A woman in white flags down a car, sits in the back seat, and disappears before the ride is over. Here’s where the Balete Drive legend came from, why the tree matters, and what the famous street looks like today. Read more »
It makes you walk in circles, gets married in the rain, and 400 years ago, it had wings. Here’s what the tikbalang is, how old stories say to escape one, and how it came to have a horse’s face. Read more »
A privately owned hill along the Lucban–Sampaloc road draws psychics, mediums, and spiritual seekers who say it holds labyrinths, “breathing” boulders and even a landing pad for UFOs. Here’s what’s known about the mysterious place, what believers say happens there, and why you can’t simply drive in. Read more »
The mermaid’s scaly, less charming counterpart has a name borrowed from Hokkien and a surprising second life in Filipino grammar. Here’s what the syokoy is, what old stories say about it, and why you might want to stay away from its river. Read more »
A city of black towers, bullet trains, and people with no groove above the lip. Here’s what Samar’s storytellers say about Biringan, and why they warn you never to eat its food. Read more »
It walks backward with its head between its legs, drinks from shadows and, in some stories, hides inside a clay jar in a wealthy family’s home. Meet the sigbin, one of the Philippines’ strangest and most unsettling creatures of folklore. Read more »
