A shape-shifting creature from Filipino folklore. In the stories, it looks like an ordinary person by day and changes into an animal, like a big black dog, a pig or a bird, at night.

What does aswang mean in English?

There is no exact English word. Aswang is the Filipino name for this shape-shifter, and Filipinos also use it as a catch-all word for spooky night creatures.

How do you pronounce aswang?

ahs-WAHNG, with the stress on the second syllable.

What does an aswang look like?

By day, like anyone else. At night, in the stories, it becomes a big dark animal, often a shaggy black dog with glowing eyes.

What is the aswang afraid of?

Garlic, salt and the dawn. Some stories add a stingray's tail, called buntot pagi, and holy water.

No. The aswang is a character from Filipino folklore, told for generations, often to make kids come home before dark.

Aswang

ahs-WAHNG

The aswang is a shape-shifter from Filipino folklore who looks like an ordinary neighbor by day and turns into a big black dog, pig or bird at night.

Shape-shifterSpookiness

Lola's story

When I was a girl in Manila, every grown-up had an aswang story. "Uwi na bago dumilim," my Lola would say. Come home before dark. "Why?" I asked. "Because of the aswang," she said, as if that explained everything.

Her story went like this. In the daytime, the aswang looks like anybody: the quiet man who sells bread, the lady who never comes out of her house. But at night, it turns into a big black dog with yellow eyes, and it sniffs along the fences looking for an open window.

"What does it do when it finds one?" I whispered.

"It never finds ours," said my Lola, "because our window smells of bawang." And she hung a braid of garlic by the kitchen window, right where I could see it.

I wasn't scared for long. A dog that can't stand garlic is not so fierce, is it? Now, when Chun hears a dog barking late at night in Queens, he asks me if it's an aswang. "Maybe," I tell him. "Good thing we're having garlic rice."

What people say

The aswang is the most famous creature in Philippine folklore, and every region tells it a little differently. In the Visayas, especially the province of Capiz, aswang stories are the most famous of all. People say an aswang looks like an ordinary neighbor by day and changes into an animal at night: a big dog, a black pig, a cat or a large bird. Some say you can spot one because your reflection looks upside down in its eyes.

Over time, aswang also became a word for almost any spooky night creature, so the manananggal and the tik-tik bird are sometimes called aswang too. Folklorist Maximo D. Ramos spent years collecting these stories and showed how many different creatures share the name.

How to stay safe

Garlic and salt, the old stories say, by the door and the window. Some families keep a dried stingray tail, called buntot pagi, too. And the best rule of all, from every Lola: come home before dark.

Tagalog words and how to say them

Tagalog	Say it	Means
bawangBAH-wahng	BAH-wahng	garlic
asinAH-sin	AH-sin	salt
asoAH-soh	AH-soh	dog
gabigah-BEE	gah-BEE	night

Questions people ask about the aswang

What is an aswang?: A shape-shifting creature from Filipino folklore. In the stories, it looks like an ordinary person by day and changes into an animal, like a big black dog, a pig or a bird, at night.
What does aswang mean in English?: There is no exact English word. Aswang is the Filipino name for this shape-shifter, and Filipinos also use it as a catch-all word for spooky night creatures.
How do you pronounce aswang?: ahs-WAHNG, with the stress on the second syllable.
What does an aswang look like?: By day, like anyone else. At night, in the stories, it becomes a big dark animal, often a shaggy black dog with glowing eyes.
What is the aswang afraid of?: Garlic, salt and the dawn. Some stories add a stingray's tail, called buntot pagi, and holy water.
Is the aswang real?: No. The aswang is a character from Filipino folklore, told for generations, often to make kids come home before dark.

More creatures

Shape-shifterManananggalThe manananggal is a Filipino folklore creature who, at night, leaves her legs behind and flies off on bat wings.Spooky

House and nature spiritTikbalangThe tikbalang is a very tall trickster from Filipino folklore with the head of a horse, who likes to lead travelers in circles until they're lost.Spooky

Strange animalSigbinThe sigbin is a strange little animal from Visayan folklore that looks like a hornless goat with giant ears and walks backward with its head between its hind legs.Spooky

Sources

Maximo D. Ramos, The Aswang Complex in Philippine Folklore (1990)
Maximo D. Ramos, Creatures of Philippine Lower Mythology (1971)
The Aswang Project