What is a ghoul?

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Ghouls are a monster which have appeared in comics, movies, books, and games, but are not codified the way that, say, werewolves and vampires are. No one source seems to describe ghouls. Here I give Lovecraft's take on these creatures.
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[@JurassicReptile]

I like the idea of ghouls having their own underground society and mock humans with their sadistic sense of humour. I think the sharp-clawed monsters deserve more film appearances.

[@betwixtX]

thats why guy named Barrack Obama Hussein was put as president - its Iraq Osama Bin Laden Saddam Hussein

[@gh0ul.nin9]

t h a n k y o u

[@CycoSven69]

I think Lovecraft's take on the ghoul's canine looks have more to do with the ghouls from arabic lore that were said to be able to shapeshift, and the fact that hyenas dug up graves to eat corpses. He then mixed in a bit of changeling lore, similar to trolls of Scandinavian lore. The canine snouts of his ghouls could naturally just be a case of "my werewolves are different". Werewolves were also said to dig up graves to eat the dead. This was very common in France where much of the werewolf lore comes from and where wolves not only dug up the dead but posed a real threat to humans. No other nation has seen more wolf attacks on humans than France.

[@SandyofCthulhu]

I would have to say that I bet Russia saw more wolf attacks. Perhaps fewer recorded ones, but more overall. Also, Lovecraft was well aware of werewolves, and they make an appearance in some of his poems.

[@CycoSven69]

@@SandyofCthulhu I'm sorry but you are wrong about Russia vs France and the number of wolf attacks. France was more densely populated than Russia with people living next to wolf packs, numerous wars had been waged and bodies were buried in shallow mass graves, sometimes not at all. That is one explanation why the wolves in France aquired a taste for human flesh as most attacks were of the predatory type. I would recommend reading Abbé Pierre Pourcher's La Bête du Gévaudan that goes into detail not only about the most notorious attacks on humans in history but other maulers in the annals of France as well.

[@SandyofCthulhu]

@@CycoSven69 a more dense population =/= more people. In fact fewer people scattered over an area makes it easier for wolf attacks. I am sure that wolf attacks in France during the 1500s might have been more, when there was that super bad winter. But overall I am sticking to my knowledge that Russia has certainly suffered more, though less documented.

[@CycoSven69]

@@SandyofCthulhu If it's not documented, how do you even know it's true? The French wolf attacks have been documented for centuries (and the 1500s were certainly not worse than the 1600s and 1700s). It was mostly women and children who were attacked since they were tending the herds. Denser population, kids tending livestock combined with man-eating wolf packs=snack bar. This book (sadly in French) has even more updated attack stats than stated on Wikipedia for instance: www.amazon.com/gp/product/2818505054/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_taft_p1_i2 Believe me, Russia doesn't even come close to these numbers.

[@SandyofCthulhu]

@@CycoSven69 I don't know for a fact that it's true. But the fact that Russia extends over a much wider, more rural area, has a MASSIVELY higher population of wolves, and a higher population of potential victims, many of whom live in remote locations, I'd say it's a pretty reasonable guess. Esp. since Russia was still losing people to wolves as late as the 19th century, when France had moved far beyond. I'm not sure why this is so important to you.

[@CRuduxypegg]

There are ghouls in Arab folklore and books like One thousand and one night but they are shapeshifting demons in those instead of their current status as undead zombie replacement.

[@richmcgee434]

The Time Machine came out in 1895. There's more than a whiff of morlock in Lovecraft's ghouls.

[@osoewert6439]

Undead = Meals on Wheels....lol. Thank you for that.

[@SandyofCthulhu]

thanks.

[@SplotchTheCatThing]

The thing about the ghouls that was the most interesting to me was that they were the best example of a theme that seems to run through most of the Lovecraft stories I've read... there's idea that all of these horrifyingly advanced being and gods and whatever else got to the level they got to by doing utterly horrifying things. And with that comes an implication that the things humans say make their kind of life worthwhile -- things like altruism, justice, basic morality, or decency -- are the very things that are holding humans back from being able to fully understand the universe, to exist and compete on higher levels. The implication that humans could never achieve that existence, because if they ever did, the very act would signify they weren't human anymore. If I ever try to write or create something that spawns a similar sort of fear -- and I have, once or twice -- that's the one theme I always keep in mind, on some basic level... that the things that make you yourself are the same things that are making you helpless, and the only way you could ever overcome that helplessness is to give up being you.

[@AndrewRybkin]

Ghouls consume human bodies\brains for knowledge. That's a brilliant thing that can be incorporated in CoC scenarios for sure. Personally, I'm not a fan when ghoul is described like a brainless monster that just consumes human flesh. Dead or alive. Based on Pickman's model and The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath we can see that ghouls are more social and open to interraction with human beings. They are terrifying - yes, but characters have a better chance to talk to the ghoul than try to befriend with shoggoth or deep one guy.

[@SandyofCthulhu]

yes I like HPL's ghouls a lot. I have no problem with flesh-eating zombies, but ghouls get to be something different.

[@villiamkarl-gustavlundberg5422]

Some ghoul tunnels have portals to unknown kadath but that's another story.

[@gearmachine_4885]

What story? Sounds intriguing.

[@PokemonButcher]

To my surprise, and delight, Mr. Petersen, a couple of friends were very interested in ghouls when I showed them the entry from your 5e C'thulhu Mythos book (I won the copy that you signed in the raffle at NecronomiCon this summer past!). We are now running a campaign with Mythos race player characters! Thank you for shedding light on so many aspects of the Mythos, making it accessible for newcomers and cult followers alike.

[@sandypetersen6935]

great! You may want to check out my new Ghoul Island campaign in that case - it's a complete campaign in four hardbound books.

[@osoewert6439]

Also, there is a pretty amazing Tales From the Crypt episode about ghouls. It's one of my favorites.

[@SandyofCthulhu]

which one? Incidentally another great ghoul experience is in the movie Monster Club - the third story.

[@osoewert6439]

@@SandyofCthulhu It's called Mournin' Mess. kzbin.info/www/bejne/ZoHOl52mja-jmrs

[@JanusHoW]

I love your take on Mythos ghouls in the Cthulhu Mythos for 5e book you wrote. The tragedy of a ghoul's nature really tugs at my heartstrings, as does the fact that other ghouls bond with each other due to this shared tragedy. Personally, I imagine a ghoul changeling who has spent years alone after being forced out of their adopted family finally encountering other ghouls. The ghouls they meet perform some sort of gesture of recognized kinship, probably glibbering the Ghoul equivalent of "You're home, lost one". The lost ghoul then cries out with glee as it joins its true kin. I also like your idea of an elderly ghoul invalid willingly offering its body for the rest of its group to ritualistically devour. It sounds gruesome in human terms, but when you add the fact that the elderly ghoul would otherwise be doomed to an eternity of endless pain, and that the ghouls that devour it would obtain its knowledge and memories makes it almost heart-warming. I imagine a clan of ghouls gathering around their elder as he says his last goodbyes before a chosen individual ritualistically kills him, perhaps in a manner the elder wanted. The "mourners" might then have a 24-hour or longer vigil for the now dead elder to "ripen". Once the elder's corpse is ready, the clan then begins to eat him, reveling in their meal's memories and knowledge with every bite. I also love how you noted that Mythos ghouls love the taste of most undead, and that the necromantic magic that animates a zombie gives them a buzz. When a typical adventurer sees a horde of zombies as a threat, a ghoul adventurer sees them as an all-you-can-eat buffet. I can't imagine how eager a ghoul would be to get a bite out of some powerful, sentient undead like a lich or mummy lord. On a related note, I like how you distinguished between Mythos ghouls and the typical undead ghouls, especially how the Mythos ghouls don't like eating undead ghouls, considering their flesh "over-ripe" or even "rancid". Overall, I'd love the opportunity to run a Mythos ghoul character, probably a Necrophage monk.

[@sethkrueger5472]

I'm using the sandy's book and I love it I have a sad ghoul npc name Muranna, she was just a normal city peasant woman and fell in love with a local guardsman they had a rough time getting a place and moving from the city back to her home town, she lost many children to misscarriges and made much friendship with a player and bonded with the party, her and her husband got married and promise to house the characters next they meet in the town they live in now, few years go by and she turns into a ghoul when she was finally able for her and her husband could have a child and he tried to attack her do to the shock and everything happening, because he came home only to find this monster in a bloody gound and a baby in it's arms trying to love him or venerate what they made only for her delusional state to snap into reality of what she turned into when looking into a mirror only for storm out into the wilds with the child, and her husband shocked passed out of a blind madding rage and sadness, her husband now a broken woodsman's tries a forget the creature that was once his wife but couldn't, he had help from a new party and asked them to find his wife or what she turned into, the obession to find his wife and child and make admends drove him mad, then when he finally came face to face with her and was going to say sorry and he knows she doesn't want him to fallower her no more and that this was a last goodbye, only for tragedy to strike the party's eyes Muranna attacked and killed her husband claiming they can finally be together she remember him forever and remember everything

[@dubuyajay9964]

Delta Green had a ghoul agent. Used for CSI stuff to get info by nibbling on a victim's corpse.

[@TheYgds]

I was very glad to see how Ghouls were protrayed in the recent adaptation of "Pikman's Model" for "Guillero del Toro's Cabinet of Curiosities". Indeed, besides "Dreams in the Witch House", the spirit of Lovecraft's work was maintained in all of the adaptations they did.

[@Astares9]

i don't see much mention of creepy and eerie magazines so that was cool. my dad has has a collection of many issues.

[@richardgonzales8502]

PickMans Model” and “ The Music of Erick Zantzes’l are My favorite of LoveCraft stories

[@thomassynths]

The Festival is up in my top favs.

[@Tchernobog]

Monster Club (1981) has my favorite depiction of a ghoul, you don't see them but you see illustrations of them. There is this creepy music and narration to the scene and it use to send chills down my spine. Absolutely underrated scene in horror movie history.

[@NefariousKoel]

I recall an old episode of Tales From The Crypt featuring what turned out to be a pack of ghouls. IIRC, they lived beneath a graveyard and get a big toothy reveal, near the end, when their big feast is revealed to the protagonist. Enjoyed that one because I don't think intelligent & crafty ghouls get enough horror film attention; they're far more interesting than zombies & such.

[@Bluecho4]

In my DnD campaign, I still use them as flesh-eating undead, but I play with the idea that a person can become a ghoul while they're still alive. It's a sort of Wendigo situation, where ghouldom is "achieved" (if you could call it such) by repeated acts of cannibalism. If you're a humanoid and eat humanoid flesh, you may develop a taste specifically for that forbidden dish. Over time, you develop the traits of a ghoul, including the paralyzing touch. Taking inspiration from another Lovecraft story _(The Picture In The House),_ becoming a ghoul confers greater longevity on the person who eats humanoid flesh. Even if their living bodily functions cease, they will transition immediately into being an undead ghoul (functionally, little has changed, except perhaps being susceptible to being Turned). Whether a person succumbing to ghouldom retains their intellect (which would make them a ghast) varies from ghoul to ghoul. Older ghouls - that is, a person who lived the ghoul lifestyle for a long time before becoming fully undead - will tend to become ghasts, since they've had more time to acclimate to and manage their cravings. But really, it depends on how much the person cares to maintain their wits, or if they just let the hunger consume them. This kind of arrangement leaves open the possibility for ghouls (or rather ghasts) that can pass as humans, at least for a time. Lending to the sort of "cultured cannibal" archetype. We'd still have the grave-robbing, slavering monsters, of course, but we could have ones that plot and scheme and can hold conversations with PCs. I also love the idea of a ghast having written a cannibal cookbook - the classic "To Serve Man", but not a euphemism this time - and have it circulate among depraved gentry and learned hermits. A forbidden tome that authorities burn or seal away, and which would be an obvious sign that its owner is up to no good.

[@chaosfive55]

If you haven't yet read The Throne of Bones by Brian McNaughton, I recommend you do so--it takes Lovecraft's ghoul lore and ramps it up a thousandfold!!!

[@paulmicspidersims3652]

Reminds me of some of the 70's short tv stories of small towns in California being a enclave of ghouls that look like regular humans.

[@sandypetersen6935]

having lived in California during the 80s, I assume these were documentaries.

[@jesserichards5582]

Funny thing I sort of always had that sort of in the back of my mind on what ghoulish where but it wasn't until I was playing a lovecraftian themed game that I decided to look up what a ghoul was & this video was the first suggestion 👌

[@mandilarator]

Another great video Sandy! Please, keep them coming!

[@Stormeris]

In Warhammer, Ghouls aren't undead and are like degenerate descendants of humans that resorted to cannibalism

[@Rafooky92]

Let's not forget the novella "Sardonicus" by Ray Russell (1961). Here the concept of ghoul is discussed as a figurative/metaphorical being, but the main antagonist, Mr. Sardonicus, robs his father's grave as a youth to retrieve a winning lottery ticket but the trauma of seeing his father's "smiling" corpse makes him into a cruel and scarred (physically) man who's transgression makes him into a "ghoul" figure, very similar to a vampire, although instead of blood he craves sexual satisfaction.

[@reinaldogarcia70]

This should make a creepy ghoul preferably animated with all Eastern European Origins preferably if not maybe with Middle Eastern Origins

[@rinnypink]

Lily Munster's character is supposed to be a ghoul. But she never seemed to exhibit any monstrous tendencies so I had no idea what a ghoul was. Her dad and grandfather are vampires so why wouldn't she be one too? Not that the Munsters were supposed to make a lot sense! Lol

[@maxlantz1854]

Hey Sandy, I don't know if you're still reading comments on this video, but have you read Brian Keene's "Ghoul"? Or watched the Chiller original movie based on it?

[@hankrichardson6592]

Great video, thank you Sandy. Do you like Robert Bloch's story "The Grinning Ghoul"? It's one of my favorite ghoul stories in the mythos.

[@SandyofCthulhu]

I love Robert Bloch, and yes I like the Grinning Ghoul quite a bit. I'll also say that Frank Belknap Long's tale Grab Bags are Dangerous is worth looking into.

[@hankrichardson6592]

@@SandyofCthulhu I love Bloch as well! He's a master. Thank you for the recommendation on the Belknap story, I'll try to find a copy.

[@SandyofCthulhu]

@@hankrichardson6592 there are several volumes of Frank Belknap Long's stories available on Kindle.

[@alexanderchippel]

You know who else helped Randolph Carter? The Zoogs.

[@Sleepy_DOOD1701]

Always have a Cleric in your party if you want to remain a smoothskin

[@Azriel261]

Cannibalism is an example of Ghoulish behavior and in most countries it is not illegal to eat another human being but it depends on how the meat is harvested. Cannibalism gave rise to many Mythical beliefs and especially amongst the Native tribes around the Canada's and parts of the Northern United States referencing the Wendigo

[@davidverlet9569]

Hello sandy I'm a French boy (sorry for my English) I like your game ( I have CW, PA and and GGW) I have a question about the storage (because I'm a mini painter, can you explain the storage box please ?

[@SandyofCthulhu]

I store my Cthulhu Wars figures in battlefoam boxes.

[@Hargazer]

In Darren Shan's vampire series, there's a group that resembles vampires but ultimately differs due to a greater desire for blood and a habit of drinning vampire blood. As a result, they have purple skin, better strength and senses than a vampire, at the cost of a loss of rationality. They're kinda like feral, fallen vampires who committed a great taboo. This reminds me the manga Rosario to Vampire, where a ghoul is classified as a creature that has consumed vampire blood. This gives the creature vampiric tendencies, but because the blood is so powerful, it tends to corrode their sanity and turn them into bloodthirsty monsters. Personally, I would like the Ghoul to be a mix between a flesh eating grave robber, a skin walker, and a fallen vampire or something that clearly defines the Ghoul's relationship with vampires and zombies

[@dileepvr]

The initial description almost reminds me of the Aghori sect from Northern India.

[@matiasdelgado7011]

Even that zombis are much vampiresque than the zombi from Haiti.

[@cheikgoth2250]

In my childhood, my mother forced me to sleep by saying there is a ghoul for a child who didn't sleep she told many of the strory from ancient arabic legends like ghoul and jinn

[@matthewclark703]

#ghoul lives matter

[@sluggygrumble5164]

Boi-oi-oing!

[@sturdyrot3058]

What the hekk is a ghoul