ghoul

A DEMON in Islamic lore who feeds on the fl esh of human beings, especially travelers, children or corpses stolen out of graves. The name comes from the Arabic terms ghul (masculine) and ghula (feminine). Ghouls are nocturnal creatures who inhabit graveyards, ruins and other lonely places. Sometimes they are described 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 lamiae and Lilith night terror demons. In classical myth ology, lamiae are monsters who feed on the fl esh and blood of the young. Lilith, traditionally the fi rst wife of Adam, is the wife of the Devil, whose children are the djinn demons. In Islamic lore, there are several varieties of ghouls, but the most feared is a female type that has the ability to appear as a normal, fl esh-and-blood woman. Such a crea- ture marries an unsuspecting man, who becomes her prey.