The Tape Library - Archive of the Paranormal & the Unexplained - Aswang: Vampires, Curses & The CIA | A True Filipino Horror Story

Episode Date: August 23, 2024

Delve into the world of the Aswang with this true Filipino horror story. From vampires to curses to the involvement of the CIA, this tale will send shivers down your spine. Join me as we delve into the world of Filipino folklore, covering encounters with Aswang, the Manananggal and the urban legend of Maria Labo. This episode was made possible by the resources collected by https://www.aswangproject.com/ Support the channel with Patreon - www.patreon.com/thetapelibrary Do you have a supernatural story to share? Drop me an email at [e-mail] You can check out The Tape Library in audio form on all of your favourite podcast providers. Main Sources for this episode - The Resurrection Mary Files + The Ghosts of Chicago by Adam Selzer Unsolved Mysteries - https://youtu.be/zesNBbcmCEE Astonishing Legends - https://youtu.be/My0Y2jI-ZzI The Hauntings of Chicago - https://youtu.be/y3C4Beq3ywE Tiktok - https://www.tiktok.com/@thetapelibrary Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/people/The-Tape-Library/100094332411836/ Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/thetapelibrary Archive of the Paranormal, the strange and the unexplained. The Tape Library brings you the creepiest stories, to keep you horror junkies up all night. True scary stories of ghosts, cryptids, UFOs and true crime. Additional footage and audio from Evanto, Singularity, Midjourney and Pexels. Music by Karl Casey @ White Bat Audio and the youtube audio library.  All other footage used under fair use. CHAPTERS 00:00 The Legend of Maria Labo 05:43 Welcome to The Tape Library 06:18 Devils Kill Devils 08:10 What is the Aswang? 10:11 Aswang Encounter 12:59 The Forms of the Aswang 18:49 Aswang Encounter 20:53 Control 26:59 Wrapping Up Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

There was once a Filipino woman named Maria. The details of her story tend to change based on who is telling her tale, but the basic factors tend to remain the same, so I will do my best to tell her story here, as it was told to me. Maria lived in a modest home with her husband and two children. While her husband worked as a policeman, it wasn't enough to keep the family sustained. Times were tough, money worries were wrong, a common occurrence, Maria's husband would often return home to find no food on the table

because there wasn't a crumb in the house. Maria was offered the opportunity to go and work overseas, a fairly common practice for many Filipinos. They would be offered the opportunity to work in another country, often in the Middle East for a limited time to make money. It is said that Maria traveled to Kuwait, leaving her family behind to become a domestic helper in the home of a wealthier family but Maria was treated poorly abused by her new employers Maria often confided in a friend of hers who was also working in the area her time there was hard but she knew it was only for a short while and her family needed this money so she continued to grit her teeth and put up with it for them that was until a group of men sexually

assaulted Maria it was a brutal attack that left Maria hospitalized and unconscious. Her friend came to visit her in the hospital the first chance she got, finding Maria battered and bruised beyond recognition. But the friend had a way to help her. Or at least she thought it would help her. That night as Maria lay unconscious in her hospital bed, her friend passed something on to Maria. A sort of power. If she understood what exactly that gift she was given Maria was, is unclear. Over the next few weeks, Maria recovered in the hospital before being sent back to the Philippines when she was ready. She was greeted with open arms by her husband, who was obviously distraught about what his wife had been through,

but even from that initial hug he knew something was different. The Maria that returned home that day was a shell of her former self, completely mentally ruined, ruined by the events that are taken place, or so the husband fought at least. He used it to explain her way her increase in the odd behaviour over the coming weeks, but he did worry it would be harder for the children to accept and understand. This woman who stood in their home now barely felt like the mother that had left them months before. Then one day he returned home to the smell of cooked meat. He entered and found Maria plating up food for him.

The table set and ready for a family meal. This was the first time a sense of normality had returned to their lives since Maria came back. He didn't ask any questions. He embraced it, taking his seat at the table as his wife rushed around preparing the food. She placed the plate in front of him and told him to eat. He did. Maria sat at the other end of the table. of a plate of her own, watching her husband closely, in between taking bites herself.

Suddenly it dawned on the husband that the kids weren't there, so he called out to them to come for dinner, but there was no response. He called again, silence. He asked Maria if she would get the children, to which she responded with a crooked grin. A grin that was a grinned that was a grin that would haunt the husband for the rest of his days. She simply gestured towards the pot, where the rest of the stewed meat was, boiling hot still in its broth. The husband looked inside the pot and was then hit with the sudden realization of what had happened. Maria had killed their children, Maria had cooked their children, and now he was eating them. In a blind rage, the husband grabbed a large knife and lunged at Maria. In the struggle the knife slashed at Maria's face,

causing a large gash, but remarkably this didn't seem to stop her, and instead she managed to escape from her husband, blood pouring from her face as she rushed out into the night and vanished. Maria was never found by her husband or the authorities. They called her Maria Labo now. Lavoy being the word for a large knife, referring to the horrendous scar that covers her face. But she isn't gone. People still talk about her in hush whispers, and it is said that she now stalks through Viseus,

stalking people in the night and eating them whenever she can. Of course, Maria would have no idea where these sudden impulses came from, but it's likely her friend in Kuwait did. because she, very likely, had been suffering from those same impulses. This believed that while Maria was unconscious in the hospital, that friend had turned her into an asswang. Welcome to the tape library. I have something of a bad habit which I think many of us who talk about these topics do,

of mostly covering stories from the West. It's obviously much easier to source the information and there's a fair bit of base knowledge there that makes them simpler to write about. So when this idea came up on my radar, I was really excited to get into it. Tonight we're going to be talking about some Filipino folklore, some of the terrifying stories related to it, and how superstition has been used to influence some very real world events. Before we get back into it though, What if you had a guardian angel, one you've trusted since you were a child,

who has saved your life several times, One you've had complete faith in, until they did something too horrible to be believed, even know you witnessed it. What if your guardian angel killed someone you loved? In Devils Kill Devils, the second novel by horror author Johnny Compton, a young woman named Sarita finds her faith destroyed when her guardian angel beats her husband to death on her wedding night. Devastated yet determined, Sarita has to find out why.

this has happened and whether anyone else she cares about is in danger because unholy forces are seeking her and she will soon discover that her supernatural protector was only saving her from death because a darker fate awaited. Devils Kill Devils is available for pre-order now and will be in bookstores everywhere on September 24th, 204th. Click the link in the description or visit Devilskilleddevils.com to reserve your copy with your favorite bookseller today and find out the answer to the final question what if your guardian angel was a devil in disguise as i've said many times at this point i'm really picky about doing ad reads but i was really excited when a fan of the tape library who just so happens to be a horror author got in touch about a possible sponsorship so please

do check out devils kill devils if you're interested and thank you so much to author johnny compton for supporting this episode so it's time to get into some folklore my friends Get yourself a warm drink, dim the lights and get comfortable. It's time to explore the Aswan. A tale of vampires, curses and the CIA. Even really explaining what an Aswang is can be a little tricky. Often it's referred to by people outside the Philippines as a sort of vampire-like creature. Although this isn't really true, there are some similarities.

It is a creature that haunts the imagination of men. the imagination of many in that part of the world, although for many isn't seen as a simple piece of folklore and instead a very real threat. The aswang is a shape-shifter. There appears to be some debate on if there are multiple types of aswang or a singular creature that can morph into different appearances, but we'll get into that a little later. They are often said to live in forests or cemeteries. They have been known to take up residents closer to more populated areas. with tales of people being attacked in their homes by an aswan, or waking up, hearing strange noises at their window, to find some form of aswan looking in at them. The main thing you should know about them is their diet.

Humans. It has a particular love of blood and livers, and will more often than not target children, or even suck the unborn babies out of pregnant mothers. It doesn't appear that the Aswang does this for sustenance though. The whole motive of the creature appears to be causing suffering to anyone who happens to cross its path. Its whole purpose is to cause chaos and misery. It is said by some that the curse of the Aswang runs in a family, seemingly suggesting that they were at some point people

that have been infected with the Aswang powers, almost like a form of possession. But that it can be passed on, almost like a vampire. Some believe that a asswang needs to pass on its abilities to one of their offspring before they can die. Others say the aswang can infect anyone it chooses with its abilities, much like the story of Maria from the start of the episode. Our next encounter of the asswang will demonstrate some of these elements of the legend. This incident apparently took place on the island of Negros. A woman was born to a poor farmer, one of 11 children. She was sent with two of her siblings, her younger brother and older sister at a young age to their aunt and uncles, to attend school. In exchange for the room and board, they would be forced to sell vegetables. But they were never allowed to leave their rooms at night, a rule that was strictly enforced by their aunt and uncle.

Despite this, the older sister snuck out one night to a neighbouring village to see her boyfriend. When she returned late at night, she saw her uncle, standing there in the moonlight, bent over in an unusual position, seemingly frozen to the spot. Something about his appearance disturbed her, causing chills all throughout her body. She couldn't tell what he was doing, but whatever it was, he seemed to be almost in some sort of trance. and wasn't aware that she was even there. She told her siblings the next morning, but they didn't take her seriously. On another occasion, the aunt asked them to bring in some chickens, which the children did, only for the aunt to reach into the live chicken, pull out the heart and eat it raw.

This was just one of a series of strange behaviors that the children witnessed, and they soon started to tell others about their aunt and uncle's strange behavior. An adult who heard these stories was seriously concerned for the safety of the children and got them out of the house. The following day, one of their classmates was found dead. The young girl's body had been torn open, so her internal organs were visible. It was believed by the locals that she had been the victim of an asswang attack. Just four days after this, the younger brother fell ill and died unexpectedly. The aunt soon fell ill too, and died after a battle with disease that lasted three years.

After the events reported by the children, it was believed the couple were both Aswang, and the couple were treated with suspicion and fear from the local community. They believed they had attempted to pass it on to their nephew, but this had failed and resulted in his death. Because they had no children of their own, they had no one to successfully pass it down too. The aunt's inability to pass it on. led to a long, slow, painful death. But how can you be prepared to face something like the Aswan? If you don't know what to look out for.

The Aswang is a highly versatile and feared creature in Filipino folklore, known for its ability to take on various forms to deceive and prey on humans. The Aswang often appears as an ordinary human during the day, blending into the community and leading a seemingly normal life. In this form, they are typically reclusive, quiet, and may have unusual habits that set them apart, such as avoiding eye contact or staying away from social gatherings. They are often described as pale or sickly looking. One of the most common forms Yaswang takes is that of a large black dog.

This form allows it to roam the streets at night without drawing much attention. The dog form is often described as having glowing red eyes. and moving with unnatural speed and agility. Children are often told that if they see a dog at night, they should run home in case this is the assuang. Although stray dogs are very common in the Philippines, and as some have pointed out the fact that this could just be used as a way to convince rebellious children to return home when it gets dark.

Less common but not unheard of is that the assuang made also transform into a black cat, using this smaller form to slip into homes unnoticed. It is also said to turn into a large pig-like creature, or a bird. The bird form will often make sounds like tick or whack-wack. These birds are believed to make eerie, repetitive sounds, signalling the presence of an ashrang nearby. The bird form is often used for spying or locating potential victims, particularly pregnant women from a distance.

In some stories, the Aswang has the ability to mimic the appearance and voice of a person's loved ones to lure them into a trap. This form of deception is particularly terrifying as it preys on the emotional bonds of its victims. Some accounts also suggest that the Aswang can become invisible or blend into its surroundings, making it nearly impossible to detect until it's too late. In other regions the aswang is depicted as a hybrid creature with a mix of human and animal features. For example, it might appear as a human with animalistic traits, such as claws, fangs or backward facing feet. These hybrid forms are usually a manifestation of the aswan in its most dangerous and predatory state. Then there are creatures that are said by some to be types of aswang, whereas other animals,

Others believe they are their own independent entities, such as the Manana Nagau, a creature that can detach its upper torso from its lower body. The upper body then sprouts bat-like wings and flies off to hunt for prey, usually at night. The lower half is left hidden in a secluded area. In what I think is one of the most disturbing examples of this folklore, the Manana Nagal, is particularly feared for its ability to suck the blood. of fetuses from pregnant women using its long snake-like tongue. It's easy to see why the Aswang is so feared if it can take on the form of almost anything, then every strange

interaction with a person or animal could be viewed through the lens of the Aswan. These variations in the appearance of the monster seem to complicate things even further. It feels almost as though Aswang is a term used as a catch-all for various types of monsters, within Filipino folklore. They are also oftentimes described almost like a witch, capable of placing curses on people who they feel have wronged them.

Although elsewhere, witches and Aswang appear to be two very separate beliefs. It has said that witches have been known to invite the spirits of the Aswang into them, in order to gain its power and become one. Witches that have taken on the Aswang's power are said to only be killable

if they are stabbed in the back. If not, they are still. simply able to lick their wounds to heal. This ability to heal themselves is another common trait across all forms of the aswang, although maybe the large number of variations on the aswang shouldn't be that surprising when you consider the Philippines is made up of over 7,000 islands. The variations on their cultural stories could be put down to that separation, but you could also boil down the azwang to a more simple concept that explains all variations. Auxan creature capable of shape-shifting into anything it wants, a creature that feeds on human flesh and blood,

a creature that is pure evil. As much as there is a wide range of beliefs on what the assuang actually is, there is also a wide range of ways to combat them. Everything from salt and garlic to specific oils can ward off this sinister creature. Sick people are told not to stay in rooms that have holes in the floor and to remain as quiet as possible so as not to attract an asswang. One of the strangest beliefs I came across was how to deal with one coming for an unborn baby. They are often blamed as the cause of miscarriage, and one way to counter this is for the father of the unborn baby, to crawl under the house naked and sit there waving around a sword. There seems to be a common belief that the uswan enters homes from underneath, although I did find a number

number of accounts of them being seen clawing at windows. Let's jump into another story now. This one is from Sabu and talks about one of those variations I previously mentioned, the Manana Nagal. There was apparently a family that was well known to the villagers in the area as having the blood of the Aswang running through their veins. Despite this, the daughter of the family was very beautiful and numerous men in the village were interested in her. A man eventually did marry her, despite many people warning him not to. He didn't believe such superstitious nonsense and was in love with the girl. So he went through the wedding.

The couple moved in with the girl's family straight after the wedding, and almost instantly he began to notice strange behaviour from the family. One night he walked into a room to find his now mother-in-law, on the floor on all fours. Her head bowed down for a hole in the floor. He walked away from this strange incident, looking at the clock he noticed it was midnight. That was when he saw her.

Outside through the window. She must have crawled through the hole in the floor. He couldn't believe his eyes, however, when she appeared to fly away. Disappearing off into the night sky, flapping wings as she went. It is said that when an asswang is close to death, they must pass on the curse or they will suffer greatly. The mother-in-law was aging and didn't have many years left. So the daughter, the man's new wife, took the power of the aswan from her.

The man claimed that when midnight hit, his wife would leave the house. Each day he would hear stories from the neighbouring villages about bodies being found, either dismembered or drained of their blood. I'm not sure what happened to the husband, but his story doesn't appear to have an ending that we know about. So I think we can guess what may have happened to him. Reports of the Aswang have been written about as far back as the 16th century, most Spanish explorers hearing the stories and noting that the Aswang was the most feared creature in the Filipino culture. But the tradition continues to this day, with a vast majority of the population apparently believing,

that the Aswang truly exists. Over the years, parents have killed their own children because they believed they were turning into one. Old women seem to be the most commonly accused and have been the victims of lynchings from their community. There are many examples of people being killed because people believed they were the Aswan. Or murderers who were accused of being the Aswan after their crimes, including at least one case of cannibalism that was blamed on the creature. named on the creature. Over the centuries, the islands have seen occupations from the Spanish and Americans, as well

as battling the Japanese over their lands. In many instances during this time, foreign entities have used local superstition and beliefs to assert a level of control over the population. One of the most famous instances of this actually came in the 1950s, only a decade or so after the American occupation had ended. During the early 1950s, the CIA and the Philippine government were engaged in a counter-insurgency campaign against the Huck rebels, who were active in rural areas of Luzon. The Hux were actually formed to counter the Japanese occupation at the Philippines, and had

previously worked with the Americans to counter the Japanese invasion. But in the following years, tensions grew between the Hux and the government that was being formed. The group retreated to the jungles in the mountains and began smuggling weapons in, preparing themselves for warfare. The Hucks were gaining support among the rural population and traditional military tactics were proving insufficient to quell the movement. The US was still keen on using the Philippines as a strategic site on that side of the world for the Cold War, so we're keen to try and bring this infighting to an end. The US and Philippine governments began exploring cycle. operations to undermine the morale of the rebels and their supporters.

The rebels and numerous other people were hiding out in the jungles, and the government wanted to flush out as many people out of the area as they could to make it easier for them to capture the rebel forces. Understanding the deep-rooted belief in the Azwang and other supernatural creatures within rural Filipino communities, CIA operatives devised a plan to exploit these fears. The operation involved spreading rumors and fabricating evidence to suggest that Aswan's were active in areas controlled by the hucks.

First, they would send small planes over the areas where they believed families were hiding rebels. The plane would carry a speaker that informed those below that if they didn't turn in the rebels, their families would be cursed, and it worked. Numerous rebels handed themselves in, while others informed on their way. whereabouts, so they then doubled down on this plan, coming in late at night and graffitiing large

watching eyes on buildings for the locals to discover in the morning. Then they started spreading rumours about the Aswan, heading to prominent locations where they knew rebels were hiding and essentially infecting the locals with stories about Aswang being seen in the jungles, claiming that people had been found drained of their blood. They waited several days in the hope that the rumours would make it back to the rebels, before launching an attack. A group of Huck rebels were patrolling paths at the top of a mountain, when a team of operatives came in and started picking them off one by one,

grabbing them, killing the rebels, and puncturing their necks with two small holes, allowing the blood to drain from the body, before leaving the rebels for the rest to find. Within 24 hours, the rebels had deserted the mountain. Many have noted that the Aswang is a representation of everything wrong with society within the Philippines. It is the boogeyman that can be blamed for horrifying events, but it is also suggested as the creation of the repressed dark side of humans.

The Aswang is violent, a man-eater. often vulgar and even at times highly sexualized. It is your strange neighbour who doesn't want to talk to people. It is the criminal who murdered a man. It is the jilted woman who curses her lover's name when he leaves her. It is the cause of tragic miscarriages and the loss of sick relatives. It is to be blamed when one person eats another because what else could it have been than a monster?

We shouldn't be capable. of such wickedness. All cultures have had this figure within our folklore, an evil presence that can be blamed when things go wrong. But none seem to have the staying power of the Aswan, which does just leave that lingering bit of doubt in your mind. What if this isn't just superstition? What if it isn't just a legend?

What if? if you were to stumble into the jungle on a random Filipino island, late at night, you would come face to face with a creature that your mind just couldn't possibly comprehend. I wonder what your last thoughts would be as its long tongue began to slide out of its mouth, puncturing into your skin. I wonder if you could scream, is your vision blurred, and the last drops of blood? left your body.

That's all for this entry into the tape library. This was a really, really difficult topic to wrap my head around, I'm not going to lie. I wouldn't have been able to do it if it wasn't for the Aswang Project. A website and YouTube channel that appears to be dedicated to collecting as much information about Filipino folklore as possible. Their YouTube channel also contains the fabulous documentary, the Aswang phenomenon. I'll leave a link to that in the description, and I would highly recommend it if you want to delve a little deeper into this topic.

I'm not sure how many listeners I have from the Philippines. But if you are from there and have any stories about the Aswan, or elements of the folklore that you can explain better than I can, please do leave a comment or drop me an email. On that note, I know a lot of people have sent me stories for Night Drive Paranormal recently. If I haven't emailed you back yet, don't worry. The series has taken a short break and I don't tend to respond to an email until I'm ready. to include it in the video, otherwise it just gets too confusing on my end.

So I'll hopefully start getting in touch with you all early next month. So yeah, that's the story of the asswam. As always, I'd love to hear what you think about this wonderfully creepy bit of folklore. So please do leave me your thoughts. If you enjoyed this episode, then please consider subscribing, so you don't miss out on the next one. Oh, and of course, if you're on YouTube, then hitting the like button is a really simple way to support me.

way to support me in continuing to do this. Of course, there is also the option to support me over at patreon.com forward slash the tape library. But as I always say, you interacting with me on here and listening to these episodes is support enough. If you can't afford to do it, please do not sign up to the Patreon. So with that, there's nothing left to do but thank those wonderful supporters. Our tape library archivist Xavier Angle and Miko Grimp, Tyler Michael, Tracy Terello, Sandy Lusk, Restock 1731, Mirror, Judith Hacker, Gabrielle, Eric Salas, Destiny M, Ashlar's Books,

Alex O'Neill, Adeline, Peter McCann, Deputy, Deputy, Dominic Janegeles, and Dean Jay Daley, the lead archivist, Vaniel, Brian Baker, Old Soul Like Mine, Lord William and Axe Goldberg, and our Grand Overseers, For Evan, Morning Rain 2619, Katie, and Agent 355. Thank you all so much for your continue support, as well as a special thank you to author Johnny Compton for supporting this episode. I really do recommend checking out his book if you want a good scare when it releases next month. Once again, I'm a little unsure what the next episode of the tape library will be. I'm messing around with quite a few different ideas at the moment, so it will depend on which one I manage to finish researching first. But I will be back with you all as soon as I can,

with another entry into the tape library. Until next time, I'm going to. Until next time, I'll friends. Pleasant dreams.