As a husband passes by the place where his pregnant wife was brutally murdered, her ghost appears and hands their child to him. She then tells him the story of her murder and assists him as he takes revenge for her death. Utagawa Kuniyoshi 1845
Inmythology and folklore, a vengeful ghostorvengeful spirit is said to be the spirit of a dead person who returns from the afterlife to seek revenge for a cruel, unnatural or unjust death. In certain cultures where funeral and burialorcremationceremonies are important, such vengeful spirits may also be considered as unhappy ghosts of individuals who have not been given a proper funeral.[1]
The concept of a vengeful ghost seeking retribution for harm that it endured as a living person goes back to ancient times and is part of many cultures. According to such legends and beliefs, they roam the world of the living as restless spirits, seeking to have their grievances redressed, and may not be satisfied until they have succeeded in punishing either their murderers or their tormentors.[2]
In certain cultures vengeful ghosts are mostly female, said to be women that were unjustly treated during their lifetime. Such women or girls may have died in despair or the suffering they endured may have resulted in early death caused by the ill-treatmentortorture they were subject to.[3][4]
Exorcisms and appeasement are among the religious and social customs practiced by various cultures in relation to the vengeful ghost. The northern Aché people group in Paraguaycremated old people thought to harbor dangerous vengeful spirits instead of giving them a customary burial.[5] In cases where the person has been killed and the body disposed of unceremoniously, the cadaver may be exhumed and reburied according to the proper funerary rituals in order to appease the spirit. Another option is to salt and burn their remains(bones).
LemuresinRoman mythology are the wandering and vengeful spirits of those not afforded proper burial, funeral rites or affectionate cult by the living.[6]
The Green Lady, a restless female spirit said to haunt certain locations in Scotland such as Crathes Castle, Knock Castle (Isle of Skye) and Ashintully Castle. In some tales she was murdered in a green dress, and then stuffed unceremoniously up the chimney by a servant. It is said that her footsteps can still be heard as she walks the castle in sadness.[8]
Onryō, a generic name in Japanese folklore for ghosts (yūrei) who come back from purgatory for a wrong done to them during their lifetime. Onryō are mostly women and often manifest themselves in physical rather than spectral form.
Funayūrei (船幽霊or舟幽霊, lit. "boat spirit"), ghosts that have become vengeful spirits at sea. They are mentioned in the folklore of various areas of Japan.
Kuchisake-onna, the vengeful ghost of a woman mutilated by her husband
Dama Branca, also known as Mulher de Branco, meaning 'Woman in White' in Portuguese, is the ghost of a young woman who died of childbirth or violent causes in Brazilian mythology.[16]
Corpo-Seco ('Dried Corpse'), is the ghost of a man who was so evil when alive his soul was rejected by God and the Devil and so was cursed to haunt the living as a undead corpse in Brazilian mythology.[17]
La Llorona, also known as 'the Weeping Woman'; can be a female spirit from Mexico who drowned her own children because her husband cheated on her with another woman and subsequently left her.
La Sayona, a female spirit who believed her husband had an affair with her mother in Venezuela and Colombia
Patasola, a female spirit from South America that appears as a beautiful woman. She attracts men and lures them to the depths of the rainforest, where she turns into a beast and devours the man.
The Silbón, a young man who killed his father after the father would rape the youth's wife. His grandfather then cursed him to roam the Earth forever with his father's bones, so the youth's ghost kills people if they act like either of the men who hurt him, mostly womanizers and drunks.
Tulevieja a female spirit of Costa Rica who punishing lustful men and irresponsible fathers.
Dambir ow, in the mythology of the Asmat people of western New Guinea, are ghosts of women who die in labor. Anthropologist Jan Pouwer writes that they have "frightening looks, a sharp nose, sharp teeth, long nails, and eyes as red as their hair. They take revenge on men by carrying them to the underworld, where they torture them to death with thorns."[18]
Phi Tai Thang Klom (ผีตายทั้งกลม), also known as Phi Tai Thong Klom (ผีตายท้องกลม), a Thai ghost, is the wrathful spirit of a pregnant woman who committed suicide after being subsequently betrayed and abandoned by her lover.[20]
Sundel bolong, in Indonesian mythology, is the ghost of a woman who died when she was pregnant and gave birth in her grave so that the baby came out from her back, where she has a large wound.[21]
Wewe Gombel, a female ghost in Indonesian mythology. It is said that she kidnaps children.[22]
^Janet Chawla (1994). Child-bearing and culture: women centered revisioning of the traditional midwife : the dai as a ritual practitioner. Indian Social Institute. p. 15.
^Cheung, Theresa (2006). The Element Encyclopedia of the Psychic World. Harper Element. p. 112. ISBN978-0-00-721148-7.
^Fane, Hannah (1975). "The Female Element in Indian Culture". Asian Folklore Studies. 34 (1): 100. doi:10.2307/1177740. JSTOR1177740.
^Bane, Theresa (2010). "Chedipe". Encyclopedia of Vampire Mythology. McFarland. pp. 47–8. ISBN978-0-7864-4452-6.
^Iwasaka, Michiko and Toelken, Barre. Ghosts and the Japanese: Cultural Experiences in Japanese Death Legends, Utah State University Press, 1994. ISBN0-87421-179-4
