Ghoul
A demon in Islamic lore who feeds on the flesh of human beings, especially
travelers, children, or corpses stolen out of graves. Ghouls are nocturnal
creatures who inhabit graveyards, ruins, and other lonely places. Sometimes
they are desribed as dead humans who sleep for long periods in secret graves,
then awake, rise, and feast on both the living and the dead. Ghouls also
personify the unknown terrors held by the desert, and may be compared
to the lamia and Lilith night terror demons. In classical mythology, lamia
are monsters who feed on the flesh and blood of the young. Lilith,
traditionally the first wife of Adam, is the wife of the Devil, whose
children are the djinn demons.
In Islamic lore, there are several varities of ghouls, but the most feared
is a female type that has the ability to appear as a norma, flesh-and-blood
woman. Such a creature marries an unsuspecting man, who becomes her prey.
