Ghoul, << gool, >> is a supernatural creature that craves human remains. They are often believed to inhabit graveyards and other deserted places. Ghouls are often portrayed as monsters similar to zombies. According to folklore, the skin of a ghoul may be gray or pale. Its flesh may appear hairless, rubbery, or scaly. Ghouls walk slumped over, but they often scramble and crawl on all fours due to their sly nature and tendency to occupy cramped tunnels and tombs.
Ghouls have roots in Arabic folk belief since pre-Islamic times. Folklore scholars believe that ghouls originated in the Middle East and were brought to Europe with the translation of the Arabian Nights into French and then English in the 1700’s and 1800’s. Once translated, ghouls began to haunt graveyards in literary works from the poetry of Lord Byron and Edgar Allan Poe to contemporary works of horror and fantasy.
Ghouls are sometimes depicted as shape shifters, but mostly they are thought to be ugly, stupid, and dangerous. Shape shifters can change between their human shape and another form. For example, a ghoul may appear in the guise of a beautiful woman to attract men. They use this trick to deceive humans and lure them to their deaths. Some Arabic tales describe them as having the power to demonically possess humans and are sometimes considered the offspring of Iblis, the Islamic satan. However, they can be tricked into giving the leading character magical aid. Ghouls are also excessively devoted to their families. One way to safely approach a ghoul in Palestinian folktales, for example, is to not reveal one’s presence until the ghoul has sworn on Allah to regard the human as a family member. Sunlight and readings from the Qur’ān, the holy book of Islam, are also harmful to ghouls. Ghouls also appear as characters in more modern folktales. In these, ghouls are often dangerous because they eat people.
Modern depictions of ghouls range from the relatively kind creatures in J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter books to the undead flesh-eaters found in role-playing games such as Pathfinder. Sometimes ghouls are shown alone. In other instances they communally occupy underground cities, as in Neil Gaiman’s The Graveyard Book. Whether a ghoul is its own supernatural race or something humans can become also varies. For example, the role-playing game Vampire: The Masquerade defines a ghoul as a human who has become bound to a vampire by drinking its blood.
In literature and popular culture, ghouls may represent exaggerated human desires, such as hunger so excessive that it becomes destructive.
