and its feminine counterpart is ghūlah. The name may vary slightly in different sources. In some sources, only the male figure is called ghūl, while the female ones are referred to as silat. In others, the female ones are called silat and the male ones are called kutrub. Sometimes, silat is a separate character, distinguished from ghouls by its inability to change shape.
The etymology of ghūl has been proposed to be the Arabic word meaning “to seize.” On the other hand, the word may be a derivation from Mesopotamian mythology’s gallu demons, who seized the living and took them to the underworld. The word ghūl may also refer to a sudden unfortunate event in general or, as an adjective, to the vagueness of something’s form.
Middle Eastern Mythology
Before Islam
Possibly, the Arabs adopted ghūl mythology from Mesopotamia, which actively traded with the nomads of the Arabian Peninsula. In ancient times, Mesopotamia was more technologically advanced than Arabia, and inventions and words were borrowed in both directions. The Sumerian and Akkadian gallu was a demon living in the underworld who abducted the god Tammuz and took him to the realm of the dead.
Ghouls already appear in pre-Islamic Arabic poetry, such as in the texts of Taʾabbaṭa Sharran. Different demons had their own habitats: mârid lived on islands, ghūl in the desert, hâmah was a flying serpent, and si‘lwah haunted latrines and garbage dumps. According to folklore recorded in the 13th century, devils tried to eavesdrop on heaven, so God hurled meteors at them. Some devils burned to death, some fell into the sea, and some fell to the earth. Those who fell into the sea turned into crocodiles, and those who fell to the earth turned into ghouls. Such origin stories are absent from Islamic mythology.
Ghouls in Islam
In Islamic mythology, ghouls are considered evil djinn, or spirits, and descendants of Iblis. In the earliest stories, ghouls were always female. They lurk in the desert and are capable of shape-shifting. Besides deserts, ghouls also frequent graveyards and other desolate places. Often, ghouls disguise themselves as beautiful women to lure travelers to their demise and consume them. However, ghouls can be identified by their feet, which are always hooves resembling those of a donkey, regardless of the form they assume. Al-Jahiz, in his work “Hayawan,” mentions ghouls riding rabbits, dogs, or ostriches. A ghoul must be killed with a single blow, as a second strike will bring it back to life. Therefore, it tries to provoke its opponent into striking twice. On the other hand, al-Masudi writes in his work “Muruj” that ghouls flee immediately if seriously challenged. Both Al-Jahiz and al-Masudi, as Mutazilites, were skeptical about its existence. Al-Jahiz argues it to be a mythical creature, an exaggeration by poets, while al-Masudi regards it as some sort of deformed animal lurking in the deserts. Al-Zamakhshari shares the latter view.
The term “ghoul” does not appear in the Quran, but references to it are found in the hadiths. According to the hadiths, the Prophet Muhammad mentioned ghouls several times and advised praying to God to protect people from their malicious pranks. Ghouls are said to torment people by spoiling their food and frightening travelers in the wilderness. Since ghouls hate the name of God, they can be driven away by reciting verses from the Quran aloud or by praying. However, Muhammad is also said to have denied the existence of ghouls. Muslim scholars disagree on the reliability of these hadiths. Some commentators argue that Muhammad only denied the shape-shifting ability of ghouls in the hadith. Others suggest that Muhammad meant there were no longer any ghouls. According to this interpretation, God created ghouls but later decided to destroy them to spare humanity from their wickedness.
Caliph Umar ibn al-Khattab is said to have killed a ghoul while traveling in Syria. The ghoul approached Umar to inquire about his destination, to which Umar replied that it was none of the ghoul’s concern. The ghoul attempted to frighten Umar by turning its head in a full circle, at which point Umar struck it with his sword between the neck and shoulder. Later, he returned to the site of the killing and found the body gone. Similarly, Muhammad’s companion Arqam ibn Abi’l-Arqam reportedly encountered a female ghoul carrying a kidnapped boy on her back. Similar stories of trolls kidnapping children are told in various parts of the world.
Ghouls appear in several tales of One Thousand and One Nights. In these stories, the term “ghoul” could refer not only to a demon but also to a human who indulges in cannibalism. In some versions, ghouls disguise themselves as fellow travelers in the desert. According to Charles Montagu Doughty, who traveled in the Arabian Peninsula in the 19th century, ghouls lured wanderers in the desert by mimicking the voices of their mothers and sisters. In its true form, the creature is ugly and terrifying: it has donkey hooves, a cat’s mouth, and a hairy body. In some tales, a ghoul has only half a body, with the other half invisible. The concept of a “half-human” being is a common theme in folklore, both within and outside Arabia.
In Arabian folklore, ghouls are sometimes associated with hyenas; both were said to lure victims to their dens if they couldn’t find carrion to eat. A creature resembling a hyena reportedly harassed a donkey belonging to the Meccans in 1667. The men tracked the creature, which fled into a nearby house, where it injured a woman. Eventually, the men caught and killed the creature. Since they didn’t recognize the animal, they called it a ghoul.
In North Africa, ghoul stories merged with Berber folklore, which featured various supernatural beings.
Today
Among the uneducated population of Arab countries, especially among the elderly, belief in ghouls remains widespread. They are also popular figures in fairy tales used to scare disobedient children. In contemporary narratives, ghouls generally refer to cannibals, who can be either humans or demonic. Many Arab writers have used this theme, with the most famous being Palestinian Emile Habibi in his work “Khurāfiyyat Sarāyā Bint al-Ghūl” (1991, English: “Saraya, the Ogre’s Daughter”). Many works on ghouls are based on old Arabian storytelling traditions.
In the West
According to Antoine Galland (1646–1715), who translated the tales of One Thousand and One Nights into French, ghouls are male monsters who enjoy hunting and sometimes dig up graves in search of edible corpses. Galland created the character Amina, a female figure who disregards her newlywed husband’s embrace and sneaks out at night to enjoy the company of ghouls in the graveyard. Amina does not appear in the original Arabic text. Galland’s invention also includes ghouls’ tendency for grave robbing, which apparently stems from an association with hyenas. In old English versions, ghouls were sometimes translated as “ogress.”
Ghouls eventually made their way into European storytelling traditions. They were said to plunder graves and consume bodies and children. Unlike in the Islamic world, European ghouls did not have a fixed character. However, they retained their shapeshifting abilities and lured travelers astray by lighting fires in the night. Ghouls were said to ride on dogs or rabbits.
In English literature, ghouls first appeared in 1786 with the novel “Vathek” by William Beckford, translated by Samuel Henley. In the story, ghouls reside in graveyards and engage in orgies with women practicing black magic. Perhaps the most famous Western writer to explore ghouls was Edgar Allan Poe (1809–1849), who described the creature as “neither man nor woman, not human nor beast.” H. P. Lovecraft (1890–1937) wrote horror stories inspired by One Thousand and One Nights and “Vathek,” in which ghouls are dog-like creatures that secretly swap their offspring with human infants. In the Cthulhu mythos, excessive cannibalism can gradually transform a human into a ghoul. Similarly, spending time with ghouls exposes one to the risk of transformation.
Ghouls are not particularly common in modern Western entertainment, although they have occasionally appeared in horror movies. Like vampires, ghouls in horror films are undead humans who resemble zombies in many ways. Unlike vampires, ghouls do not need blood to survive but rather human flesh. Well-known horror films influenced by ghouls include George A. Romero’s “Night of the Living Dead” (1968) and Umberto Lenzi’s “Nightmare City” (1980). Subsequently, the theme gained popularity in the role-playing game “Vampire: The Masquerade” (1991), where players take on the roles of vampires and other undead. In the game world, ghouls are humans with a bit of vampire blood but not enough to turn them into vampires completely. Ghouls serve the true vampires, but unlike them, they can move around during the day.
Medical Explanation
The folk tradition of ghouls may have originated from common scavenging animals that dig shallow graves in search of food. Additionally, real cases of grave robbery may have contributed to stories of monsters defiling corpses.
According to Ahmed Al-Rawi (2009), the appearance of ghouls may be based on real deformities in children, the likelihood of which is increased by the unhealthy conditions of the desert for pregnant women and the common cousin marriages among Arabs. For example, the cat’s mouth may stem from real cases of cleft palate. The donkey hooves may be linked to a condition called syndactyly, where fingers and toes are partially fused. Similarly, the alleged hairiness of ghouls may be due to a real developmental disorder. Due to superstition, mothers may have abandoned their deformed children in the desert. Al-Rawi points out that some Arabian stories include tales of marriage between a human man and a demon woman, suggesting that the background of ghoul stories may involve deformed individuals who were forced to live in the desert due to prejudice.
François Bertrandia was sometimes called the “Paris Ghoul.” He was a sergeant in the French army who was convicted of desecrating graves in 1849. Bertrandia had a compulsive need to mutilate, dismember, and gnaw on corpses. He also engaged in sexual acts with them and was the first person described by psychiatrists as a necrophiliac.
Algol
The name Algol comes from the Arabic name raʾs al-ghūl, meaning “demon’s head.” The star’s name refers to demons in many other languages as well, likely due to its changes in brightness.
Modern Depictions
Literature
Ghouls often appear as corpse-eating demons in horror or spooky pulp novels, where they are usually described as slimy and emitting a stench of decay. Series like Ghost Hunter John Sinclair or Professor Zamorra depict battles against Ghouls in many novels. The original motif can be heavily altered; sometimes the word is used without reference to history for non-human beings.
- Ghouls also play a significant role in Dennis L. McKiernan’s book series. There, they are described as pale beings of human size, with hollow eyes and cracked lips. In Terry Pratchett’s Discworld novels, Ghouls (sometimes also referred to as “Gule”) are described as nearly extinct. Like many other mythological creatures, they are largely integrated into society but not very popular.
- Wolfgang Hohlbein incorporates the motif of Ghouls in his novels “Anubis” and “Underland,” among others.
- In Joanne K. Rowling’s Harry Potter novels, a Ghoul appears, inhabiting the attic of the Weasley family. In the 7th book, Ronald Weasley uses the Ghoul to his advantage, dressing it in Ron’s old pajamas and pretending it is “Ronald with a severe illness” (spattergroit, highly contagious), while Ron himself is actually on the run with Harry Potter and Hermione Granger.
- The manga and anime “Tokyo Ghoul” also deal with man-eating monsters. There, they form their own society and usually disguise themselves as humans. They murder humans partly for fun and partly to survive. Additionally, the Ghouls there possess superhuman abilities and a sense of taste that makes most foods taste spoiled. They can only feed on human flesh and Ghoul flesh.
- Ghouls also appear in Jeaniene Frost’s book series (The Night Huntress Series). There, they are related to vampires in the way they are created.
- In the fourth book of T.A. Barron’s Merlin Saga, Ghouls are described as eerie moor spirits that haunt the area and cause mischief. However, when the young wizard Merlin helps them, they repay him by also assisting him.
- Karl Edward Wagner mentions Ghouls in his novel “Mistress of the Shadows.”
- In his novel “Ghoul Trouble,” John Passarella depicts Buffy fighting four Ghoul girls who bewitch men.
- In the book “Ghoul” by American author Brian Keene, a Ghoul plays a central role.
Video Games
In video games, Ghoul is occasionally used as a designation, which here too is often detached from the historical context.
- In the real-time strategy game Warcraft 3, an undead combat and labor unit is called Ghoul, which quickly regenerates hit points by consuming corpses. It also appears in the online role-playing game World of Warcraft, as well as in the online collectible card game Hearthstone.
- In the Fallout series, set after a nuclear world war, Ghouls appear as either normal humans mutated by radioactive radiation or as man-eating beasts.
- In the game Dark Messiah of Might and Magic, Ghouls appear as prisoners between life and death and as outcasts from the circle of rebirth, being humans who have been transformed into Ghouls.
- In the games Risen and Risen 2: Dark Waters, Ghouls are black, goblin-like creatures that consume the player’s corpse upon their death.
Role-Playing Games
- In fantasy role-playing games, Ghouls also frequently appear as adversaries to overcome and usually share the characteristic of feeding on corpses. However, their specific attributes can vary greatly here as well.
- For example, in the pen-and-paper role-playing game Vampire: The Masquerade, Ghouls are normal humans who receive their vampire masters’ blood to drink once a month. This consumption makes them stronger, heals wounds, and stops aging, but it also leads to addiction. If the supply of vampire blood is cut off, natural aging catches up, meaning that for centuries-old Ghouls, they crumble to dust.
- Similar types of Ghouls can also be found in other role-playing games, such as in The Witcher, where they also appear as corpse-eating monsters, with several subspecies.
Film and TV Series
- In movies, the term Ghoul is often used for revived dead – undead – including primarily zombies and vampires. In the British film “The Ghoul” from 1933, the revenant portrayed by Boris Karloff is referred to as the titular Ghoul. This is the first use of the term in a feature film.
- Film director Ed Wood made several films about the mythical creature, including “Plan 9 from Outer Space” and “Night of the Ghouls.” The film tetralogy “Ghoulies I–IV” (USA 1983–1994) achieved a certain cult status.
- In the movie “Night of the Living Dead” from 1968, the term Ghoul is used in the English original version, never zombies. George A. Romero had not intended to portray zombies.
- In the Netflix miniseries “Ghoul” released in 2018, the titular monster appears as a murderous shapeshifter that can be summoned with human blood.
- In “Supernatural” (Season 4/Episode 19), Ghouls appear as corpse-eaters. In the series, they can take on the form of their victims and maintain familial relationships among themselves.
Music
- In 1989, Morbid Angel addressed the theme with the song “Chapel of Ghouls” on their debut album “Altars of Madness.”
- In the song “Ghuleh / Zombie Queen” by the band Ghost, a female Ghoul, who transforms into a graceful figure in the moonlight, plays the lead role.
- In Alice Cooper’s 2011 album “Welcome 2 My Nightmare,” the song “Ghouls Gone Wild” tells of rampaging Ghouls.
- The masked and anonymous members of the band Ghost are each listed as “A Nameless Ghoul.”
- The Dutch symphonic black metal band Carach Angren addresses the theme on their 2020 album “Franckensteina Strataemontanus” in the song “Scourged Ghoul Undead.”
