Churail

ghost · Pakistan · South Asia

The churail (also churel or chudail) is a feared female revenant of South Asian folklore — Pakistan, India, Bangladesh and Nepal — the spirit of a woman who died in childbirth or an unnatural death. She haunts peepul trees, crossroads, cremation grounds and wells, appearing as a beautiful young woman in white whose feet are often turned backward, to seduce and destroy men, especially male kin.

Open in the interactive archive →