Pocong are the shroud ghouls of Malaysia and Indonesia that are renowned for being unstoppable once they arise. There are a wide variety of Pocong which all stem from the same cause: if the burial rites of the dead are not followed, they can get up back still in their shrouds. Just being in the path of these undead juggernaughts as they move will end in a bad time, let alone trying to stop one! There are two choices, should they spot you:

You can run, head for a winding path and keep on running until they lose sight of you. 

Or there’s the much more desperate, much more frightening one…

Drop to the floor, and play dead.

Lie there as still as you can, breathing as shallowly as you can, until the Pocong moves away.

If you’re fast enough, and quiet enough, they will leave you alone. Provided you keep your nerve, that is.

Strangely, Pocong have been in the news this year as activists are trying to shock people into staying home for social distancing using imagery of these undead creatures.

Written by – Luke Greensmith

Art by Wanda Fraser , THOU in partnership with The Ghost Story Guys Podcast

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