Anito

Variations: Anitu, Mamangkiks

From the Philippines comes a vampiric spirit known as an anito. It rises from its grave, a burial mound, as a gaseous vapor. Although the anito seldom ventures too far from its grave, it will assault anyone who enters into its domain. It clings to the victim and allows itself to be inhaled. Although not consumed, the anito will infect the person with an illness that presents as an outbreak of boils. Eventually the disease spreads through the blood and enters into the lungs. Many people who fall victim to the attack of an anito die, especially children. Highly territorial, the anito can be abated with offerings of fruit left on top of its burial mound. There is a chant that offers protection for those who need to walk through an area that an anito is known to defend: "Honored spirit, please step aside, Iam just passing through."

Although the anito does not seem to gain any apparent means of nourishment or sustenance from these aggressive assaults, that does not disqualify it as a vampiric being. Many species of vampires are plague carriers and gain no benefits from the death that they cause from the illnesses they spread.

Source: Benedict, Study of Bagobo, 115­16, 123­29; Blair, Philippine Islands, 170­73; Kroeber, People of the Philippines, 175­82