Cast of Wonders 453: LangsuirAlso, Episode 484! A Staff Pick for 2021! Hosted by Editor Katherine Inskip!• Author:
Nadia Mikail • Narrator:
Fash Wahab• Host:
Katherine Inskip• Audio Producer:
Jeremy Carter• Artist:
Alexis Goble"Langsuir" is a Cast of Wonders original.Click here to listen to Episode 484Click here to listen to Episode 453Content Warnings: stillbirth, death, murder, abuse, rape, slavery and misogyny
The langsuir is a woman who has died giving birth. Malay folktales have a multitude of women featured as wrathful, devious spirits: the hantu kum-kum
thrives on the blood of virgin girls, desperate to maintain her youth even in death; the hantu kopek
lures men to cheat on their wives, jealous that their afterlife contains no husband of their own; the pontianak
goes after the people who have wronged her, tearing out their organs.
People usually shake their heads, they think: oh, well, that is the envious, terrible nature of Eve. Personally I think it is more how humans are treated in life that influences how they behave in death, and in this culture the women are angrier than most.Tags: 2021, abuse, Alexis Goble, content warnings, death, Fash Wahab, ghosts, Jeremy Carter, Katherine Inskip, Malaysia, misogyny, mythology, Nadia Mikail, owls, slavery, Staff Picks 2021, young adult fiction