A darkness falls on Noche Buena in a small barrio of Santa Cruz. It’s December 24, 1985—ham and halo-halo should fill the night, but the air carries a metallic tang and the bamboo chimes are eerily still. Lola Corazon stirs a pot of chocolate while her grandson Jomar fights to sleep, haunted by the old stories: the Aswang, a shapeshifting ghoul drawn to the most vulnerable. As fiesta lights brighten the streets, the monster that feeds on unborn life and stolen livers moves closer, hiding in plain sight at the banquet, slipping in among relatives and neighbors.

This episode traces the Aswang’s terror across time and place—from Capiz and Iloilo’s cane fields and the hill sitios of Samar to a cramped Sampaloc apartment in Manila—showing how folklore, colonial history, and modern anxieties fuse into a single, chilling legend: the Christmas Cannibal. Through scenes of flickering lamplight, terrified mothers, and the unsettling inversion of a feast into a trap, we ask: what if the brightest night is the most dangerous?

Trigger warning: this episode contains scenes and themes some listeners may find deeply unsettling. Listener discretion advised.

If you have an unnerving memory or a true encounter, share it with us at [email protected]. Follow Stories Philippines for daily folklore facts and updates.

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