A Hantu demon is a legendary evil spirit

Spirit

The English word spirit has many differing meanings and connotations, most of them relating to a non-corporeal substance contrasted with the material body.The spirit of a living thing usually refers to or explains its consciousness.The notions of a person's "spirit" and "soul" often also overlap,...

 or demon

Demon

call - 1347 531 7769 for more infoIn Ancient Near Eastern religions as well as in the Abrahamic traditions, including ancient and medieval Christian demonology, a demon is considered an "unclean spirit" which may cause demonic possession, to be addressed with an act of exorcism...

 in Philippine mythology

Philippine mythology

Philippine mythology include a collection of tales and superstitions about magical creatures and entities. Some Filipinos, even though heavily westernized and Christianized, still believe on these tales...

.

They are notorious in the Philippines

Philippines

The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...

 for allegedly possessing

Spiritual possession

Spirit possession is a paranormal or supernatural event in which it is said that spirits, gods, demons, animas, extraterrestrials, or other disincarnate or extraterrestrial entities take control of a human body, resulting in noticeable changes in health and behaviour...

 people and driving them insane.This creature is said to have a power to possess people or animals and kill their souls to become the creature that he/she possessed.

Hantu is the Malay

Malay language

Malay is a major language of the Austronesian family. It is the official language of Malaysia , Indonesia , Brunei and Singapore...

 word for ghost and Pulau Hantu

Pulau Hantu

Pulau Hantu is located to the south of the main island of Singapore, off the Straits of Singapore. Pulau Hantu is actually made up of two islets: Pulau Hantu Besar and Pulau Hantu Kechil , with a total area of 12.6 hectares...

  translates as "ghost island."

There are many types of hantu:

• Hantu Damon Caskey: ghost reappears in Déjà vu
• Hantu Ribut: storm demon
• Hantu Rimba: deep-forest demon
• Hantu Kubor: grave demon
• Hantu Belia: tiger demon
• Hantu Pusaka: Malaysian demon
• Hantu Kangkang: One is said to haunt the gateway to the Istana Maziah in the Kuala Trengganu harbour.
• Hantu Kongkek: A female counterpart of the Orang Minyak
  Orang Minyak
  The Orang Minyak is one of a number of Malay ghost myths. Orang Minyak literally means oily man in Malay.According to one legend, popularised in the 1956 film Sumpah Orang Minyak directed by and starring P. Ramlee, the orang minyak was a man who was cursed in an attempt to win back his love with...
  
  , who is storied to rape males at night and drain their life-force, similar to the western succubus
  Succubus
  In folklore traced back to medieval legend, a succubus is a female demon appearing in dreams who takes the form of a human woman in order to seduce men, usually through sexual intercourse. The male counterpart is the incubus...
  
  .
• Hantu Jarang Gigi: legendary ape-men who roam the southern rainforests of Malaysia, known as ghosts with widely spaced teeth
• Hantu Pocong: Indonesian ghost that is said to take the form of a body enshrouded in coffin cloth. The legend comes from a burial ritual in Islam
  Islam
  Islam . The most common are and .   : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
  
   where the body is enshrouded in white coffin cloth (kain kafan in Indonesian). The body is tied at several places of the body to keep the coffin cloth during the transportation to the grave. When the body is laid down inside the grave, the tie keeping the coffin cloth is typically removed. A dead body is said to become a pocong if the tie is not removed. The legend is that the pocong will haunt until the tie is removed.
• Hantu Penyardin: Malaysian vampire
• Hantu Tinggi (in West Malaysia): A legendary ghost that is said to be as tall as the tree-tops, and whose legs are indistinguishable from tree trunks.
• Hantu Pelir: Similar to the countryside deity Pan
  Pan (mythology)
  Pan , in Greek religion and mythology, is the god of the wild, shepherds and flocks, nature, of mountain wilds, hunting and rustic music, as well as the companion of the nymphs. His name originates within the Greek language, from the word paein , meaning "to pasture." He has the hindquarters, legs,...
  
  , this ghost is often seen with an erection or swollen scrotum and is said to copulate with animals in the countryside. Young women are told to run away as far as they can, otherwise they might get raped by the hantu pelir.
• Hantu Kutti: A dark-skinned jinn that speaks with an Indian accent and has a faint smell of spices or curry. Hantu Kutti are sometimes the source of faint Quranic recitations late at night, as these ghosts are particularly religious and are said to be very pious Muslims. They might be a bit extremist and cause disturbance for Muslims who they consider "not Islamic enough".